Need help or advice with Fresh Windows Install and Windows 20h2! Very slow boot time??

[Lurker]

I consider myself fairly computer literate. I've always built my PCs from scratch. As far back as I can remember. I've done countless OS installations over the years. I even work in IT. I never thought I was going to say these words....

 

But I need help with my Windows OS install. I recently decided to format my C:\ drive and reinstall Windows, I've had trouble setting up my Reverb G2 and I messed around with the Windows registry too much so I wanted a fresh clean start. I have an original Windows Home 64 bit installation USB and a legit key. (Not bought through resellers)

 

After the installation which went fine, i decided to check for updates and download all of them, or all the non-optional ones in any case. For some reason my OS decided that it was a good idea to download the Windows 20h2 build. Didn't even ask me for confirmation. 

 

First of all this took nearly 5 hours. Okay, I let it do its thing. It was almost impossible to use my PC during this time so I left it alone. After the update finished (this morning) I checked and it had to download a few more patches. 

 

However my PC feels sluggish and slow, everything takes a second or more to open. By Boot up time is around 35-45 seconds. (I timed it a few times) This is on an SSD NVME m2 Drive.....Even without Fast Book enabled my PC had no trouble getting up in about 10 seconds flat previously. 

 

So far the only drivers (other than the ones Windows automatically installed) I downloaded and installed so far are my graphics drivers. I have installed NO other software other than Google Chrome, which is again, slow as F$%&. So my question to everyone is:

 

Is this normal? Are Windows 20h2 supposed to be that slow? I'm loath to download 150GB of DCS World only to discover that I have to re-install my entire OS from scratch. Again. So please, I need help, what do I do, and how do I get back my performance (if indeed it is lost at all)

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

My system: 

 

i5-9600k (currently not overclocked) (freshly reseated, new thermal pase, new watercooler Be Quiet Silent Loop 2)

MSI Gigabyte Gaming X 390Z motherboard

2x16 GB DDR4 RAM, 3200 SMP profile

1 TB Nvme\M2 SSD (Formated, fresh Windows install)

2 TB WD Harddisk

 

 

 

 

[Lurker]

Hmmm, seems like very few people read this part of the forum. No suggestions? Should I install Chipset drivers? Flash my BIOS? Maybe someone can even point me in the direction of a dedicated Win OS forum where I can go for advice\guide? 

[LucShep]

That does sound a bit odd.

Are BIOS settings OK? (if not, load optimized defaults and config it from there)

Are RAM speeds OK? (if not, load XMP, or adjust things manually, etc)

 

Personally, what I always do with new fresh installations, is to use the latest Win10 ISO from Microsoft, and use their Media Creation Tool (USB app thingy for the USB pen).
Mainly because it's always the most up-to-date version (Home, Pro, and Ultimate, etc) and only the latest (smaller) updates are not included.

The frustrating (utterly annoying) very long downloading+updating procedures of a new installation of Windows are shortened to a minimum.

Once using the USB pen for Win10 installation, you just have to select the corresponding Win10 version for that key you have, and your legit key (when asked).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

Afterwards, once Win10 updates are done, IMO this is a must: O&O ShutUp10 (oo-software.com)

It's a two-clicks thing procedure + reboot (apply recommended settings, or adjust as desired) - it cuts out all the unnecessary crap from Windows 10 (known to eat resources in background).

In anycase, what you did is not wrong.
Open task manager whenever you notice the sluggish feeling, see what process is consuming more resources, for CPU, for RAM, and for disc activity.
I suspect either corrupt/virulent file, or SSD becoming faulty (what you describe is one of the simptoms). 
 

Edited September 9, 2021 by LucShep

[Lurker]

Oh crap. I hope it's not a corrupt SSD. It's a fairly robust NVMe M2 drive that's less than two years old. In any case it behaved fine for the short interim duration until it downloaded the 20h2 version. It's either the 20h2 version, or maybe some kind of partition failure (they looked kind of weird on setup, and on second thought I didn't delete all of them as I should have done.)

