New laptop -- issues (defender and stalls)

Just got my new Dell. First experience with W11. Three items at the moment: In increasing order of severity, they are:

1) I am going to remove bloatware. Any suggestions?

2) I removed Mcafee, and I'm using Defender. BUT when I right click on a file, "scan with Microsoft Defender" is NOT one of my choices. How do I fix this?

3) Speed of my computer is terrible. At times, it flies beautifully. But then it stalls to the point I get ugh...no internet connection. D/l a file is painful. This does it regardless of which browser I'm using. I wonder if I screwed up by getting only 8 gb RAM. My Acer W10 has only 8 gb of RAM and it's very speedy. Is stalling as I described possibly due to not enough RAM? I am not a gamer. Just use the computer for web-surfing, email, assorted spreadsheets/word processing.

I never thought that W11 takes more RAM than W10. Will I mess up my warranty if I add more RAM?

Mel

1) I'd get rid of every trial software, and anything that looks like Dell was paid to add it.

2) It's another level down. Right click, then click on "select more options".

3) 8GB should be adequate. For starters, I'd look at Task Manager to see what process is hogging the CPU.

I don't know Dell's policy on do-it-yourself RAM upgrades. The laptop has to be partially disassembled to do that.

compiler said:

I wonder if I screwed up by getting only 8 gb RAM. My Acer W10 has only 8 gb of RAM and it's very speedy. Is stalling as I described possibly due to not enough RAM?

Click to expand...

Not likely, I have Windows 11 running well in 4GB RAM on some of my machines.

Hello and welcome to the forum,
I have a new Dell that is 4 months old. Regarding the pre-installed software, you can safely remove any of it. However, there are a few caveats to know before you choose what to remove.

Dell Type-C Status Display app.- Unless you are connecting an external monitor to you type-C port, get rid of it.

Dell Digital Delivery- Unless you purchased additional software from Dell when you bought the laptop, get rid of it

Dell Optimizer. This is supposed to be an artificial intelligence program that adapts our systems to the way we work. I saw no negative effect of it so I kept it.

Dell Watchdog Timer-this provides a mechanism to reboot the system if it is not responding. Can be safely removed IF it is turned off in bios first. My PC did not have it turned on so I removed it.

***Dell Command Update- This automates driver and bios updates from Dell. I kept this one.

***Support Assist- (Listed separately in all apps and not under Dell-) This is an optimizer program that can also test your hardware. It can be uninstalled but I kept it.
*** You can disable both these programs in services to keep them from auto-starting. When you want to use them , enable and start the service.

Regarding ram, Windows 11 should run fine on 8 gb unless you use memory intensive applications. I did, however, add more ram to my PC. You can use task manager (right click on start button to open) to monitor your ram use before you decide to add more.

The specs on your laptop says you have 2 dimm slots. Make sure you have matching ram. You can read here about how you can configure your ram. Inspiron 15 5510 Setup and Specifications | Dell Vietnam

Regarding McAfee, to completely remove it you should have used the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool (MCPR)
Removing it the normal way leaves traces of it behind. Try running the tool to see if it will cleanup after the fact . https://service.mcafee.com/?articleId=TS101331&page=shell&shell=article-view

To add 'Scan with Windows Defender' to the context menu use see this tutorial Add or Remove Scan with Microsoft Defender Context Menu in Windows 10

Hope this helps.

compiler said:

But then it stalls to the point I get ugh...no internet connection.

Click to expand...

There may be a new driver that will help this. Run Dell Command Update to see if Dell has a new one.

I thought of something else you should be aware of.

Most Dell laptops only support modern sleep as opposed to S3 sleep that we are all used to. As a result, laptops do not 'behave' as we are accustomed to. Modern standby has serious issues which include overheating, battery drain, and loss of certain functionality when the laptop is on battery power and enters S0 sleep. It's not an OS issue, but the lack of S3 support in the hardware (bios). People buy these laptops unknowingly of this and what problems arise from it. Depending on how one uses their laptop it can cause havoc on the batteries and constant overheating of their hardware if the laptop is carried in a case.

If you will be using your laptop on AC power, this shouldn't be an issue, but if you will use it mostly on battery power, I suggest you disable sleep and enable hibernation. That's not a fix for the problem but a workaround other users have resorted to as well as turning their laptops off when inside a case or not in use for extended periods.

glasskuter said:

If you will be using your laptop on AC power

Click to expand...

My HP laptop over heated while in sleep mode and plugged in. I was finished using my laptop, so I closed all programs (Or at least I think I did) closed the lid and left it plugged in. When I went to use the laptop the next day it was so hot that it wouldn't turn on. I thought for sure that it was fried. We had a short power outage that night so it's possible that had something to do with it. Once it cooled off it started working again. The only problem is that it now runs hotter than it used to. The two exhausts fans work so I'm thinking that I might have to take the back off and reapply the thermal paste.

Thanks. You have confirmed that 8 gb should be just fine for my purposes. I will eliminate the crud (thanks for the suggestions) and update drivers and the bios too as Dell suggested doing that. I had called them but computer suddenly was working fine and at the time I thought problem was eliminated.

I also use One Drive. Could that somehow have anything to do with it?

Mel

compiler said:

I also use One Drive.

Click to expand...

It shouldn't. Monitor task manager to verify the onedrive.exe is not spiking ram or cpu use.

Glass:

You said:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
To add 'Scan with Windows Defender' to the context menu use see this tutorial Add or Remove Scan with Microsoft Defender Context Menu in Windows 10
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is a .reg adjustment. But I have W11. Would this work in my case?

