[evolflower]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been having some really difficult to pin-down problems with my laptop lately, which I first noticed while gaming.  I was having trouble with stuttering/low FPS with a lot of my games, with the most noticeable and worrisome case being with my recent attempts to run Team Fortress 2.  I've been able to play Team Fortress 2 for a few years now, on this same exact laptop, with absolutely zero problems - perfect, smooth gameplay, whether online or offline - and now, after having not played for about a month, I launched the game yesterday to find that my game performance is absolutely awful:  heavy stuttering/low FPS, even offline, and even after fiddling with and lowering in-game video settings

In snooping around a bit on my own and trying to modify a few things and figure out the problem, I also found that my System Restore Points are disappearing:  I will create restore points, have them finalize successfully, and find just days later that they've vanished, usually replaced by a couple of the most recent automatically created restore points.  The cycle then continues:  whenever there's any sort of installation or update, and the computer automatically creates a restore point, all previous restore points will vanish, keeping only the two or so most recently created (I'm familiar with the "Show more restore points" checkbox, so it's unfortunately not a matter of overlooking that option).

I'd really like to figure out why my gaming performance has been impacted over the past month or so (and would love to fix it), as I haven't consciously changed anything, and the disappearing restore points is another worrisome sign that I'd like to understand and fix.

Any help that can be offered will be greatly, greatly appreciated, and I'm willing to provide any information necessary.

Here are my specs to start:

HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
AMD A8-3500M APU with Radeon HD Graphics  1.50 GHz
6.00 GB (5.48 usable)
Windows 7, 64-bit operating system



Thank you so much.

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Are you running low on drive space?

 

I have found a number of reasons for those symptoms, see the link below for some of them:

 

http://answers.micro...e4b5ec50?auth=1

 

Other thoughts:

 

Overheating; see links below:

 

Symptoms of overheating:

 

http://www.ehow.com/...g-symptoms.html

Go to the link below for some actions you can take to reduce overheating

http://www.ehow.com/...-computers.html

 

Your hard disk might be beginning to fail:

 

Try running Chkdsk, if there are problems you might investigate further with hard drive diagnostics.

 

To run Chkdsk:
 

• Right click on the Start > Open Windows Explorer.
• Find the hard drive letter (usually local disk C)  for which you want to run the Chkdsk utility.
• Right-click on the driver letter and select Properties > Tools.
• Under the Error-Checking section of the window, click the Check Now button. If you have User Account Controls enabled, a window will pop up asking permission to continue. Click Continue.
• Click to have Chkdsk Automatically fix file system errors and to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
• Click Start.
• Chkdsk might take a very long time to run, depending on the number of files and folders, the size of the volume, disk performance, and available system resources (such as processor and memory).

Chkdsk will not run if the drive you wish to check is in use. You will be requested to schedule Chkdsk. Click Schedule Check Disk, it then will run the next time you boot your computer. Shut down your computer and then turn it back on, Chkdsk will run.
 
If you need further help go here for information on how to run Chkdsk in Windows 7
 

 

 

 

[emeraldnzl]

Are you running low on drive space?

 

I have found a number of reasons for those symptoms, see the link below for some of them:

 

http://answers.micro...e4b5ec50?auth=1

 

Other thoughts:

 

Overheating; see links below:

 

Symptoms of overheating:

 

http://www.ehow.com/...g-symptoms.html

Go to the link below for some actions you can take to reduce overheating

http://www.ehow.com/...-computers.html

 

Your hard disk might be beginning to fail:

 

Try running Chkdsk, if there are problems you might investigate further with hard drive diagnostics.

 

To run Chkdsk:
 

• Right click on the Start > Open Windows Explorer.
• Find the hard drive letter (usually local disk C)  for which you want to run the Chkdsk utility.
• Right-click on the driver letter and select Properties > Tools.
• Under the Error-Checking section of the window, click the Check Now button. If you have User Account Controls enabled, a window will pop up asking permission to continue. Click Continue.
• Click to have Chkdsk Automatically fix file system errors and to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
• Click Start.
• Chkdsk might take a very long time to run, depending on the number of files and folders, the size of the volume, disk performance, and available system resources (such as processor and memory).

Chkdsk will not run if the drive you wish to check is in use. You will be requested to schedule Chkdsk. Click Schedule Check Disk, it then will run the next time you boot your computer. Shut down your computer and then turn it back on, Chkdsk will run.
 
If you need further help go here for information on how to run Chkdsk in Windows 7
 

 

 

 

[evolflower]

Hi,

 

The problem isn't with erratic scrolling with my mouse, it has to do with poor frame rate in games.  I should probably make a separate post in the games forum.

