AnotherBob wrote:
My aging Dell computer, which is usually reliable and pretty responsive, has become a sloth.
Dell XPS 435MT 2009 vintage
Intel i7, 2.67 GHz
24 GB RAM
64 bit Windows 10 - Home version
C drive: 1 terabyte SSD
D drive: 1 terabyte SSD
E drive: 500 Gigabyte spinning drive
All discs have been defragged and optimized within the windows operating system. All have about 1/3 unused capacity.
Task master shows 5% CPU, 16% memory, 10% disk usage
I run Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom
Within the past week, all activity has nearly stopped. I can open files. I can run all applications, but with outrageously slow response. I tried to copy files from one drive to another....the system ran all night, and shows it it is 1% complete. The "discovery" phase of the copy took about 12 hours. The "copy" part has made no progress since I got up this morning. The copy application is moving, but at 200 bytes / sec, then 0, then something between. No measurable progress.
The only recent change in software was a Lightroom update, but all activity is slow, regardless of drive or application.
I don't know where to look further. Any suggestions (other than the perhaps inevitable Costco trip) are welcome.
Thanks for your thoughts.
/Bob
My aging Dell computer, which is usually reliable ... (
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If this came about rather quickly, some of the advice so far doesnt apply, as those would be for problems involving gradual deterioration.
So its a puzzle, especially when your CPU load is only around 5%. Puzzles can be fun, or not. Its a very old machine, really overdue for replacement, so solving this puzzle is kinda moot. Solve this one and the machine may die in the near future anywho.
The most salvage value is your SSDs. They can be back up storage when you get a new machine ... which you probably will. You could also empty out an SSD to use as a Photoshop scratch disk. Thaz basically auxiliary RAM so its never storing anything valuable.