NP530U3C Issues - Please help

I'm having some real problems with this model laptop at the moment and I would really appreciate some help.

I'm going to try and keep it to the point, but these are the problems I've noticed.

I first spotted any issue whilst using traktor dj software last Friday. After an hour of use the computer wouldn't load the next track and hung for about a minute even though the program was running and sound was playing.

I then noticed I would suddenly get random slow downs in any program trying to do anything. All i would see is a blue spinny wheel and a two minutes wait for it to do anything. This could be web browing, playing mp3s etc. I also noticed that getting into control panel would take about 4 minutes, opening documents could be the same etc. Once it had cleared the computer goes back to being as fast as it ever was. I also noticed at one point I couldn't copy text in chrome without it crashing the page.

I cant hear the hard drive over working, and the cpu and ram were running normally, and no processes were taking up all system resources.

I decided to try and use a restore point, but I had only one restore point from before Friday, and when I tried to use it the computer had a critical failure. Unfortunately I didn't get a screen shot in time before I BSOD'd.

On startup from here I got repeated BSOD after about 3 minutes of windows being logged in.

I managed to restore to another restore point, and from there did a factory reset from the image on the hd.

So far I have:

Tried restore point - hasn't helped
Complete factory restore - hasn't helped
Run checkdisk - no issues
Run Malwarebytes - clean
Run AVG - clean
Cleared all temp files and recycle bin etc.
Run sfc -scannow which tells me some files cannot be repaired....

I don't remember when I ran CCleaner, but I have since read that the ccleaner registry cleaner is not needed with win 7 and can cause issues.

The full restore only took 10 minutes. From there I tried to remove the demo of office that come with the laptop but that took half an hour to uninstall. I am however still able to use the system besides it. Out of interest I then uninstalled norton online backup. Again this took about half an hour. The windows updates have so far taken four hours today and I'm only on 43 of 57.

It doesn't look like my hard drive is being activated, and the cpu and ram are under no load at all. I've just checked temperatures and cpu is 38, hd is 23. So it doesn't look like it's overheating either.

For another test, I thought I'd load up steam. This 1.5mb program took 30 minutes to install. I've never seen an issue like this. I have no ideas at all as to whats going on.....

Any other ideas as to what can be causing these slow downs? Or do I just need to send it back to Samsung?

Sorry that was so long winded and a massive thank you in advance for taking the time to read it.

 

I wonder if the HDD has problems. Download and install the trial version of ActiveSMART which should report the HDD's health. If there are problems with reading / writing the HDD then everything else stops.

John

 

Hi John,

Thanks for replying. Activesmart is saying that everything is fine. Bizarrely, once the system had finished updating (after four and a haf hours) it has been running fine. I put Balders Gate on, and was trying to run it and flick between windows and search the web etc and it has all been fine.

I don't understand how after a factory restore the problem wasn't rectified though, if it is a software issue?

I'm not sure now whether to load everything back onto the laptop in case it goes again either. This is so annoying.

I can hear the hard drive being accessed at the moment though which is good. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow evening brings.

 

I would be cautious for the next week or two until it is evident that the problem has gone away. Is your BIOS up-to-date?

John

 

I've not personally updated it... Think it's worth doing? Where would I get the latest version from?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

See this thread about updating the BIOS. I recommend using the BIOSupdate.exe program to check for and download the update file which you then run.

John

 

Thanks for your help John. It's massively appreciated. I'll get on it when I get back from work.

 

Well, I've updated the bios and updated the graphics drivers too for good measure. I've had one hang tonight so far in two hours use of reinstalling and restarting etc.

I don't really know what to do. I might ring Samsung and get a repair organised. I'm clueless as to what can be causing it as it's so intermittent.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

It would be beneficial to persist a little longer and identify the cause and how it can be replicated. Otherwise there's the risk of the computer going for repair and returning unfixed with a "no problem found" message. Perhaps one of the Sysinternal Utilities might help in monitoring what is happening. The other place to look is Event Viewer > System Log.

John

 

I get the feeling that they will do a factory restore and send it back.

I'll keep tabs on it and see if anything happens going forward.

Thanks for your time and help though John.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

So everything is now working perfectly.

its been really weird. It went from rubbish to ok with some weirdness to absolutely perfect.

I just don't know what went wrong. Its made me pretty nervous. I'm for months into warranty already. If it's hardware is rather know. I have a bad feeling it's the 5400 rpm hard drive so I'm considering sticking another SSD in. This forum is great though. Gonna get the detail of how to do it and see what my finances are saying after new year.

Just wanted to say thanks again for the help but I started rambling.

Cheers.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2