[RESOLVED] Windows 10: Slower and slooooooower ...

Hi Guys,

At work, I am running a Dell OptiPlex 380. It has 3GB RAM, a 320 GB hard drive and is running Windows 10 (originally XP then upgraded to 7 then upgraded to 10). PC was purchased in *gasp* spring of 2010.

For the last six month or so, it has been running slower and slower.

When it boots up, it seems to run fine. But as the day progresses, everything slows down and I mean everything. Sometimes opening file explorer or CLOSING file explorer can take minutes. At least once during the day, I have to do a complete shutdown and an cold boot because something has frozen the PC. Sometimes more than once.

In addition, things are crashing that I never knew COULD. Just this morning, the DESKTOP crashed!

I am running Norton A/V and Malwarebytes. I've run full scans with both but nothing has been found. Here is the list of my Malwarebyes quarantines over the past few months:

(sorry, software says I exceeded my picture upload quota though this is my first post today)

I'm at a loss.

Do I:

1) Reformat my drive and re-install 10 from scratch?
2) Euthanize this PC, use it for a doorstop and shell out for a new one?
3) So something else?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

PS. Not sure if this has any bearing but I recently noticed that I have only 40 GB free on this drive.

40 GB of hard drive space should be plenty. 3 GB of memory is less than ideal though. It should take 8 GB maximum, and that is what I would be running in it if it were mine. A gradual slowdown during the day which is fixed by a reboot usually indicates a memory "leak" - a program or programs that use or allocate memory and then fail to release it when they are finished with it. Common programs that can cause this include web browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, etc. More RAM memory will allow a much longer uptime before rebooting is needed.

Possibly useful link:

https://www.dell.com/community/Deskt...M/td-p/4309518

Thanks, JDC.

I'll try closing the browser (I tend to keep it open all day) and see if that helps. And check on the memory, too.

I usually keep my browser windows open all the time also. It can depend on what web sites/pages you are accessing. Some leak memory faster than others. Amazon pages in particular tend to do this.

i realize i "mispoke" in my last post. i keep usually two browsers open all day. chrome for personal (it's synched to my home pc, phone, etc) and firefox for business (i only use it when i need work on our website, banking, etc). i guess i really don't need TWO memory leakers open! i kept firefox closed on friday and never had to reboot.

this may have solved it.

thanks, JDC

so .... i was doing some cleaning today and came across four memory sticks. they are tagged as: NT2GT64U8HD0BY-AD 0904.SG and are 2GB each. from an old pc of mine. i tend to strip out the memory and hard drives before i dispose of old pc's.

i was wondering if i could put these into the dell optiplex 360. i googled but didn't find anything about the sticks except their current price

if the indentation in the center of the sticks line up with the slot on the motherboard, does this mean i can use them or is there some other consideration? i was looking at amazon for memory and the ones they're selling as 360 upgrades look the same as the ones i found.

thanks in advance,

terry

Those are DDR2 PC2-6400. You need DDR3L-1600.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...380-mini-tower

Thanks, JCD. I figured it might be too good to be true. ;)

OOPS.

I just noticed that my O/P said "380" .... it's actually 360 (i'm SO sorry about that) and it's a 32-bit machine. which means 4GB max, correct?

would this do:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC2-6...DDR2-800+UDIMM

i got that by searching amazon for crucial's description (i have discovery points i could use on amazon lol.)

or would my 2GB sticks do (now that you know it's a 360 and not a 380)?

If you have the 360, then you are limited to 4GB of RAM.

https://www.dell.com/community/Deskt...n/td-p/3898059

In that case, then the memory you already have listed in post #7 should work. The Amazon memory is also correct.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...l/optiplex-360

Thanks, JDC.

Again, so so sorry about the confusion.

T

PS> I was cleaning out a closet over the weekend and found two old GeForce video cards. Since I'm going to be cracking open that 360, would moving the video from on-board to a card help with my memory leaks?

A video card probably wouldn't be much help with the memory leakage from web browsers.

gotcha

so ....

i opened the case on the 360 with the intention of replacing the two memory sticks with the two "NT2GT64U8HD0BY-AD 0904.SG" that i already have. i was surprised to find out that they don't "fit"; ie, the middle "slot" is in the wrong place. here's a pic of the memory in the pc currently:

Attachment 14745

anyway, i'll going ahead and buy the crucial sticks [Crucial 4GB Kit (2GBx2) DDR2 800MHz (PC2-6400) CL6 Unbuffered UDIMM 240-Pin Desktop Memory CT2KIT25664AA800 / CT2CP25664AA800] from amazon.

sorry i never got back here.

i replaced the memory sticks and am careful not to leave firefox open more than necessary.

problem has not reappeared.

thanks again, all.