 

That aside, is there anything that can be done about the vanishing restore points?  I'm trying to figure out what's causing my game performance to go down, and when my restore points are vanishing I don't have the option of reverting to earlier periods.

[emeraldnzl]

 

I should probably make a separate post in the games forum.

 

 

Yep.

 

 

That aside, is there anything that can be done about the vanishing restore points?

 

What about the question:

 

"Are you running low on drive space?"

 

And

 

Did you check out the link I provided?

 

http://answers.micro...e4b5ec50?auth=1

[evolflower]

Hi,

Regarding disk space, I have 10.6 GB free out of 578 GB; however, I've actually operated with far less free space in the past, and was able to run the aforementioned games without any of the problems I described.

I apologize for not clarifying what I referred to in my previous post:  I did check out the link you provided, but unfortunately the topic is "Problem with erratic scrolling, possible virus, pages up and down automatically," and doesn't address anything about disappearing restore points.

I have looked at some Microsoft help links regarding disappearing restore points on my own, prior to asking for help here, and followed some of the instruction given, but have had no luck.  If you have a link I'll be happy to look at it and follow its suggestions, and will report back.

Thanks
 

[emeraldnzl]

Regarding disk space, I have 10.6 GB free out of 578 GB;

That represents 1.83% free.

You have less then 5% of your drive free. You are in danger of messing up the Master File Table of your computer. It is risky running the tools we are using at this low level of free space.

Under 15% free is less than optimum.

I suggest that, as soon as you can, uninstall any old programs and backup and remove any data you don't need.
 

I did check out the link you provided, but unfortunately the topic is "Problem with erratic scrolling,

Oh dear I thought I had posted this one:

http://www.sevenforu...sappearing.html

And there are these:

https://support.micr...en-us/kb/301224

http://www.sevenforu...sappearing.html

You will see that low disk space is a common cause of disappearing Restore Points.

[evolflower]

Hi emeraldnzl,

 

 

That represents 1.83% free.

You have less then 5% of your drive free. You are in danger of messing up the Master File Table of your computer. It is risky running the tools we are using at this low level of free space.

Under 15% free is less than optimum.

I suggest that, as soon as you can, uninstall any old programs and backup and remove any data you don't need.
 

 

Wow, I simply had no idea.  Thank you so much for the information - I'm going to spend some time today looking to see what I can uninstall and back-up, and will get back with you once I have sufficient space to follow your directions with running tools.

Out of curiosity, what is the Master File Table of my computer, and how can I tell whether or not I've already done it damage by running on such low space?  As I said, I'm going to free space up immediately, but I'd like to make sure that I didn't damage anything significantly, and irreparably at that.

Again, thank you so much for your help.  I'll write back as soon as I've freed up the space; feel free to respond to my Master File Table question at your convenience, and/or after I write back.


Thanks again!

 

[Ztruker]

The master file table (MFT) is a database in which information about every file and directory on an NT File System (NTFS) volume is stored. There is at least one record for every file and directory on the NTFS logical volume.

  What is master file table (MFT)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

 

[emeraldnzl]

 

Out of curiosity, what is the Master File Table of my computer

 

What Ztruker (who by the way knows far more than I about technical matters) says.

[evolflower]

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response - about how much space should I free up so I can run the programs/diagnostics you suggest?

Also, just out of curiosity, what is it about running on low free memory that puts the Master File Table in danger?

Thanks!

[emeraldnzl]

Hello evolflower,

 

 

so I can run the programs/diagnostics you suggest?

 

My comment about tools was a general one. In any event my tools are more related to malware problem solving. No to say that a techies here don't use tools, they certainly do.

 

If you are able to solve your machines problems by freeing up space then there will be not need for more diagnostics.

 

 

about how much space should I free up

 

I believe 15% free is the recommended optimum but any individual case might vary. Restore points for example can take up a lot of space.

 

 

what is it about running on low free memory that puts the Master File Table in danger?

 

Some information about the MTF:

https://msdn.microso...0(v=vs.85).aspx

https://support.micr...en-us/kb/174619

[evolflower]

Hi,

Thanks for the information.  I'm working on moving some stuff to an external hard drive, and uninstalling some programs and games that I haven't been using.  Hopefully it takes care of the problem, but if not I can either report back here, or start another thread addressing one issue at a time - first the restore points disappearing, etc.

 

If it's best to consolidate everything within this thread if I continue have problems after freeing up space, I can do that as well - just let me know what's most appropriate.

 

Thanks.

[emeraldnzl]

At least initially it would be good if you report back here so that we have continuity.