Windows 10: Brand new Win 10 computer runs slow after setup

Since my last post I ran Windows Defender full scan successfully and I saw report of no malware found. Then ran Windows Defender Offline (apparently quick scan) successfully, apparently no malware found but I saw no actual report.

I went to
System Restore fails: AppxStaging %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApp 0x80070091 - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums
See #13:

but I am still confused. I assume I am to follow the instructions in the blue box in the above post. I booted to safe mode and logged in to admin account with admin user name (everything in this entire posting has been on admin account). I got to command prompt by pressing Win + x, and entered:

attrib "c:\program files\windowsapps" -h

and received "access denied".

Then:

takeown /f "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" /r /d y

and received "takedown is not recognized...".

If you think it is important to try to fix system restore I am afraid I need idiot proof instructions. As I am probably headed for a reinstall anyway, maybe we should skip this if it will be corrected in the reinstall.

A shot in the dark:
I was gawping at Event Viewer and noticed an error that is apparently being repeated once every second the entire time the computer is running. Scrolling down reveals hundreds of identical events:

. Is this a problem?

 

It's Dropbox related.

E.g.
DbxSvc ID 320 - Page 2 - Dropbox Community - 230263

 

I decided to give up on setting up this computer working from it's factory state, there was too much high CPU performance in Task Manager. I went to Settings/Update and Security/Recovery/Reset this PC, which failed. I then went to Settings/Update and Security/Recovery/"Learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of Windows"; downloaded the tool and completed the fresh install. Then I restarted, updated, and restarted. Programs and Features showed only 4 programs! So I guess a clean install sure removes bloatware. All the programs and documents I installed were removed except, oddly, two folders directly on C:, Adware Cleaner and a folder of files from a home energy program I had previously installed. I declined everything that Windows popped up: privacy, Cortana, reporting services, suggestions. Restart and idle for 1.5 hours CPU stayed at 4%. I then prioritized a list of all my desired setup features and programs, with essential items nearer the the start of the list and items I guessed might be problematic toward the end of the list (particularly moving documents from my old possibly infected computer to this new one). I set restore points and kept detailed notes as I went. Installed Firefox. At about 1/3 of the way thru the list, I downloaded Macrium Reflect and created a rescue cd and disk image. CPU was steady at 4% thru all of this.

I installed Google Backup and Sync and was surprised to see a few documents from the old computer appear on this computer. They were about a dozen files over 2 years old that I did not know were in Google Drive. I deleted them immediately from this computer. After next restart, CPU was markedly different: it hovered around 20% for about 15 minutes, then returned to the former 4%. Created restore point E.

I then installed Malwarebytes,and Ccleaner. I downloaded Adware Cleaner successfully, and saw it's start screen, but then got a message it had a problem and stopped. After next restart CPU fluctuated between 20 to 80 % for about a half hour, then settled down to 5%. Tried to un-install AdwCleaner but it did not appear in Programs or in the search box. Installed Panda Vaccine. Un-installed Malwarebytes.

I Googled for a better way to record CPU performance than me checking the Task Manager performance graph every few minutes for hours. I found the following procedure: {open Performance Monitor, in the left pane down arrow at Data Collector Sets, right click User Defined, hover over New, Data Collector Set, Create Manually, Next, Performance Counter, Next, Add, in upper left box down arrow at Processor, % Processor Time, in lower left box highlight Total, Add, Ok, set Sample Interval to 30 seconds, Next, Next, Open Properties For This Data Collector Set, Finish, Stop Condition, set Overall Duration (usually 3 hours), Apply, OK. To view the report: return to left pane of Performance Monitor, down arrow at Reports, down arrow at User Defined, select a Data Collector Set, double click it in right pane.}

I ran a 3-hour Performance Monitor

Then ran System Restore to restore point E, followed by another Performance Monitor

. (After the clean install I had set Power Options to never sleep, and hard disk to stay on for 30 hours, so the sudden low CPU in these graphs is not due to them.)

It seems to me that high CPU usage at idle for 1.5 hours, where earlier it had been consistently 4%, may indicate a malfunction caused possibly by AdwCleaner (recall an AdwCleaner folder was not removed by the clean install and I got an error message when I tried to re-install it), or malware in the Google Drive documents from the old computer. On the other hand, I have experienced no delays or errors in using the computer, and browsing speed is good; so I am not sure whether there is a problem or not.

Please advise me:
1) Am I correct that the Performance Monitor procedure described above shows the same data as Task Manager performance, just spread out over time?

2) Do the attached Performance Monitor screenshots conclusively indicate a problem?

3) If you think there is a problem, do you recommend that I restore the disk image, and resume my list, skipping AdwCleaner; or that I clean install again?

4) If you think there is no problem and recommend that I continue with my setup list, can you instruct me in how to safely move documents from the old to the new computer? (This whole issue started with Roku technical help telling me the old computer had Alureon.) Almost all are MS Word or Excel files and I will limit them in number and avoid any of the 20 problematic file extensions; but I am unsure whether it is best to use a CD, flash drive, or a cloud service.

If you wish to view my setup list it is at: Dropbox - setup.ods

Thank you

 

P.S. Another performance Monitor I ran right after my previous post.

 

Bear in mind that having done a clean install, Windows will want to do quite a bit of updating.
It's worth checking whether that's the cause of any CPU use/disk activity you're seeing.

