What/how to upgrade this computer...

Maybe so. I'm realizing the SSD swap will be a lot more work, due to changing the operating system. I believe a chunk of the lagginess is due to virtual memory swap-I can hear the hard drive running-so memory is probably the first thing. The rest of the lagginess I now think might not be helped so much by an SSD, I believe it is a runaway process problem. dwm.exe seems to be running excessively, maybe some other things. One of those situations where in Task Manager you see the CPU usage constantly jumping up and down, but no one process shows a huge %.

 

Just Google it man. It's true.

 

Install a Linux distro that still supports 32 bit architecture would speed things up.

 

It's not. You're just plain wrong. Defragging isn't on by default nor is it done on-the-fly.

 

lol, ok man, whatever. There's even an article already posted on this thread that goes into detail about the auto Defrag even doing some work on SSDs and every single resource you'll find online will tell you the same.

VMware View 5.2 Documentation Library

 

How to automatically defragment new disks in Windows 7

 

@Strat-Mangler and this one is straight from the Microsoft website. Prove me wrong.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17126/windows-7-improve-performance-defragmenting-hard-disk

 

You stated the following ;

"You realize Windows Vista and newer Defrag automatically, right? (...) This also means there's probably no reason for the OP to do so, since he's running Win7."

Your latest batch of links does nothing to refute this. CNET (not exactly a website that knows much about anything) stating very ambiguously that there's a process that automatically defrags data on-the-fly without mentioning what it is doesn't prove anything. The two other links are about using scheduled tasks which isn't anything new.

I'm still waiting to see where this automatic defragging comes from and you haven't provided any proof of that. Scheduled tasks and constantly running tasks are two different things. If you meant the former, this is just a case of poorly chosen words and would suggest being more careful in the future. If you meant the latter, you should have no problem in giving me concrete proof of what you're referring to.

 

I never said it was a "constantly running task" I said it defrags automatically. Check out the meaning of the word.



Also, look at the words literally used in disk optimization: "Drives are being optimized automatically."

You're being nit-picky to a stupid degree and putting words in my mouth.

 

Keep in mind, this is a screen shot of my own computer. I never turned on this feature. It is on by default.

 

I'm not. Your comments implied that just having Vista or a more recent OS would be enough to have the data defragged automatically, without the need for a user to do anything... which is patently untrue.

The user would need to SCHEDULE an event to have the task run or it can be run manually. You might have known what you meant but you clearly should phrase things in a clearer way.

As for the process being on, it is possible that OEM-purchased computers will have it on by default if places like Dell decide to make minor changes like this but all PCs I've ever had have had the Microsoft-published unaltered versions of OSes installed and none of any of them have ever had scheduled defraging on by default.

 

IT'S ON BY DEFAULT! Do you speak English?

I use Windows 10 LTSB. Clean install. No branding.

 

The last paragraph explains a possible reason.

Do you read English?

 

I have been in the business of repairing PCs for over ten years. I've installed clean copies of windows 7-10 probably 200 times. It's true of every single one.

 

They absolutely do. It's scheduled in the Task Scheduler MMC snap-in to run every Wednesday. SSD drives are not defragged, because moving the data around doesn't help performance, because there is no moving head latency that can be improved.

A SSD swap can be completely transparent; the data can be duplicated. You just need to backup and restore the data, or duplicate the drive to the new one (in a different computer), using utilities designed to do so.

Having a second drive on hand gives you the opportunity to see if a different OS or a fresh reinstall would solve any other problems though.

 

I have as well and have not encountered this. Strange. This has caused me to look at others' experiences. It's all over the place. In some cases, it is and others, it isn't. Some have expressed surprised it's on by default, causing some severe performance issues during the operation and in others, the users are asking how to create a task to schedule it.

I wonder if this could be related to the different versions of each OS. For instance, if you're installing Enterprise, maybe that is scheduled by default but in another version (say Professional), it is not?

 

I have 10 Pro on my gaming rig, 10 LTSB (Enterprise) on my server, and a laptop that went from Win 8 Home and upgraded to 10. All are on by default. All were installed from clean, unbranded copies of Windows. I'm not sure what versions you're using, but I have never not seen it on by default.

 

My apologies to the OP for having this argument on your thread.

 

From what little time I dedicated to checking it out online, it appears all W10 versions have it enabled by default. Since the company I'm on is shy about migrating towards W10 (for some reason), this might explain our differing experiences, if (and only if) it is disabled on previous Windows versions on some releases.

In any case, I also apologize for derailing the thread. It takes two to tango but I certainly queued up the song.

 

There's an easy way to find out. @head_unit, can you open disk optimization and see if it's turned on and let us know what version you're running? Hahaha

 

I don't disagree. For me personally the hassle wouldn't be worth it. it is a little bit like putting a new transmission in a Dodge Dart that has 280,000 miles

 

Put a minimalist Linux distro on it.

 

Linux is great n all, but I have found the support for laptop drivers to be spotty at best. Unless the OP is quite tech savvy, I think it might be a big headache for him. I've had nothing but good experiences with Linux on desktop, but struggled with display and WLAN drivers on laptops, usually requiring some command line work. Definitely worth loading to a thumb drive and trying out a live preview though. Never know, might get lucky and have natively supported hardware, but that hasn't been my experience. Admittedly, my experiences were MANY years ago, so maybe it's gotten better since then.

 

Yes, be ashamed of yourselves! Bad dogs! Years I've been frequenting this forum and never seen a thread derailed!


As for the defragging, I found that best done with a bottle of Kahlua and a ball peen hammer...

 

Funny you should mention that, I've been meaning to get around to fixing that tranny...