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SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 2:05 am
by ekendraed
I have a HP 8540W Mobile Workstation running on Windows 7 Professional, 64 BIT, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU M620 @ 2.67 HGz with 8GB RAM

The problem I have is that when I run SDRuno 1.31 (or any other version), the CPU will usually run at about 50% with an occasional spike rising to about 90%.

If I start SDUuno 1.31 immediately after the PC has booted, invariably I will get a lock down/freeze. So what I have been doing is to allow the Laptop to complete all of its background tasks before I start SDRuno. Then everything stays normal and SDRuno<>RSP1A works just great!!

If I now try to do some internet browsing or MS Office work, the program becomes very choppy with the CPU spiking continuously to 100%

I asked my vendor if I should upgrade the CPU, (I am not sure if the HP8540w can any longer accommodate any faster CPUs) and he suggested replacing the HDD with SSD. Now I am not very convinced if that is the best workable solution.

Can an IT expert kindly tell me what the best option would be to use SDRuno along side internet browsing etc


I also have an ASUS X542 laptop running with Windows 10 Home, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60 GHz and 8GB RAM, and I have absolutely no issues using SDRuno 1.31 along side internet browsing or MSO.

So what is the problem with Windows i7 laptop?

4S7EF

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 2:58 am
by Mike2459
Your CPU usage seems outrageously high. Try disabling some startup programs that you may not really need. Disable some of Win 7's eyecandy (visual effects), it's cute but there's a performance price associated with it.
This video shows how to disable visual effects and some other tips. You can always restore the settings later if necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKulW9yenC0

And also check the Power Plan, it may be set to save energy to optimize the battery's life. You may need to change it to High Performance.

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:58 am
by Tenss
I would agree. There can be a large number of programs running beneath the surface, especially on a PC that's had this and that installed over a few years. And a new laptop can be even worse! With loads of "free" rubbish dragging what you think should be a decent spec machine down to the pits.

It can be quite a job disabling or uninstalling stuff that isn't needed and it needs a bit of experience (or good googling skills) to know what can be got rid of and what can't. I wouldn't give it to a shop/store to get this sort of thing sorted, but you need a savvy friend! Can be done via email if you are willing to go through the various processes. Or even by Teamviewer (remote access to your pc) but you absolutely, absolutely need to trust the person who's doing this for you.

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 8:21 pm
by hfsdpk11
I've been suffering a problem very similar to this on an HP8440p Elitebook Pro laptop 2.4GHz-I5/Win7Pro for about 2 years and the only way I've found to fix it is get another computer. Which is what I've just done, having fallen into a sweet price on another laptop. My problem started soon after the release of SDRU 1.22 but I can't put my finger on just what happened and won't swear that it was SDRU's fault - too many other possibilities. Bottom line is that I traced the issue to a Win7 core file called dwm.exe. Every once in a while it would go completely stupid and hog the CPU while throwing an abundance of page faults, then settle down but return at random times thereafter. FWIW, the CPU-hogging isn't limited to running SDRU - it happens in the Win7 core so it will slow down everything like VLC, Excel, etc. It's indiscriminate and very frustrating.

I've scoured the web from time to time over the past couple of years looking for solutions but found nothing that would fix it, so the 8440 is now running linux Mint and doing other things. Meanwhile I've loaded SDRU 1.31 on a Dell E6420 i5/Win7Pro and it runs smoothly.

By all appearances, my problem seem to be associated with dwm.exe and possibly audiodg.exe, but particularly with dwm. It would seem that if dwm has been corrupted, the only way to fix it would be to re-install Windows, and I wasn't prepared to do that. Not necessarily cheaper but certainly less time consuming to simply buy another computer.

I realise this won't fix your problem but thought I'd give you my experience seeing as how similar it is to yours. If you want to check what's happening with your dwm and audiodg, get Procexplorer from Microsoft which will show you all kinds of things that Task Manager might not. My dwm and audiodg normally run at something less than "1" for CPU usage when things are running well, they may not even be listed as active. When dwm goes stupid it will jump to as high as "7" and starts throwing page faults like crazy. I know that a 7 for CPU usage doesn't seem much but when that happens the CPU usage pegs at 80 to 100%.

Hugo
VE3KTN

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:56 pm
by g1hbe
I (along with many others) suffered slowdown on my old Win7 Pentium 6200 laptop a while ago. Long story short it turned out to be an update bug that caused the machine to constantly check for Windows updates and use virtually all the processor and memory. This is a very common one so maybe you've already encountered and corrected it. IIRC, disabling anything and everything connected with checking/downloading updates stopped it.
Once this was sorted out, the laptop was able to run Uno without any lag or audio glitches at all up to 6 MHz b/w.

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 3:03 am
by ekendraed
Thank you ALL

Will investigate and attempt to rectify

Best wishes

4S7EF

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2019 11:51 am
by StandingWave
Well, you are comparing a 1st generation i7 which has 2 cores and 4 threads with an 8th generation i5 which has 4 cores and 8 threads. You are also running a mobile processor, which is designed to slow down under various circumstances, including overheating which can sometimes happen with older laptops as the fan vents clog with dust. The processor slows down to prevent damage due to excessive heat being generated. However in this case, the processor is topping out at 100% which does indeed seem excessive. Sometimes anti-virus software or updates can cause high utilisation.

In task manager, id there a particular process that has high processor utilisation?

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:50 am
by ekendraed
Thank you

Re: SDRUno 1.31 with Windows 7 issue

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 2:34 am
by John55
Hello,

Your advisor gave some good advice about switching from mechanical to flash based solid state drive. Many mechanical drives in laptops run at 5400 RPM. The slow drive has to load data to be processed as it is found on the drive. Solid State Drives read and write at much higher speeds which gives advantage to the processor to chug along better. The old age disease has caught up with your laptop as well. Meaning; the processor is very slow to get things done at today's speeds. Modern U type processors are operating in the 2 GHz range leaving your current at a 1GHz speed penalty. Efficiency is much better in the 8th generation processors, but you do have the right amount of RAM. I'm sure your RAM speed is far behind what the more modern DDR4 speed is. The advice to buy a new laptop to fix your problem is best. I'm thinking 9th generation U processors are the cream of the crop right now. The sum of what I am saying is a new processor, RAM, and current SSD will fix your problem. This amounts to buying a new lappie. I can't comment on the software of how older versus newer works because I don't code. SDRuno does work very well for me which I will be eternally thankful for. Think about what I've mentioned, compare new versus old, and take the action you deem best. Good luck on your mission.