Upgrading RAM Slows Down Notebook

[Twisted4000]

I got an HP Pavilion G6 2233-nr notebook PC with Windows 7 64-bit installed. It came with 4GB of RAM. Recently I bought another 4GB RAM card and added it into the second slot, and since, the computer has been much slower. Starting it up takes considerably longer, opening up a program takes a very long time, so on. Though what is weird is that the ADDITIONAL time I open up a program, it opens up lightning fast, as fast as it should. It's just the first time I open up a program after I boot up the computer, it takes forever, much longer than it originally did.

I don't really know why this is. Yes, it's the exact same model, COMPLETELY identical to the original stick of RAM I had in. Speccy is showing it is running in Dual-Channel @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24). It is also detecting that they are the same exact model. I ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool and it returned no issues. Apparently both modules are working just fine.

What's weird is that I even tried taking out a stick, and even with just the original one in, it's still slow. Way slower than when I didn't install more RAM to begin with. Yes, I tried switching the cards around and only using one of each, I flashed the BIOS to the latest version, reinstalled WiFi and GPU drivers, etc.

What is the problem here?

 

[pigpottomus]

Could be something else that is making it slow? Perhaps junk/temp files?

 

[Twisted4000]

Could be something else that is making it slow? Perhaps junk/temp files?

I have used CCleaner and Disk Cleanup a few times, they didn't really find much. No difference yet.

 

[pigpottomus]

Could be some sort of virus or malware. Because in your situation its the complete opposite, instead of being fast with the added ram stick, its slower.....

 

[Twisted4000]

Could be some sort of virus or malware. Because in your situation its the complete opposite, instead of being fast with the added ram stick, its slower.....

This is a newly-installed computer, but I have run full system scans with anti-malware programs. I haven't found anything.

 

[orion456]

You have pretty much tried all the easy stuff. Perhaps its a hard drive issue. Try running chkdsk /r to see if there is a faulty sector causing many retries (it will need to run over night).

sfc /scannow will check if some component of windows is faulty or missing.

Look in device Manager for any yellow exclamation marks or unsigned drivers.

Make sure JAVA is up to date and old versions deleted.

Check in the EVENT VIEWER to see if any yellow or red flags are set.

You can also try running defrag.

I would also run memtest for 24 hours just to be sure the memory and or slots are actually working 100%.

Have you let the computer just sit for 24 hours (with no auto power downs or hybernation) so that it can do its internal chores? Sometimes defragging, setting up prefetch, updates, etc consumes a lot of resources. If you only ever turn it on and use it intensely or its new, there isn't time for the system to finish its work, and every time you turn it on, it tries to catch up and the more behind it gets.

It seems to me it is a faulty driver if the above check out ok. Try running Driver Verfier I haven't used it myself, but it might be worth running.

 

[Twisted4000]

I have tried both ckdsk and sfc /scannow, they returned no errors.

There are some drivers still missing, two USB hubs and the bluetooth feature thing. I will install those, though I don't quite expect them to fix this issue.

I will run Memtest.

I will also let the computer stay on for about 24 hours then, we'll see what that helps. I will report back after I have tried all of this.

 

[TransformedBG]

did you get the same memory or different than what came stock in your laptop?

 

[Twisted4000]

did you get the same memory or different than what came stock in your laptop?

As I have originally stated, yes, I have gotten the same, completely identical memory model that my laptop originally had.

 

[pigpottomus]

you can try running memtest86+?
http://www.memtest.org/

 

[Twisted4000]

you can try running memtest86+?
http://www.memtest.org/

As I have said, no, I have not yet tried running that yet, although I have ran Windows Memory Diagnostic and it returned no errors.

One thing I will say is, after de-fragmenting the hard drive, running some more Windows updates and letting the computer stay on for about 24 hours, it seems that everything is running much more smoothly now. But we will see in time if that had really fixed it...

 

[orion456]

As I have said, no, I have not yet tried running that yet, although I have ran Windows Memory Diagnostic and it returned no errors.

One thing I will say is, after de-fragmenting the hard drive, running some more Windows updates and letting the computer stay on for about 24 hours, it seems that everything is running much more smoothly now. But we will see in time if that had really fixed it...

It's a good idea to just let your laptop sit on once a week over night and do its chores. I found my vista laptop, long a terrible dog, works better after its weekly refresh.

 

[Twisted4000]

Alright, I've run Memtest and it returned no errors at all. The computer is still pretty slow to start up a lot of the time, and as I said, over time it smooths out, but it's still annoying.