Sudden Massive Performance Problems - Here's what I have done so far, what else can I try?

[acelenny]

So, two days ago, I was completing an assessment for a job application. After clicking complete, Firefox started behaving very stragely. I could open tabs but not close them, switch between the, etc. I could only access the tab I was on.

 

After this, the rest of my computer started behaving very poorly. Games that I had been able to play reasobaly well lost anywhere from 30-60% of their framerates. I could no longer watch video on Amazon Prime without jittering and screen tearing. As soon as I started to try to multitask, everything crawls to a halt but I can do basic things like open firefox and a few word documents without noticing any difference from normal.

 

The problem is most noticeable in games because they place my system under load and they have an obvious framerate.

 

I am on a Dell Inspiron laptop that is somewhere between four and five years old and has been worked fairly hard.

 

I have spent considerable time trying to resolve the issue, here is what I have tried:

- Kaspersky full virus scan

- Malwarebytes

- Malwarebytes Adwcleaner

- Dell Support Assist

- Ccleaner

- Hddscan

- Ram check

- Driver check

- Looked for oddly behaving processes in task manager

- Rootkit scan

 

So far, none of these have resolve the problem. The HDD and RAM appear to be fine. I have also booted a live linux image to the PC which appeared to be ok but I could not run a like-for like comparison as for some reason I could not get it to access the internt and couldn't put it under a decent load.

 

So, as far as I can tell, there are no obvious hardware problems, no new viruses or malware, and no overheating issues.

 

Currently, I am wondering what to do next. If this is most likely a hardware problem then I need to start looking for a new computer and praying to Lord Gaben to give me my money from the steam summer sale back.

 

If this can potentially be resolved through software, is the next step to backup my files and reinstalling windows 10 or is there anything else I can try before that?

 

Any help would be very much appreciated.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

anything strange in task manager? abnormal usage/ apps etc

you should try resetting/ re install any possible programs one by one and test, including gpu drivers and lastly windows

also backup your data & disconnect internet to avoid virus

[Origami Cactus]

What were the temps like?

Does your laptop fan still sound the same as before?

 

Use CPUID HW monitor to look at cpu temps, and the fan speed.

[acelenny]

1 minute ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

anything strange in task manager? abnormal usage/ apps etc

you should try resetting/ re install any possible programs one by one and test, including gpu drivers and lastly windows

also backup your data & disconnect internet to avoid virus

 

Nope, nothing out of the ordinary in the task manager and no new programs have been instlled recently.

 

I just booted into safe mode and now after restarting I am just seeing a black screen after the dell boot screen and the windows icon with the spinning wheel.

[acelenny]

1 minute ago, Origami Cactus said:

What were the temps like?

Does your laptop fan still sound the same as before?

 

Use CPUID HW monitor to look at cpu temps, and the fan speed.

Temps have been completely normal and the fan is running as it always has.

[Origami Cactus]

1 minute ago, acelenny said:

Temps have been completely normal and the fan is running as it always has.

Can you try booting into safe mode and seeing if the problem persists?

[acelenny]

9 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

Can you try booting into safe mode and seeing if the problem persists?

Tried this but forgot to boot with networking. When I tried rebooting to change this, I found a new problem. I now get to the windows logo and the spinning dots wheel and then I see a black screen and can do nothing.

 

I have now interrupted the restart several times and and windows is now doing its 'Diagnosing your PC' thing.

 

[acelenny]

Ok, so I can now boot into safe mode after interrupting the restart but I cannot boot normally.