A friends' laptop issue(s)

[Xiauj]

Hey guys  My friend has given me his laptop which he's had sitting around for a while now and he wants me to kind of... "revive/troubleshoot it" as he said word for word and well, he did not bother to mention to me that it had a bunch of applications that they _{(The company, being Lenovo, yes it's a prebuilt laptop by Lenovo..... don't ask! IT'S NOT MINE!! I DIDN'T TELL HIM TO BUY A PRE-BUILT ONE!!)} had installed when he bought this laptop from a store. Anyways, I started up the laptop and I see this in the Task Manager: https://gyazo.com/699cd0b309590b92118a325c1c05bea2 

As you can see, that CPU and RAM Usage though . Any ideas as to why their software(s) is causing constant throttling/such a struggle to both the CPU and RAM and even Disk a lot of the time?

 

 

I mean, I can understand why Google Chrome also hogs the CPU and RAM but why is their software(s) causing so many issues as opposed to others? Also, there are at least 2 or 3 antivirus protection software types such as Norton/Lenovo Solution Center on here which are popping up every now and then, could that be the issue perhaps? Could I uninstall it without getting extra issues? Or could I factory reset it? My concern is that, if I factory reset the laptop all together, the software that they installed will stay on there upon resetting the laptop.

Another major task is that "Windows Modules Installer Worker" at the top using 26%+ CPU Usage and 150+ ish MB usage. I'm not sure what that actually is and what it does and why, but as mentioned, that's a major CPU/RAM hogging task and I don't know why or how. There's just a lot of system/service applications that are creating task and task and task and task upon tasks according to Task Manager and I'm stuck for ideas because if I end the tasks, the next time I restart it, they all start back up again which is another issue.

EDIT: There's also one called "Service Host: Local System (14)" that's causing about 40%-50% CPU Usage as well 

 

So, any advice/ideas on what to do? My friend mainly wants to use it just for web browsing and document writing.

He uses his main PC for a lot of other tasks and has this just because he wants to use it for something and not nothing.

Thanks

~Xiauj

Edited August 12, 2016 by Xiauj

[MoonlightSylv]

Do a scan with this: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

[don_svetlio]

That's not Lenovo software? That's the shitty OS updating itself? Your friend probably interrupted the update several times and borked the OS...

[don_svetlio]

Btw, Norton = constant 30-40% CPU load. It's ALWAYS like that

[don_svetlio]

3rd post = tell your friend to stop downloading shady porn...

[AverageHardware]

The main hog in that screenshot was Windows Update. Since the laptop hasn't been used for a while, it's pulling and installing a bunch of updates.

Give this utility a try: https://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

It removes all the bloatware that comes with PCs.

 

Also, get rid of any Antivirus that came with it, and go with something like Avast/AVG.

Use Malwarebytes to scan it.

Let it sit and update for a few hours/day(depending on internet and CPU speed)

[Xiauj]

16 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

That's not Lenovo software? That's the shitty OS updating itself? Your friend probably interrupted the update several times and borked the OS...

It's not Lenovo's..? They developed the laptop and a majority of the applications says "Lenovo _________     ________"

As I'm keeping an eye on it, they're not showing up as much, it's mostly the OS that's giving the CPU and RAM some issues. It's that "Service Host: Local System (#)" which is causing about 50.8% CPU usage at the moment.

 

14 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

3rd post = tell your friend to stop downloading shady porn...

I don't think it's p___ that he's downloaded, I've even checked and cleared the browsing history etc on all browsers.

 

11 minutes ago, AverageHardware said:

~snip~

 

 

 

 

Hmmm.... it seems like he's disabled updates or something then, and the system is trying to catch up. That and the antivirus' popups which are slowing it down when web browsing. Hmm... interesting. How do I check if he's disabled auto windows updates?

 

EDIT: I just checked Windows Updates and he hasn't disabled it but yet, Windows is taking forever to process them which is strange. Restarting it at the moment.

 

Got a feeling that's the issue.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Xiauj

[don_svetlio]

12 minutes ago, Xiauj said:

It's not Lenovo's..? They developed the laptop and a majority of the applications says "Lenovo _________     ________"

As I'm keeping an eye on it, they're not showing up as much, it's mostly the OS that's giving the CPU and RAM some issues. It's that "Service Host: Local System (#)" which is causing about 50.8% CPU usage at the moment.

 

I don't think it's p___ that he's downloaded, I've even checked and cleared the browsing history etc on all browsers.

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm.... it seems like he's disabled updates or something then, and the system is trying to catch up. That and the antivirus' popups which are slowing it down when web browsing. Hmm... interesting. How do I check if he's disabled auto windows updates?

 

EDIT: I just checked Windows Updates and he hasn't disabled it but yet, Windows is taking forever to process them which is strange. Restarting it at the moment.

