How to Fix a Slow Computer?
Whether it’s taking forever to start up or opening and closing tabs, a slow computer can make doing stuff you love, like gaming, less pleasurable and getting work done more painful.
A slow computer may not be a difficult problem to solve if you have a decent hardware setup.
This review will help you correct basic issues that can cause your computer to be slow. Some of these issues include corrupted updates, faulty programs, a full hard drive, insufficient RAM, or an overexploited processing unit.
1. Defragment Your Drive
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Defragment Your Drive
Whenever you create, edit or delete a file on your PC, some of that data is fragmented.
This means that pieces of files are stored in various sections of your hard drive. Over time this can make your PC slow down because the drive has to look for each individual piece of data.
To defragment a drive, click on the magnifying glass in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
Next, enter ‘Defrag’ in the text box and click on ‘Open.’ Then click on ‘Analyze’ to see the amount of space taken up by fragmented files.
If there are tons of fragmented files, click on ‘Optimize’ finally allow your drive to hit 0% fragmented files before you start launching apps or opening files again.
2. Disable Some Startup Programs
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Disable Some Startup Programs
To find out which applications launch when you boot up your computer open ‘Task Manager and click on the ‘Startup’ tab at the top of this window.
You will now see the application’s name, status, and startup impact.
Next, click on the header of the ‘Startup Impact’ column to view which apps are slowing down your PC the most.
Then select an app and click on the ‘Disable’ button.
This is an advanced setting. You do not want to disable critical applications such as windows explorer or your antivirus. Disable the apps you understand and don’t need to use.
3. Quit Apps Running in the Background
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Disable Some Startup Programs
If your computer is slow, one of the simplest things you can do is shut down programs. However, some programs continue to run in the background even after shutting them down.
Such programs will consume processing power causing your PC to slow down.
You can use the ‘Task Manager to shut down apps running in the background. To do this,
Click on Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard and then click on ‘Task Manager.’
Next, click on ‘More Details’ in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
This will allow you to see which applications consume your computer’s memory and processing power.
4. Remove Malware from your Computer
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Remove Malware from your Computer
If you can see pop-ups on your PC or apps are randomly crashing, your PC might be infected with malware. Microsoft defender, the default protection of Windows OS, is quite sufficient for an average home user as long as it’s up to date. You can also consider getting a third party antivirus for PC or MAC
Malware (malicious software) can come from emails from unknown contacts or files downloaded from suspicious websites.
To eliminate malware from your PC in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
Next, enter ‘Security’ in the text box and click on ‘Open.’
Then click on ‘Virus and Threat Protection and select ‘Quick Scan.’
This will check and eliminate any malware detected on your PC.
5. Update your Operating System
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Update your Operating System
If you haven’t updated your OS in a while, you could be missing out on a couple of driver updates and software patches.
This can slow down your PC and leave you unprotected from security vulnerabilities hackers can utilize.
To find out if your PC needs updating, click on the magnifying glass in the bottom-left corner of your screen and enter ‘Update’ in the text box.
Next, click on ‘Open’ and then click on ‘Download’ if any updates are available for your PC.
6. Upgrade your RAM
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Upgrade your RAM
RAM (random-access memory) is the provisional storage on a computer. It keeps all apps and files you’ve opened on standby.
When the time comes, the RAM unit on your computer can quickly get the information and hand it over to the processor.
To find out the amount of RAM on your PC, click on the magnifying glass in the bottom corner of your screen.
Next, enter ‘About’ in the text box and click on ‘Open.’ Under your device’s specifications, you’ll see the amount of RAM installed on your PC.
If you’d like to upgrade your PC’s RAM, ensure that the RAM unit is interchangeable. Some laptops have RAM units soldered to the motherboard, meaning you can’t change or upgrade them.
See Also Best 32GB Ram for Laptop
7. Upgrade Your Storage
How to Fix a Slow Computer – Upgrade Your Storage
If your laptop has an HDD (hard disk drive), it might be high time you upgrade to an SSD (solid-state drive). SSDs don’t have moving parts, and as such, they read and write data faster.
Nowadays, most laptops have empty M.2 slots to install an SSD. All you need is a screwdriver, and you can even leave your old HDD in place and use it as a backup drive.
Note: There are so many ways you can fix a slow computer such as removing browser extensions and not running too many applications simultaneously. But sometimes a slow computer might just be a sign that you should be saving for a new machine.
Final Thought
As you can see, fixing your slow computer is relatively easy, and you can do it by yourself. However, if you have attempted all the steps above and your computer is still slow, check online on how to reinstall your operating system.
See Also