CPU Usage Problem

[Foofoojack]

I recently chatted with Dell Live Chat to fix a problem I had with my laptop randomly shutting off at random times.

They had me run a couple of Dell Diagnostics, and download a BIOS update.

Ever since this update, my laptop has been EXTREMELY slow.

Youtube videos are super choppy, it takes a very long time to load any given web page, and I can no longer enjoy Garrys mod in a playable way because of the 3-5 fps I am now getting.

When playing music and browsing the web, my CPU Usage is usually at 100%, which is completely insane.

I opened up task manager to see what was taking up so much cpu usage, and the top 3 are chrome, steam, and dmw.exe (not in any specific order).


I've tried to live chat will Dell again, but have gotten nowhere because they're apparently always "busy".





Any help with this would be GREATLY appreciated.

[Rocket50]

Close everything, and leave your computer idle, does the CPU usage graph still spike randomly?

[Foofoojack]

Close everything, and leave your computer idle, does the CPU usage graph still spike randomly?

I've done this, closing everything and not touching anything. It usually sits at around 15-35% usage when idle.

[blαh2355]

I've done this, closing everything and not touching anything. It usually sits at around 15-35% usage when idle.

Check for viruses? Look closely at what's hogging CPU in task manager?

Maybe check BIOS/CPU settings?

[๖Ϝцzsioᴎ]

System restore before the update, when you log back in there will be a balloon saying "WINDOWS WANT TO INSTALL UPDATES THAT WILL BREAK YOUR COMPUTER HURR HURR" Click the update thing in the taskbar and hide all of the updates Windows wants to install (This includes Important and Optional updates).
This should fix your problem and get rid of that set of updates.

[Foofoojack]

Check for viruses? Look closely at what's hogging CPU in task manager?

Maybe check BIOS/CPU settings?

If I knew how, sure.

System restore before the update, when you log back in there will be a balloon saying "WINDOWS WANT TO INSTALL UPDATES THAT WILL BREAK YOUR COMPUTER HURR HURR" Click the update thing in the taskbar and hide all of the updates Windows wants to install (This includes Important and Optional updates).
This should fix your problem and get rid of that set of updates.

What do you mean by system restore "before the update"?

[blαh2355]

System restore before the update, when you log back in there will be a balloon saying "WINDOWS WANT TO INSTALL UPDATES THAT WILL BREAK YOUR COMPUTER HURR HURR" Click the update thing in the taskbar and hide all of the updates Windows wants to install (This includes Important and Optional updates).
This should fix your problem and get rid of that set of updates.

It's not a regular windows update, it's a BIOS update, totally different.

BTW, what laptop and basic specs?

[๖Ϝцzsioᴎ]

Oh, then that's my fault for not listening,
Ignore my stupidity.

[Foofoojack]

It's not a regular windows update, it's a BIOS update, totally different.

BTW, what laptop and basic specs?

OS Name   Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version   6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description    Not Available
OS Manufacturer   Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer   Dell Inc.
System Model   Inspiron N5040
System Type   x64-based PC
Processor        Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU       M 380  @ 2.53GHz, 2527 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date   Dell Inc. A05, 5/30/2012
SMBIOS Version   2.6
Windows Directory   C:\windows
System Directory   C:\windows\system32
Boot Device   \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale   United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer   Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
Time Zone   Pacific Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)   4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory   3.80 GB
Available Physical Memory   1.36 GB
Total Virtual Memory   7.60 GB
Available Virtual Memory   4.24 GB
Page File Space   3.80 GB
Page File   C:\pagefile.sys

[blαh2355]

Do you know how to go into your BIOS? If not, when the laptop starts up, you usually see the dell loading screen then it says press F(#) to enter the settings.

I'm not sure as I'm not as familiar with BIOS settings but I've looked around and you could try disabling SpeedStep but that could potentially have a hotter laptop which in turn, louder fans and more battery consumption. Just try it though.

And possibly take pics while you're there?

[Peetah]

Well since it happened right after bios update.
You try "Load Default/Optimal/Fail-Safe Settings"? (Wording would be different depending on mobo)

[coolzeldad]

Well since it happened right after bios update.
You try "Load Default/Optimal/Fail-Safe Settings"? (Wording would be different depending on mobo)

Also, you could try downgrading your bios if that doesn't work..

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/Product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040

That's the support section for your model I believe, and I believe you are on the latest A05 bios, could try downgrading to the A03 that's on their if what above does not work for you.

Edit: Also, here's the links to all the past bios for your model that are on the site.. I don't think they have A02 up there.

A01: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040?driverId=P5Y3D&fileId=2731119044
A03: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040?driverId=R311578&fileId=2731119044
A04: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040?driverId=64G30&fileId=2987720980
A05: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails/product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040?driverid=fk7rp&fileid=2987720980

[Foofoojack]

Well since it happened right after bios update.
You try "Load Default/Optimal/Fail-Safe Settings"? (Wording would be different depending on mobo)

How do I do/try this? I don't have a lot of knowledge on this type of stuff.

Also, you could try downgrading your bios if that doesn't work..

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/Product/inspiron-15-intel-n5040

That's the support section for your model I believe, and I believe you are on the latest A05 bios, could try downgrading to the A03 that's on their if what above does not work for you.

So I tried downgrading, but when I did it said something like "The bios will now flash to an older version, dell does not recommend flashing to an older version. Press OK to exit."


I press OK, and it goes away, nothing happens after that.

I X it out, same thing happens.

[Foofoojack]

Sorry for the double post, just wanted to make sure you guys know it has been resolved.

I went into my bios settings, and restored to defaults, it now runs how it should be.


Thanks for all the help!

[coolzeldad]

Sorry for the double post, just wanted to make sure you guys know it has been resolved.

I went into my bios settings, and restored to defaults, it now runs how it should be.


Thanks for all the help!

nice! congrats