Trying to speed up my mother's old laptop

[Sonikku]

Windows Vista 32 bit SP2
3GB of RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83ghz

She uses it for web browsing/word processing/facebook. It's surprisingly enough with the Core 2 Duo, until the svchost issue pops up that hogs 50% of the cpu utilization and ram. I don't seem to encounter this issue on any of my Windows 7 and later systems, but my god it seems to freakin' plague XP and Vista platforms. Is there an app that can follow the rabbit hole and find out what keeps causing it or what?

 

[TheELF]

It's almost always the system checking every file to see if there are available updates for it,the older the OS the more checking.

 

[Sonikku]

Well support for prettymuch everything Vista is at it's end. Is there a way to tell it to stop checking constantly?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well support for prettymuch everything Vista is at it's end. Is there a way to tell it to stop checking constantly?

Turn off Windows Update completely.

The computer is probably already somebody's spambot.

 

[UsandThem]

Like Dave mentioned, unless you are a savvy tech user, allowing any device that is running an older OS that has reached EOL in support, is taking a risk. If she does any type of online banking or shopping, I'd be very cautious.

I guess technically the mainstream support ended in 2012, but extended support ends in March 2017, although I doubt they are putting many resources into it at this point.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

 

[Sonikku]

Turn off Windows Update completely.

The computer is probably already somebody's spambot.

Well, that fixed it. Thanks. Although what do you mean by it's already someone's spambot? Do you feel it's been compromised? I ran malwarebytes and had avast do a thorough boot time scan. It checks out, though I realize antivirus do sometimes not catch everything.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well, that fixed it. Thanks. Although what do you mean by it's already someone's spambot? Do you feel it's been compromised? I ran malwarebytes and had avast do a thorough boot time scan. It checks out, though I realize antivirus do sometimes not catch everything.

Without the regular security updates you get from a modern OS, it's very likely that if the computer is not already compromised, it will be.

At least if she uses it for anything more than very careful and very (VERY) basic use.

And yes, you can always get lucky.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

It's almost always the system checking every file to see if there are available updates for it,the older the OS the more checking.

That isn't how Windows Update works.

The computer is probably already somebody's spambot.

Probably.

If you insist on keeping Vista on it, at least upgrade it to an SSD. That's probably the best you can do for the system without a severe overhaul. I'd honestly recommend just thrashing it at this point and either getting a random $200-$400 refurb dell, or do a very heavy refresh of the hardware in that, along with Win7/10.

 

[VirtualLarry]

A relative of mine has this older Compaq laptop, with a Celeron CPU (Core2 single-core) 2.0Ghz, with 2GB RAM. It came with Vista Home Basic, I think. Anyways, I overhauled it, with a 240GB SSD, and Windows 7 Pro. (Cheap key bought online.)

I think it works a lot better now. At least, it's not going to go EOL as soon, and now it has a respectable SSD.

Edit: The mfg had Windows 7 drivers available too.

 

[Sonikku]

Well it's an Inspiron 1525. I'm sure it would be less bad with a new OS, solid state drive and another stick of ram. Although there comes a point where one might almost grab a $300 i3 refurb from a Frys promo. If money wasn't an issue that would probably be the preferable option.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Although there comes a point where one might almost grab a $300 i3 refurb from a Frys promo. If money wasn't an issue that would probably be the preferable option.

+1 just for the OS upgrade. Vista is horrible.

 

[UsandThem]

Well it's an Inspiron 1525. I'm sure it would be less bad with a new OS, solid state drive and another stick of ram. Although there comes a point where one might almost grab a $300 i3 refurb from a Frys promo. If money wasn't an issue that would probably be the preferable option.

With November coming up, there are always great deals on laptops during that time period (not just black Friday). Last year, I bought my wife this for $399.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-i5558-5716SLV-Signature-15-6-inch-touchscreen/dp/B014ILI2H4

Slapped a SSD in it, and it has been a great laptop for her. There are usually many i3 laptops available that are right around $300 as well.

 

[Sonikku]

In the mean time is there anyway I can cut down on non essential process? Surely there must be a program out there that can identify every last one of the processes running and indicate if I need it. It's time for some pruning.

 

[UsandThem]

I would just go into system configuration and see what is running at start up, and what is running in the background (hide Microsoft services), and uninstall all that is unnecessary.

There's probably a ton of programs running behind the scene.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/wi...sta-performance-by-trimming-startup-programs/

 

[Dahak]

Probably another thing to look at is the Windows Indexing, as I had seen it be an issue on older vista machines, especially on older hard drives as well
Just right click on the c drive and removed the checkmark beside the Allow Files to be index at the bottom.

May make searching a bit longer.

Or use the ProcessExplorer from SysInternals and it to see what service is using the cpu/ram for that particularity svchost instance

 

[AC33]

I would do a clean install of windows 10 (or any other OS). Online keys are not expensive.
This should fix her laptop. I did the same to more than one practically dead PCs that took ages to load.
Vista is evil.