Naturally you then need to know what processes are involved.
Anvir task manager may be of interest - note it also allows you to view internet activity.




And Process Explorer can show total CPU time taken by a process, as well as a history graph per process.

 

Clean install Windows and give it 1-2 days to do it's thing before installing too many apps.

Don't install all those anti malware apps. It will 100% certainly screw something up. You only need one AV application and that is your AV of choice. Personally I have been running Windows Defender since first release of Windows 10. No problems at all.

All that CCleaner stuff and other similar apps just destroys your system integrity. Trust me, I have tried pretty much all of them.

2 things Windows will do after a clean install that will take quite long time to complete..

• Index all your files so search works more efficiently
• Optimize .NET framework so Store apps run more efficiently

 

Thank you dalchina and sliceendice. I will run Anvir Task Manager and Process Explorer. I take slicendice's point about limiting anti-malware apps, especially as something went wrong right after I installed AdwCleaner.

However I am still puzzled as to specifically what to do next. At this point I'm not even sure there is a problem. Answers to the 4 questions near the end of my last post would be very helpful.

 

It is perfectly normal for Task Manager showing a CPU usage of 1-10% if you move the mouse at the same time. If your idle CPU usage is below 5% it's OK. Just check how much of that comes from the Task Manager itself.

Probably the simplest way to backup your documents and other user files is to open up Explorer, navigate to C:\Users\[YOUR USER NAME]\ and then copy the folders "Documents", "Pictures", "Downloads" and "Desktop" to a subfolder on your Thumb Drive, that has a name that is descriptive about what it will contain. Then just safely remove the thumdrive and stick it in the new computer, navigate the current user folder and copy the 4 folders from the thumbdrive.

If you have multiple accounts that needs to be backed up, then it might get a bit more complicated as you also need to consider file security (can be tricky for the unexperienced to get access to all files). But you could log in to each account and do the same process as described above, putting each account backup files in it's own subfolder on the thumbdrive.

You can use a thumbdrive or an external harddrive. CD's is not a good idea unless you want a permanent backup, but if you have multiple accounts you still need to move all files to a central location and apply proper read permissions before burning the CD. You could also network the two computers and copy files over to a shared folder.

If you have a working OneDrive on both computers, you could also copy all the files there. Just make sure all files are synced from the old laptop before turning it off, or some files will be missing.

 

slicendice:
You said " It is perfectly normal for Task Manager showing a CPU usage of 1-10% if you move the mouse at the same time. If your idle CPU usage is below 5% it's OK. Just check how much of that comes from the Task Manager itself." As the Performance Monitor screenshots in my previous post show, my CPU runs about 50% for one to two hours with nothing open but Performance Monitor, during which I do not touch the computer or mouse for those 2 hours; after which it drops to about 5% and stays there. Does this indicate a significant problem, requiring me to re-install Windows 10 and start my setup over again, or should I ignore it and continue with my current setup?

Thanks

 

Suggest you find out what process is involved- see tools I've mentioned above:
Process explorer
Anvir task manager

Check if anything's downloading.

There must be a reason.

 

Yes, the process is the key. If it is an important process then all is good. If it's something that you don't want running, then we need to get rid of it.

As I said before, Completely clean install Windows and start from scratch. It might be faster than trying to fix your current installation, which may or may not be broken because of all the antispyware apps. Before installing anything 3rd party, see how Windows behaves for you. Give it 1-2 days to do it's post configurations and optimizations.

 

The pretty Task Manager CPU usage graph tells us nothing useful, other than something is using resources.

We need information about the applications and their processes. All can be found on 2 other tabs in Task Manager. We are only interested in the ones using a lot of resources.

 

You have at least one service that is using resources. Cyberreason...something... other app is Avast. Avast is known to use a lot of resources, and I would not recommend that AV to anyone. Windows Defender is as good if not even better than Avast...at least it uses way less resources.


Then you also have 955 events in Startup tab...that sounds rather high in my eyes.

 

I downloaded Process Explorer successfully. Anvir Task Manager generated this message:

so I aborted.
Process Explorer looks very complicated, can either of you give me specific instructions in how to use it?

There is nothing downloading.

Slicendice:
After I re-installed Windows 10 on July 13, the only anti-virus that has been on this computer is Windows Defender, and I plan to use it alone in future. Neither Cyberreason nor Avast appears in Programs and Features nor in the search box. Current Task Manager Startups is

. Task Manager Processes sorted by CPU usage 1 hour ago is

, 5 minutes ago is

. I am up to about 100 hours of work on setting up this computer. Since I re-installed Windows 10 on July 13, I am sure I have accumulated at least 30 minutes of sitting with my chin in my hands watching Task Manager Processes, with the computer at idle and nothing open but Task Manager. The only processes that appear near the top of the list with any frequency are System Interrupts, Desktop Windows Manager, and processes starting with "Service Host : "

 

Is the computer running slow at the moment?

One more thing you could do is to go to the HP support site and download the latest BIOS. HP has recently released a new BIOS that should improve stability.

I assume your laptop is a HP Notebook - 15-f233wm.

HERE is the direct link to the HP driver and BIOS download page. Using the Edge browser this site should automatically detect your OS and populate the appropriate drivers and files.