Problems since Windows 10

[JohnnyMagnet]

So, basically, I haven't had the same gaming experience on my PC ever since I installed Windows 10 back in summer. Gaming just isn't the same, in a bad way.
Here are some notable problems I'm having:
Dark Souls 2: SOTFS is totally unable to connect online, at all.
Dark Souls: PTD is having the exact same problem.
Borderlands 2 and Pre-Sequel cannot access shift codes, at all. (although online works just fine)
MotoGP 15 cannot access online, although this doesn't bother me as much.
Starcraft 2 cannot connect to Battle.net, this problem now seems to be permanent since I haven't been able to play since installing Windows 10.

Also my PC has had a problem that it runs into every so often. Ever since Windows 10 my PC will slow to a complete crawl and will eventually become completely inoperable from time to time. And i mean TOTALLY inoperable. The PC must be shutdown manually at the power button. This worries and confuses me since I only built my PC in June so it's basically brand new even now.
When this problem occurs, I can tell almost as soon as I boot my PC up, it will take about 5-10 seconds longer but will operate fine for the first 10 minutes or so, after that it slowly becomes harder to open up programs or run aything at all. It's hard to explain without someone actually witnessing this.

I wish I had never installed Windows 10, Windows 7 was working so well...

Can anyone help me please?


EDIT: Also one thing I forgot to mention is that whenever my PC went to crawl my internet speed was also at a crawl (for everyone in the house). Are W10 and internet linked somehow?

[Captain America]

If your Windows 10 is at a complete crawl that means you have some sort of nasty virus or Malware on your System.

Consider replacing Windows 10 with Ubuntu or Linux Mint. Borderlands 2 works Perfectly on Linux and the Shift Codes work.

Windows games that are not available for Linux yet will work Under Wine. https://www.winehq.org/
Wine (originally an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, Mac OSX, & BSD. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop.

Ubuntu and Linux Mint are free and you do not need to worry about viruses and Malware because you will not get them using Linux.

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
http://www.linuxmint.com/index.php

[Azza ☠]

Download and use the free version of CCleaner:
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

That will help mop up the left over installation mess, temporary files, cache, etc.

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Ctrl+Alt+Del > Task Manger

Look under your Startup tab, check if you don't need any of those applications to startup with Win 10. You can disable their status. Just note you might need some, do a Google search or just leave them if unsure.

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Start > Settings > System > Power & Sleep > Additional Power Settings.

Select "High Performance" and change plan settings.

Under "Power buttons and lid", ensure the "Power button action setting" is "Shut down" and not "Sleep".

Win 10 has an annoying default setting of sleeping rather than actually shutting down the PC! Yes, when you actually clicked on "Power > Shutdown", it's still a type of sleep mode for certain motherboards. This can cause all kinds of nightmares, specially if you are one to turn it off at the wall after usage too. It then attempts to boot from a hibernated state.

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Some advance stuff, make sure you know what you are doing and keep a record of settings as backup...



1) Changing your DNS

If desired, right-click the bottom-right Network icon on the taskbar > Open Network and Sharing Center. Then click on the Local Area Connection.

Under Properties > Find 'Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)' and click properties on that.

Under the 'General' tab, you will find 'Use the following DNS server addresses'. If there's already something in there, note it down. In most cases, it will simply Obtain DNS server automatically.

Set them to your favourite DNS, for example (Googles offical public DNS)...

Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4

Apply and verify.

Why you want to do this? Well the DNS is what changes URLs into IP Addresses on the internet. Win 10 during it's installation/upgrade stage can mess up the DNS cache.

The other option is to flush DNS. Click “Start” and type the word “Command” in the Start search field. Finally right click the command prompt icon and select the option to “Run as Administrator”. In the open prompt, type “ipconfig /flushdns” (without the quotes).


2) Seeing what Windows 10 is doing upon restart and shutdown

Windows 10 does automatic updates, upon shutdown it might actually be installing them. For some (including myself), this just appears to hang and not show any feedback as what it's actually doing. I personally can't wait longer than 10 seconds for a startup or shutdown, else I think something is wrong...

Firstly ensure: Start > Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are Delivery (yes, it's well buried and hidden)... you turn off Peer 2 Peer updates. That's a major security concern and bandwidth waster! As it attempts to send/receives Windows updates from complete strangers or your other PCs in the nearby networks.

If Windows 10 has updates listed, install them from there. You can see it's progress, rather than upon shutdown. Then it will schedule a restart. There might be a large collection early on after clean installation of Win 10, which is why it can take a while.


