Sudden PC sluggishness - Asus, Windows 7

[madara]

Hi,

Around 1-2 months ago, my PC was downstairs with no known issues. I recently moved it upstairs into my room and I've been getting ridiculous issues that are driving me insane.

In a nutshell, my pc seems a lot more sluggish with random lag-spikes, similar to those you'd get online (although this occurs when I'm using the PC offline). I only noticed this because one day my speakers would cut in and out randomly, and would sometimes stutter and repeat. I tried a ton of different fixes, most of which were physical (like relocating the PC, checking wire connections, etc), since I hadn't changed any software/program before and after moving the computer.

I figured that the spikes were due to the speakers, so I disconnected them altogether, but I'm still getting the spikes, and I'm really confused as to what the underlying issue is. Here's a list of things I've tried:
- Ran Norton360 and MBAM scans, both were negative for viruses/malware
- Did a disk defrag (before the defrag there was only 4% fragments, after defrag the issue still persists)
- Cleared browsing history/cookies (I don't think the issue is internet based but I thought I'd might as well)
- Performed a disk cleanup on both C: and D: drives
- Cleared useless files (such as word docs, no windows files) (Currently the C drive has 11.1GB free of 49.9, and the D drive has 1.29TB free of 1.81, so I don't think its an issue due to too many files)
- Closed all unnecessary running programs (CPU usage is always <30%, and physical memory usage is always <15%)

Some PC specs:
- Asus (not sure of model) running Microsoft Windows 7
- Intel Core i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz, 4 Cores
- 16GB Physical memory

If anyone's able to give me some insight as to what's going on, it would be most appreciated. The only thing left that I can think of is that I've done something to the PC physically (like melted something) or the location of the PC is affecting it, which I doubt.

Again, thanks in advance for any/all the help. Also, I'm not terribly computer snazzy when it comes to troubleshooting, so please bare with me if I ask silly questions like how to open up certain programs, etc .

Patrick.

[Allan]

Sorry, I don't know what lag spikes are. Please describe the problem in detail. EXACTLY what is happening and when does it happen?

[madara]

The PC is sluggish pretty much from startup. Movies stutters/lags, opening programs sometimes fails, opening web pages is slow, pretty much anything has an increased response time.

[DaveLembke]

Is this laptop still covered by warranty? My friend had a similar ASUS Core i7 laptop and he gamed with it and it kept having choppy graphics and sound and sometimes would lock up mouse pointer and all for about 3 seconds and then become responsive again soon after. He sent his back RMA and then shipped him a new one. He ended up adding one of those fan platforms that go between the laptop and the tabletop etc to keep the replacement running cooler as for his ASUS was always roasting hot on the bottom side after playing games. So far he has been without issues. Maybe you can send yours back RMA if still covered by warranty. In addition to this I have heard that ASUS has had some quality issues lately with their products, but I have ASUS video cards and a ASUS motherboard and they seem to be running ok.

[Allan]

Let's try a clean boot and see what happens.

Open msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (uncheck all three items) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming procedure, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.

After you've isolated the cause, do not use msconfig to permanently disable the process. Instead, if it is a service go to START - RUN and type: services.msc (then press enter) and disable the service OR, if it a program, you can download & run a simple app such as Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) to enable, disable, or otherwise manage startup programs.

[madara]

Thanks for all the replies.

My PC is still under warranty but I'm a bit cautious about sending it off right now because I have Uni commitments and access to a PC is absolutely vital. I was hoping it was something minor that I could fix on the spot but it doesn't seem to be.
The main reason I'm posting is that I'm worried it'll break down in the next 4 months...I just need it to last that long so I can finish Uni and send it off.

At the moment (since I've started the PC today) the issue hasn't been present. However, if it happens again later on I'll follow your advice Allen.

Thanks again everyone