 

Got a feeling that's the issue.

It's the OS, that is 100% certain. Porn trails are easy to hide but the cookies usually tell the whole story. or the flash player logs.

[vorticalbox]

if it is windows 10 just reset the thing keeping personal files. you can do it from the settings don't even need to make a windows install usb/disk

[Xiauj]

8 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Porn trails are easy to hide but the cookies usually tell the whole story. or the flash player logs.

That's true yeah I agree don_svetlio, I definitely agree. Cleared the cookies.

 

8 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

It's the OS, that is 100% certain.

What specifically about the OS do you think? Like a certain feature or.. something?

 

 

7 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

if it is windows 10 just reset the thing keeping personal files.

Nope, it's Windows 8.1 I believe.

 

 

 

After restarting it, it's now the "Windows Modules Installer Worker" that is causing 40%+ CPU Usage.

Also, there's 20%+ CPU Usage every now and then for that Service Host thing.

[Xiauj]

Hmm, so apparently some people online are experiencing the same issue and the system is basically scheduling maintenance?

Is there a way to make it so I can just do all the updates now in one go?

 

Spoiler

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-performance/windows-modules-installer-worker-high-cpu-usage/bf3dc73e-0b05-4935-920c-22409323f258?auth=1

 

This and "Lenovo Solution Center" is what's causing CPU Usage to still be high(er).

[vorticalbox]

download them? Pretty sure Microsoft do monthly patches you can download

[Xiauj]

Just now, vorticalbox said:

download them? Pretty sure Microsoft do monthly patches you can download

download what?

[vorticalbox]

I forget the name, like a big collection of updates.

[Xiauj]

Just now, vorticalbox said:

I forget the name, like a big collection of updates.

Oh? Where do I find this and see all the updates that need installing?

By the way, that task has ended and now it's stuck on that "Service Host: Local System (#)" yet again....

 

It continuously alternates between tasks in the Task Manager. I'm keeping an eye on it.

[vorticalbox]

6 minutes ago, Xiauj said:

Oh? Where do I find this and see all the updates that need installing?

By the way, that task has ended and now it's stuck on that "Service Host: Local System (#)" yet again....

 

It continuously alternates between tasks in the Task Manager. I'm keeping an eye on it.

sounds like a somewhat broken so, you should use the media tool to reset the pc. I believe you can do it from inside windows bur you might need a usb key

[Xiauj]

1 minute ago, vorticalbox said:

sounds like a somewhat broken so, you should use the media tool to reset the pc. I believe you can do it from inside windows bur you might need a usb key

"..media tool......."? do you mean one like @ShadowTechXTS very kindly recommended?:

Also, what do you mean by a USB Key?

Spoiler

56 minutes ago, ShadowTechXTS said:

Do a scan with this: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

 

 

[MoonlightSylv]

1 hour ago, Xiauj said:

"..media tool......."? do you mean one like @ShadowTechXTS very kindly recommended?:

Also, what do you mean by a USB Key?

  Hide contents

 

 

He means this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

And a thumb drive.

[Xiauj]

14 minutes ago, ShadowTechXTS said:

He means this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

And a thumb drive.

I thought you can't get Windows 10 anymore?

What do I do with the thumb/usb drive?

[Xiauj]

@ShadowTechXTS wait do you mean put the windows 10 install onto the usb then do it that way?

[ElZamo92]

What I personaly do in these cases (slow PC with tons of processes running in the background) I just do a clean Windows install. Just backup whatever data is important, and then nuke the main drive and reinstall Windows. 90% of the times works everytime.

[Xiauj]

Just now, ElZamo92 said:

What I personaly do in these cases (slow PC with tons of processes running in the background) I just do a clean Windows install. Just backup whatever data is important, and then nuke the main drive and reinstall Windows. 90% of the times works everytime.

Do you mean factory reset or just, put Windows 10 onto a USB and then start over from scratch?

 

If you meant the USB Option, how does one do such a thing?  Any good guide/tutorial recommendations?

[ElZamo92]

On 12/8/2016 at 3:01 PM, Xiauj said:

Do you mean factory reset or just, put Windows 10 onto a USB and then start over from scratch?

 

If you meant the USB Option, how does one do such a thing?  Any good guide/tutorial recommendations?

Sorry for the lateness. What I meant is to install Windows form scratch, which is pretty easy. Just make a bootable Windows 10 usb with the tool you'll find here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. From there, the process is pretty simple: Plug in your Windows 10 USB and follow the on screen directions. Just make sure you select not to save any personal files or preferences. After Windows is installed, look for the laptop's drivers in the manufacturer's web site. Then install an antivirus (I recomend Panda Free, but you can use whichever you like), and you are all set.