 

I will try and run the Media Creation Tool and go from there. Do I need to install chipset drivers, or will the latest version of Windows take care of that for me if I go down that route? One other question, is there a diagnostic tool I can use to check the SSD for errors, just in case?

Edited September 9, 2021 by Lurker

[LucShep]

1 hour ago, Lurker said:

Oh crap. I hope it's not a corrupt SSD. It's a fairly robust NVMe M2 drive that's less than two years old. In any case it behaved fine for the short interim duration until it downloaded the 20h2 version. It's either the 20h2 version, or maybe some kind of partition failure (they looked kind of weird on setup, and on second thought I didn't delete all of them as I should have done.)

 

I will try and run the Media Creation Tool and go from there. Do I need to install chipset drivers, or will the latest version of Windows take care of that for me if I go down that route? One other question, is there a diagnostic tool I can use to check the SSD for errors, just in case?

 

 

Yes, do use the specific chipset drivers (and Win10 version ones) for your corresponding motherboard model.

Only case where you do not use chipset drivers from board manufacturer is if it's an older board (or if it's drivers are only upto Win7/Win8), as Win10 includes them all older ones already.  
 

Same thing for specific board components (onboard sound, Wifi, etc) if you're going to use those.
 

IMO, rest of board drivers are not necessary - just leave it to Win10 built-in drivers. 

About the partitioning thing, if you're restarting the procedure all over again, I'd pay special attention not to fully use the disk when partitioning. Leave a little of non-used space (600MB is usually enough), there have been a few occasions where I got issues with reserved system space when not doing it, as odd as it may sound.

Edited September 9, 2021 by LucShep

[Lurker]

I will try installing all the chipset drivers first and see if that does the trick, if the performance issues continue I will do a complete (re)install using your tips. Thanks again Lucshep, will report back here with the results (whatever they might be)

Edited September 9, 2021 by Lurker

[LucShep]

Glad if it helps.  

Not sure you went through it already, but as I said previously, do check if BIOS settings are OK (if not, load optimized defaults and config it from there), as well as RAM speeds also check if OK (if not, enable XMP, or adjust things manually, etc).

Little things like those are sometimes overlooked, and can make all the difference.

Edited September 9, 2021 by LucShep

[BitMaster]

Imho, wipe the drive and Do-it-again-Jack

 

But before you do that, update your stick with Win10-21H1 so you don't have to download and install prior builds and updates etc...

 

This is the actual MS site do download the tool to prepare the stick. This one is in german, best to google from your desktop and google results will prompt you with the one in your native language.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/software-download/windows10

 

You have to distinguish between TIME TO INITIALIZE THE BOARD --and-- TIME TO BOOT WIN10.

 

If it takes very very long to get past the Motherboard initialization your RAM might be at the wrong setting. If you have to wait ages for Win10 to boot, then it's some driver most likely causing issues.

 

Either way, wipe that thing and install a clean 21H1 then install Chipset+GPU+Sound+LAN/WLAN/BT drivers, thern update 10 ( with optional updates, you need .Net etc.. )that so it has all updates and then proceed with the apps that you have.

 

If I set my RAM to  "strange" stettings my Bios-Initialization can take up to 30-40 seconds to get the BEEP...+ all the rest that comes after that. With the correct settings it goes BEEP in less than 2 seconds after hitting the power button. There are other settings that can slow down the process: Chipset-Raid-Arrays and AIB like Raid-Cards, feature rich NICs, active ISDN cards but that is likely not your scenario with a home computer running 10 Home

Edited September 9, 2021 by BitMaster

[LucShep]

2 hours ago, Lurker said:

One other question, is there a diagnostic tool I can use to check the SSD for errors, just in case?

 

 

Forgot abot this one.

There are various software for this, some even from SSD manufacturers (might be there for the brand you use).

