A few days ago, I enabled HDR on my main monitor, and afterward the DisplayPort connection stopped working. Following a restart, the entire PC became extremely slow and constantly stuttered, making it almost unusable. A clean Windows installation fixed the issue temporarily, but it returned after I restarted to install or use an Xbox controller over Bluetooth. I have already installed Windows updates, tried updating drivers, and checked Device Manager, but nothing obvious is flagged. I also previously found a possible cryptocurrency-mining trojan in my system files from a torrented audio plugin, so I performed another clean installation, but the slowness and stuttering were present immediately afterward. What should I check next?
3 Answers
When people mention the drive manufacturer's diagnostics, they mean downloading the official health or testing utility for your SSD or hard drive. Run a SMART health check and, if available, an extended test. A failing or severely throttled system drive can make a fresh Windows installation feel slow and cause constant stuttering, even when CPU usage looks normal.
A clean Windows installation should remove the suspected miner, so if the problem returns before you install much software, investigate hardware and firmware. Check GPU temperatures and clocks, SSD health, memory stability, and power connections. Since HDR and DisplayPort were involved, try a different cable or monitor input and test with a stable graphics driver. If the processor is one of the models with known degradation issues, check its exact model and BIOS microcode updates as well.
Check Windows Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer for recurring hardware, driver, or application failures rather than focusing only on unexpected shutdown entries. After a clean install, install the motherboard chipset drivers, a known-stable graphics driver, and any drivers for devices showing problems. Also check the computer or motherboard manufacturer's site for BIOS and firmware updates.
CPU usage does not seem unusually high, and I have already installed the available Windows updates and checked Device Manager. Since the problem happens immediately after reinstalling Windows, I am also worried this could be storage or other hardware rather than a normal software issue.