Return to Question

Update: Used ShellEx to disable all non-Microsoft items, with unnoticeable performance improvement.

**Note/Update: One detail to mention is that in both cases, I purchased the hardware new, however in both cases the devices were several years old and I didn't wipe off any dust (nor did I see any) ... is there a possibility that there was a short circuit somewhere due to dust (however I didn't notice any) and enough to kill the board's inbuilt esd protection?

Misha thanks for your response. Using that software, these are the summarized results after 1-2 minutes.

Additionally, using the 'My Dell' tool (http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/19/article/Product-Support/Self-support-Knowledgebase/software-and-downloads/support-center), it tells me that under Device Manager, there is one device without a driver (Ethernet controller) which is somewhat consistent with LatencyMon reporting NDIS lagging.

Update: Installed ethernet driver and other drivers from (  http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-660s/drivers) with the exception of 'high-risk' updates such as bios and firmware and one or two updates had errors.

When disabling both the Wlan and lan, I still get Message3 right after opening any program (including chrome) and the high-use drivers listed are tcpip.sys and usbport.sys, nbit.sys and storeport.sys. Hal.dll also has a high isr count.

Would it be worthwhile to try disconnecting the hardware and uninstalling its driver?

**Note/Update: One common detail to mention is that the hardware was purchased new, however the devices were several years old at the time of connecting. I didn't spray or wipe dust (as there was no visible accumulation). Would there have been enough to cause an esd protection failure, yet not enough to disable any noticeable functionality? Could it be a bad cable? (It uses micro-usb and I may not have used the one that the device was shipped with.)

Thanks for the first response below. Using the suggested software, these are the summarized results after 1-2 minutes.

Additionally, using the 'My Dell' tool (http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/19/article/Product-Support/Self-support-Knowledgebase/software-and-downloads/support-center), it tells me that under Device Manager, there is one device without a driver (Ethernet controller) which is somewhat consistent with LatencyMon reporting NDIS lagging. I Installed ethernet and other drivers from (http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-660s/drivers) with the exception of high-risk updates such as bios and firmware and one or two updates had errors.

When disabling both the Wlan and lan, I still get Message3 right after opening any program (including chrome) and the high-use drivers listed are tcpip.sys, usbport.sys, nbit.sys and storeport.sys, and at one point Hal.dll also has a high isr count.

Would it be worthwhile to disconnect the hardware (tried) and uninstall its driver?