For examples: SSD Health Check & Performance Tools | ESF (enterprisestorageforum.com)

 

Ones I use are CrystalDiskInfo, SSD Life and SSDReady, others I don't know.
The tricky part is, they're not 100% reliable.

 

I got here two faulty 240GB SATA SSDs used for OS (in different PCs), became "kaput".

Both were above 90% SSD life, no errors on these, even benchmarks seemed ok.

But both developed similar issue (and out of warranty, just my luck), which is, to be working fine then, all of a sudden, system hangs (freeze) for a few seconds, and repeating same thing without any explanation at any given moment. No driver conflicts, nor corrupted/virulent files. If used on games (after reformating), same thing happens, game freezes for a bit, etc.

New SSD solved the problem completely, even if using a cloned system.

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by LucShep

[BitMaster]

YES You need to install Chipset drivers !!!

 

Either the ones from your MB Support site or the newest ones from Intel.

 

You likely need the proper Audio driver pack as well, for LAN/WLAN/BT you can use the drivers from 10 if it provides some but I personally would install the latest drivers from the MB page.

 

ALSO....install SAMSUNG NVMe driver !!!   otherwise you loose some performance. Samsung NVMe like their own driver far more than MS general version!

Samsung Magician is the tool you need to check the drive.

 

Same site has the NVMe ( further down the page ) and may also hold a new Firmware.

 

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

Samsung Magician, same page as NVMe driver, will scan your drive and read SMART data.

 

Install Magician + NVMe driver from Samsung if you run Samsung SSD of any kind.

[Lurker]

Like I said, the SSD showed no such problems before I decided to do a clean reinstall. Likewise, the "fresh" install worked perfectly, for all of about 2 minutes (before it started to download the 20H2 version). I've read a few very similar accounts online where Windows update caused serious and very similar issues. The reason I went for the clean reinstall is because i recently got a new VR headset and had issues with SteamVR crashing and previously I muddled too much with some of my registry settings and in general the OS install was getting kinda bloated. I just wanted a fresh go to eliminate all possible issues. 

 

@BitMaster yeah, I think that's what I'll end up doing. Use the Windows Media Creation Tool to create the latest bootable USB like Lucshep suggested, do a complete partition deletion reformat and then take it from there with the chipset drivers etc. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Lurker

[BitMaster]

[Bossco82]

I had this exact problem with "I think" the same update. It wasn't on my own machine but my mates. Like you I am experienced and was totally stumped. Also it was a high end maching, 5800x, X570 with NVME. I built it for her. The best is it would pass CMD integrity checks etc

 

As Lucshep suggested. I did a complete reinstall using the "Windows Media Creation Tool" I also downloaded all the latest drivers such as chipset, graphics etc to a separate USB drive and installed them one by one. It worked fine after that, I think that was the start of June and no problems since. Its a daily gaming/media machine.

 

Chalk it up to a corrupted Windows update. Ive been building computers since 1998 this was my first experience of such a problem. I thought I was losing my touch!

[Lurker]

Fresh install, checked all partitions. All good now. Even without any additional downloads. Off to download chipset, and Nvidia drivers. Thanks everyone. Thing is flying now. Phew, I thought I was goner for sure...

[LucShep]

4 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Fresh install, checked all partitions. All good now. Even without any additional downloads. Off to download chipset, and Nvidia drivers. Thanks everyone. Thing is flying now. Phew, I thought I was goner for sure...

HAHA   all's well that ends well. 

[BitMaster]

FYI:

 

If you install new or need to update software, you can safe lots of time using ninite.com installer script.

 

It is one of the best tools I have found in 25 years servicing computers.  Absolut free of any bloatware, it actually takes it also off from software packages you choose, your language, etc..

 

And best is, run the script once a week and it will update all the software manag3ed by the script with 1-Click

 

Scroll down the ninite page and check who is using it ( payed version likely ). It is 100% free for personal use.

 

You wont regret reading that page and trying it out !

 

https://www.ninite.com