To me, it seems wrong to just run a bunch of different tools without understanding the underlying cause of the error.

If only more people would think like that :)

There actually are tools to determine why a Windows installation is performing worse than it should. The problem is, if you're not, at least, using Windows daily, using them might not yield the results you'd like.

Usually bad performance is trivial to solve. It's either a rogue process eating up all the resources or it's faulty hardware/drivers.

##Process Explorer The absolute first step I will usually make is to check Process Explorer. Process Explorer is like Task Manager on crack. You can also pull the executable file directly from live.sysinternals.com.
It will tell you if it's a driver (high Interrupts load) or a process.

##Analyzing High DPC/Interrupts We already have an excellent question on that subject, so I won't replicate any information here.

##Rogue Process If the problem is a rogue process and you can't kill it (maybe it's resistant malware), you might want to disable it using Autoruns.

Further reading

There are a lot more tools and a lot more ways to analyze Windows problems correctly. People actually write books about that. There is simply way too much knowledge to be conveyed in a SU answer :)

• How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?
• What are the essential tools you always have handy when attempting to fix someone's PC?
• How do I troubleshoot when I have no clue where to start?

Me personally, I would already be really happy if people would stop optimizing their Windows registry...

To me, it seems wrong to just run a bunch of different tools without understanding the underlying cause of the error.

If only more people would think like that :)

There actually are tools to determine why a Windows installation is performing worse than it should. The problem is, if you're not, at least, using Windows daily, using them might not yield the results you'd like.

Usually bad performance is trivial to solve. It's either a rogue process eating up all the resources or it's faulty hardware/drivers.

Process Explorer

The absolute first step I will usually make is to check Process Explorer. Process Explorer is like Task Manager on crack. You can also pull the executable file directly from live.sysinternals.com.
It will tell you if it's a driver (high Interrupts load) or a process.

Analyzing High DPC/Interrupts

We already have an excellent question on that subject, so I won't replicate any information here.

Rogue Process

If the problem is a rogue process and you can't kill it (maybe it's resistant malware), you might want to disable it using Autoruns.

Further reading

There are a lot more tools and a lot more ways to analyze Windows problems correctly. People actually write books about that. There is simply way too much knowledge to be conveyed in a SU answer :)

• How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?
• What are the essential tools you always have handy when attempting to fix someone's PC?
• How do I troubleshoot when I have no clue where to start?

Me personally, I would already be really happy if people would stop optimizing their Windows registry...

To me, it seems wrong to just run a bunch of different tools without understanding the underlying cause of the error.

If only more people would think like that :)

There actually are tools to determine why a Windows installation is performing worse than it should. The problem is, if you're not, at least, using Windows daily, using them might not yield the results you'd like.

Usually bad performance is trivial to solve. It's either a rogue process eating up all the resources or it's faulty hardware/drivers.

##Process Explorer The absolute first step I will usually make is to check Process Explorer. Process Explorer is like Task Manager on crack. You can also pull the executable file directly from live.sysinternals.com.
It will tell you if it's a driver (high Interrupts load) or a process.

##Analyzing High DPC/Interrupts We already have an excellent question on that subject, so I won't replicate any information here.

##Rogue Process If the problem is a rogue process and you can't kill it (maybe it's resistant malware), you might want to disable it using Autoruns.

Further reading

There are a lot more tools and a lot more ways to analyze Windows problems correctly. People actually write books about that. There is simply way too much knowledge to be conveyed in a SU answer :)

• How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?
• What are the essential tools you always have handy when attempting to fix someone's PC?
• How do I troubleshoot when I have no clue where to start?

Me personally, I would already be really happy if people would stop optimizing their Windows registry...

To me, it seems wrong to just run a bunch of different tools without understanding the underlying cause of the error.

If only more people would think like that :)

There actually are tools to determine why a Windows installation is performing worse than it should. The problem is, if you're not, at least, using Windows daily, using them might not yield the results you'd like.

Usually bad performance is trivial to solve. It's either a rogue process eating up all the resources or it's faulty hardware/drivers.

##Process Explorer The absolute first step I will usually make is to check Process Explorer. Process Explorer is like Task Manager on crack. You can also pull the executable file directly from live.sysinternals.com.
It will tell you if it's a driver (high Interrupts load) or a process.

##Analyzing High DPC/Interrupts We already have an excellent question on that subject, so I won't replicate any information here.

##Rogue Process If the problem is a rogue process and you can't kill it (maybe it's resistant malware), you might want to disable it using Autoruns.

Further reading

There are a lot more tools and a lot more ways to analyze Windows problems correctly. People actually write books about that. There is simply way too much knowledge to be conveyed in a SU answer :)

• How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?
• What are the essential tools you always have handy when attempting to fix someone's PC?
• How do I troubleshoot when I have no clue where to start?

Me personally, I would already be really happy if people would stop optimizing their Windows registry...