If you know how to use RegEdit (Windows Registry Editor)...

Start > Run > Type "regedit" (without the quotes) and select from the list.

Find the key:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"

You might want to export this as a backup first or note down the settings if there's already a "VerboseStatus" field. In most cases, it won't be there yet.

Right-click under that and create a New > DWORD Value.

Type "VerboseStatus" and double-click that new key, giving it the value data set to "1".

Next time you reboot, Windows will now give you verbose startup, shutdown, logon, and logoff status messages. So rather than just claiming it's shutting down, it might say "Stopping Services", "Installing Updates", etc. Giving a bit more feedback to what's actually going on and if it hangs, you will know what on.

[banzaigtv]

The best thing to do is to reinstall Windows 10 using the recovery tools. Choose to remove everything and reinstall Windows. You will need to manually update to or install Windows 10 drivers, though. Refer to your motherboard's support information for Windows 10 drivers for your PC.

[JohnnyMagnet]

@Captain Tux: Thanks for the advice and help but I'm unwilling to do that, I would rather just swap back to Windows 7, it's familiar and I know what's going and where to find everything.

Also this problem with my PC isn't my main concern at all, it's just something I mentioned afterwards. Just so you know the history if this problem, it all started about 2 weeks after installing windows 10 (and Panda internet security). My PC would do the problem I described basically everytime I switched it on. Then I tried it one day after about a week of not even having it plugged in and everything was just fine, just like that, and had no problems again until about a month ago when it breifly did it once and then I haven't had it again since then. So my PC has been going strong for a while now with only occasional minor hiccups which i took for (unacceptable) teething problems of W10.
Now that you know a little more about it have your thoughts changed on it?
Thanks in advance


@Azza: Thankyou for the feedback, I'll try a few of these tomorrow when I have more time and let you know how it went.


Thank you both for your replies :)


(and thanks in advance to anyone else)

Originally posted by banzaigtv:

The best thing to do is to reinstall Windows 10 using the recovery tools. Choose to remove everything and reinstall Windows. You will need to manually update to or install Windows 10 drivers, though. Refer to your motherboard's support information for Windows 10 drivers for your PC.

...Can this go wrong and is it a fairly simple thing to do?

Also one thing I forgot to mention is that whenever my PC went to crawl my internet speed was also at a crawl (for everyone in the house). Are W10 and internet linked somehow?

[Azza ☠]

If all else fails... and you still have the "Windows.old" folder on your hard drive, you can go back.

Start > Settings > Update & Security > Recover > Go back to Windows 7

I would suggest attempting to resolve the issues first. Win 10 default settings are a major annoyance of spyware, adware, and glitches. However, it is possible to tweak it back to a stable state which is very similar to Win 7.

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Windows 10 has automatic updates, it could be hogging the internet currently for that? Also, disable the Peer 2 Peer updates as mentioned above... a bandwidth waste. Rather than Windows being a product anymore, it's rather a service. So they will just keep updating and updating it. From step 1 - Installation... it has some catching up to do with Cumulative Updates.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Tried most of what was listed here, still no joy.
This is so tiring...

[rotNdude]

From what you have posted, I'm guessing you have an issue with the drivers for your network interface card/chipset.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Originally posted by rotNdude:

From what you have posted, I'm guessing you have an issue with the drivers for your network interface card/chipset.

How can I rectify this? Is this a known issue with Windows 10? Because it's ever since I installed it :(

[JohnnyMagnet]

Bump

Please guys i need help with this

[Seven7]

After 5+ days, we still did not known what hardware is used, how router is configured to connect
If the problem occurs at the same time from multiple devices, it is likely a router's problem, so the device can behave:
when infected router (from DNS "poisoning" to a modified firmware)
overheating
router "dies" - before finally fail

Migration from Windows 7 to 10 often causes problems, not only on the laptops and monoblocks, some desktops with non-standard devices, too.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Originally posted by Seven7:

After 5+ days, we still did not known what hardware is used, how router is configured to connect
If the problem occurs at the same time from multiple devices, it is likely a router's problem, so the device can behave:
when infected router (from DNS "poisoning" to a modified firmware)
overheating
router "dies" - before finally fail

Migration from Windows 7 to 10 often causes problems, not only on the laptops and monoblocks, some desktops with non-standard devices, too.

My router is wired to my PC but is used wirelessly everywhere in else in the house. Problems with internet don't always present themselves on every device. But i don't think this issue is with my internet because it wasn't present before I upgraded.
Do you need my PC specs?