Incidentally, on my W10 computer, I dropped Norton and went with Defender. I had to use the Norton Removal Tool to remove some vestiges. Guess it's the same with McAfee.

I'll get to my new Dell later tonight and let folks know what happens

Mel

compiler said:

Would this work in my case?

Click to expand...

Should be the same. If for some reason it doesn't work, You can use the other reg file to remove.

compiler said:

Just got my new Dell. First experience with W11. Three items at the moment: In increasing order of severity, they are:

1) I am going to remove bloatware. Any suggestions?

2) I removed Mcafee, and I'm using Defender. BUT when I right click on a file, "scan with Microsoft Defender" is NOT one of my choices. How do I fix this?

3) Speed of my computer is terrible. At times, it flies beautifully. But then it stalls to the point I get ugh...no internet connection. D/l a file is painful. This does it regardless of which browser I'm using. I wonder if I screwed up by getting only 8 gb RAM. My Acer W10 has only 8 gb of RAM and it's very speedy. Is stalling as I described possibly due to not enough RAM? I am not a gamer. Just use the computer for web-surfing, email, assorted spreadsheets/word processing.

I never thought that W11 takes more RAM than W10. Will I mess up my warranty if I add more RAM?

Mel

Click to expand...

Bloatware removal - both Dell and Windows. RevoUninstaller (freeware version is adequate) And run the Advanced cleanup option when the uninstall is finished. Don't reboot, even if prompted, until the clean option is finished.

And as far as bloatware goes, I consider proprietary brand system checking/monitoring software in that category (i.e. not just adware-type add-ons). This type of software is only duplicating what Windows can already do/does and is not necessary.

Depending on how confident and experienced you are, the ultimate is a wipe and clean install of a "fresh" download of Win 11. Always use Macrium Reflect (freeware) to create an image of the existing drive, just in case things go pear-shaped.

Does the system have Optane? You might need to turn that off to create the image.

Slow speed is down to bloatware (particularly system monitoring software) set to run at startup and run in the background, chewing up resources. If you don't want to uninstall, just turn it off (Disable) from Startup : access by Ctrl+Alt+Del (Task Manager) > Task Manager > if tabs along top don't show a Startup tab, click More Details at the bottom of the TM window) > Startup tab > select item > Disable. Do a couple at a time and reboot, makes it easier to identify if problems occur (rather than doing a heap at once and then not knowing which was the culprit that caused an issue)

Bit of a cleanup first before worrying about more RAM. I'm running a clean install of W11 on an old Dell "door-stop/house-brick" laptop with 2GB RAM ... smooth as!! A freeware office suite, web (multiple browsers) and 3rd pay email client. No probs.

And yes, unless it's done by Dell, I suspect the warranty would be jeopardised (or at least open up a good excuse for the manufacturer to deny warranty ... and that sort of thing is not isolated to Dell).

OK I may have a clue. I checked Event Viewer. There are a ton of errors there, as is often the case (allows scammers to be more convincing, but I digress). Anyway, almost all of the errors are network errors. When I click some of them, it says something to the effect that Intel says an adapter is not working. The other just says Intel and I think some code #.

Is there a .drv for this. Should I go into Device Management and remove then add it (can I even do this?)

Mel

There are a LOT of updated drivers and firmware for that laptop. I didn't know your service tag but I pulled up the Dell page for that model. If you aren't familiar with updating drivers and firmware it is best to let Dell update them for you. If you didn't remove it, open Dell Command Update. Click 'check' and it should install any new drivers for the device. That's the best way.
Alternately you can go to Support for Inspiron 15 5510/5518 | Drivers & Downloads | Dell US
There you can select "let Dell automatically find drivers and updates" OR you can search and manually install them yourself.

Still no joy on the main issue. HOWEVER, one nagging issue has been solved!! The Defender-right click no context menu has been solved. The registry tweak from the article posted above worked. I had to reboot after the tweak. Also, I did use the Macrium removal tool. They say it worked. That did not resolve the Defender issue, but as I said, the aforementioned tweak did that. Currently doing a full scan on new computer, then Macrium b/u. Next order of business -- probably tomorrow -- will be the .drv's

Mel

I went to Event Viewer trying to get the exact wording of the errors, but I couldn't find the errors. I thought I tried every combination/permutation. So, I'm sure a simple question: how do I get the adapter errors ?
Sigh...

Mel

Did you apply all those driver updates?

Hi glass:

That was the "next order of business," which I will do later today!!

Mel

Glass:

I am cautiously optimistic. Dell found 7 items. In a discussion awhile back, Dell suggested I d/l the wi-fi driver and also a BIOS update. I just did those for now. Incidentally, the site listed the wi-fi update as "urgent."

So far, things look good. Very speedy/nice. But it was doing that before... before it was stalling.

Mel

OK, I THINK the problem is solved. I will know for sure when I start d/l some software that I use, such as QUICKEN. I was unable to d/l anything; even the driver/firmware upgrade took forever to d/l. Incidentally, cleared the data/cache from Chrome and that also helped. So, thank you all for the help. All the suggestions were on-target.

But a good topic leads to many tributaries. So, I got to my startup items.
Edge, Chrome, and Reflect are all enabled. Why? Is that necesssary? It seems I can disable them. When I click on their respective icons -- when I need to use them -- they become enabled. Am I missing something? Also, what is WAVESMaxxAudioService?

Mel

When all's done and good, you need to consider how this happened, why this happened, and most importantly, will it come back to bite ya again?

Be prepared.