Please help with Performance Settings issue - Huawei Laptop w/ Windows 10

Copper Contributor

Laptop and Operating System Info:

 

Device name OLIVER-PC
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.8 GB usable)
Device ID 2118AB07-E0E7-401B-9B39-9A8F5F4CF87E
Product ID 00331-20020-00000-AA650
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch Touch support with 10 touch points

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎7/‎18/‎2022
OS build 19044.1826
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0

 

I accidentally downloaded some kind of malware the other day. I enabled some cracked video editing software to run and it basically shut down my windows security and defense system so that I was unable to run virus checks, etc. It's all been cleaned up and sorted after a reinstallation of Windows 10 with the Media Creation Tool. My windows defender is back up and running smoothly, along with real-time virus protection. Whatever I did the other day in trying to resolve that, created a new problem however...

 

At startup, my computer consistently prompts the following pop-up:

 

User Account Control - Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?

Change Computer Performance Settings

 

under more details...

Verified publisher: Microsoft Windows

Program location: "C:\Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe" /pagefile

 

When I click yes, the following notice pops up:

System Properties

"Windows created a temporary paging file on your computer because of a problem that occurred with your paging file configuration when you started your computer. The total paging file size for all disk drives may be somewhat larger than the size you specified."

 

In addition to the above issue, I notice that in apps settings (under apps & features) it indicates the following -- *some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.

 

I don't have an org. This is a personal laptop and I'm the sole user/admin. Not sure why it's displaying that, but I did mess around with the registry and command prompts a bit the other day while trying to resolve the security/virus protection hijacking that shut down my windows defender. I've since reinstalled windows 10, so that shouldn't have made any lasting impacts but apparently something is screwy because of the above issues...

 

I would be grateful for any help you can provide.

7 Replies
One more point of concern... windows defender regularly alerts me to an app called SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge. It's turned off, but it seems to trigger a vulnerability warning. When I was shut out of windows security the other day, I noticed that whenever I'd attempt to run any 3rd party malware/virus software (eset, kaspersky, malwarebytes, etc) something or someone would attempt to shut it down as well, and whenever that occurred, I'd notice the MS Edge SmartScreen app would be running. It actually appeared on the bottom right-hand corner of my desktop as a sort of picture-in-picture type display box. I'm concerned that this might be related to one of the above issues or perhaps a separate ongoing problem. I'm still receiving vulnerability prompts from Windows Security about having it turned off... not sure if that's unusual?

Hi @Oliver_Besner 

To rule out malware use this security scanner, but I think you can change the Defender notification settings, often this information is irrelevant, of course if the scanner does not detect threats.

Microsoft Safety Scanner Download | Microsoft Docs

@Oliver_Besner

Make sure that your copy of Windows is fully Activated ( Settings -> System -> Activation -> Activation state -> Windows is activated with a digital license )

 

If you don't have a valid copy of Windows, or you haven't activated it, then of course you will experience a massive performance drop. If you don't have a valid key, you will have to buy one (typically OEM keys are the cheapest, but tied to the motherboard, eg, they cannot be moved to another device in any way shape or form, meaning it is a node locked license.)

 

NOTE: Smartscreen will close or block applications / scripts, sometimes even drivers (false positive.) Obviously you can disable smartscreen if you really wanted to, but then of course you need a 3rd-party post-paid AV tool.

 

You should also consider installing the latest drivers from the Huawei site: https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/driver-list/

 

Thank you. Windows is fully licensed and activated. I've just downloaded the latest bios (afaik) v.1.20 - an update from version 1.19 on my pc. I'll run through the install tonight.
Thanks, my laptop's clean. Nothing detected. Just the weird issues persisting as noted in the OP. I guess they don't really impact anything... just annoying to constantly get that popup prompt when starting my pc.

@Oliver_BesnerYou most likely do not have chipset drivers installed (update your drivers,) and your page file is probably disabled. You could re-enable it, restart the computer, and then disable it again. This is ONLY if you want it to stay disabled. The page / swap file has to reside on a fixed volume which is mounted as soon as the primary bootloader (UEFI / BIOS) passes control to the secondary bootloader, which in turn passes control to the Operating System itself.

 

How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows

Start Menu -> Run -> SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe -> Performance -> Settings
Data Execution Prevention -> Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only
Virtual Memory -> Change... -> Automatically manage paging file size for all drives

 

If that doesn't work you could try editing this registry entry to change the swap / page file size and location, although it's not absolutely necessary -> Start Menu -> Run -> Regedit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

 

I wrote a guide on disabling the ELAM driver, Windows Defender Antivirus, Smartscreen, etc, which you could try at your own risk, but I would suggest reading about how it works before you try it:

 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-11/disable-the-elam-driver-windows-defender-smartscre...

 

You could also try to find newer drivers on with the links on this page, and the other pages associated with it: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-11/after-installing-windows-update-kb5015814-i-can-t-...

 

NOTE: Typically the OEM (Huawei in this case,) supplies a fully customized driver on their support page. Anything you can get off of the device manufacturer's page, are often newer, more generic / have no customization. If it's an APU or some type of Hybrid / All-In-One Tablet / Laptop CPU, then typically you can only use the OEM's website (Huawei, HP, Dell, etc) to get drivers. This is if it's a pre-built computer. In any other situation you would individually download drivers from each vendor based on the parts you have selected (if you built / assembled it yourself.) In some situations, if the motherboard has integrated graphics / audio, then you might have to rely on the support page for drivers (but you could get similar results with generic drivers from the device manufacturer.) Often the ones packaged with the motherboard have a special UI, or it's some type of hybrid peripheral where they license certain features (Soundblaster / Realtek hybrid, etc.) To duplicate the same level of functionality, you would have to replace it with a separate application (Realtek Audio Control,) or use the built-in Windows UI / interface, with a newer generic driver from the device manufacturer. I would use the Intel drivers on the Intel website, instead of the Huawei ones (often they are newer.) For hybrids and All-In-One Tablet PCs, typically the device manufacturer releases a driver, and some amount of associated IP, which is bound by a non-disclosure agreement. In this case, only the OEM, or Huawei, is able to provide updates (none would exist on the device manufacturer's website anyways.)

This solved my problem (auto-manage paging file size) - no more annoying popups!

Thank you so much for all your help!!!