 

[DesiPower]

You just need 3 things -

1. Fresh OS install on a SSD
2. Fresh OS install on a SSD
3. Fresh OS install on a SSD

 

[John Connor]

Is there an app that can follow the rabbit hole and find out what keeps causing it or what?

Yes. Process hacker or process explorer. But I digress. Does this fit the bill? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...d/eb38d25d-6bb2-47cd-80f2-5389c62337be?auth=1

 

[John Connor]

reached EOL in support, is taking a risk.

I get a kick out of everyone saying this all over the Internet. I have a Dell Mini netbook that runs a FTP and Teamspeak server with XP and serves as the "kitchen kiosk" with Immunet for anti-virus. The computer hasn't been turned into a bot or some crap.

So with that. It's not, NOT the OS, it's all in how the user uses it. Now if I visited a bunch of sketchy sites in the kitchen then perhaps I'd have to pull out my clone and redo the machine.

I run this computer here using Win 7 without SP1 or any updates. I use Bitdefender Free and VooDoo Shield. And quite frankly, I'm bored with not getting an infection. LOL I scan the computer all the time with malwarebytes, SuperantiSpyware, Adswcleaner, etc, etc. Nothing found each time. I guess it's all on how you do things and surf the net.

Bottom line. I think the EOL "your virus prone" is a hyped up ploy for M$ to get you to upgrade.

 

[John Connor]

In the mean time is there anyway I can cut down on non essential process? Surely there must be a program out there that can identify every last one of the processes running and indicate if I need it. It's time for some pruning.

Autoruns.

 

[UsandThem]

I get a kick out of everyone saying this all over the Internet. I have a Dell Mini netbook that runs a FTP and Teamspeak server with XP and serves as the "kitchen kiosk" with Immunet for anti-virus. The computer hasn't been turned into a bot or some crap.

So with that. It's not, NOT the OS, it's all in how the user uses it. Now if I visited a bunch of sketchy sites in the kitchen then perhaps I'd have to pull out my clone and redo the machine.

Which he said it was his mother's laptop, and based on my experience with how my older family members use their computers and click on everything, it probably isn't the best idea to keep running a EOL operating system. It all comes down to individual choice how important continuing to use EOL software is. If you are comfortable using it and you can fix any potential issues that might come up, great. Personally, I have spent 17+ years cleaning messes up my family members get their PCs into (malware, viruses, etc.).

But I do agree that MS does this to force most people to eventually pay for a new OS. I can't really fault them for it though, they are a business and OS licenses is ( or was) the bulk of their revenue.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Also, it is the OS as well as the user. Just because you don't have 'virus found!' alerts in whatever free garbage antimalware program you're using, doesn't mean the device isn't infected and/or being used as a bot. If you aren't using wireshark or equivalent, you probably don't actually know what's going on with that box.

Even if it is clean, doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. Part of the point of the 'insecure' part is that they can be infected without your intervention, based on vulnerabilities which are exploitable remotely.

 

[UsandThem]

Also, it is the OS as well as the user. Just because you don't have 'virus found!' alerts in whatever free garbage antimalware program you're using, doesn't mean the device isn't infected and/or being used as a bot. If you aren't using wireshark or equivalent, you probably don't actually know what's going on with that box.

Even if it is clean, doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. Part of the point of the 'insecure' part is that they can be infected without your intervention, based on vulnerabilities which are exploitable remotely.

+1

Many people here are way above average on their computer knowledge, and are in the enthusiast category.

Lay people would take one look at a post like John Connor posted, and they would understand it about as well as reading Old Latin. They just know how to turn a computer on, click their browser to get on the internet, and check email. They have no idea how malware and viruses work, what a VM is, or running programs in a sandbox is. If their computer can't connect to the internet, they would rather take it to Geek Squad instead of trying to figure out what is wrong.

These are the people who if they are running unpatched operating systems and programs, will almost certainly click on a bad link or download an infected file. These are the people who forced Microsoft to include a basic firewall and malware/virus protection as part as the OS. And we have to be honest, there are way more lay people than there are enthusiasts out there.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I agree. A friend of mine, related a story the other day, about a relative of his that he told about a "movie site" to be able to watch movies. Well, he runs Linux, so he's basically immune to Windows' viruses. Well, this relative went to a movie site, and got some sort of "Lock screen" malware. My friend couldn't figure out why they couldn't just reboot and it was gone, like he does in Linux. Whoops.

 

[Sonikku]

Well I'm probably not paying $100 for a new OS for an old Vista laptop when that's the third of a cost of a new machine outright so I'll probably just grab a copy from Jack Sparrow. I have never upgraded a laptop's parts before, but I'm not against putting a cheap 120gb ssd to slip in as a boot drive. Being an old laptop however I rather doubt it has Sata 3. Can an Inspiron 1525 even be opened and upgraded without taking the whole thing apart? I hear some of these things aren't built for consumer customization at all.