Computer Going Really Slow Freezes Then Starts Again
There are few things more frustrating than a ho-hum computer. Especially when you're in a bustle. Later all, it was completely fine, not that long ago, and cipher much has changed in the meantime. Merely here yous are, waiting minutes just to open Microsoft Word…
Sure, you could simply grit your teeth and put upwards with it. But before spending a fortune on computer technicians or an entirely new computer, you'd similar to see if you lot can fix it yourself. Right?
If that sounds like y'all, so nosotros have some good news: you're probably right. Windows has a tendency to tiresome downward over time, and then if your computer was running OK before, but has at present slowed to a crawl, it's probably a Windows effect, and yous should exist able to fix it yourself.
sixteen Fixes to try…
Here's a listing of fixes for the well-nigh common causes of a slow Windows computer. They're ordered by difficulty – easiest first, hardest or most time-consuming last. Nosotros recommend you effort all of the outset thirteen, fifty-fifty if you showtime seeing performance improvements immediately after finishing number one. They should all help. Care for numbers 14 to 16 every bit a final resort – do them if nothing else works.
1. Shut some programs
2. Reduce the number of programs running in the groundwork
iii. Disable some browser extensions
4. Turn off unnecessary animations
five. Bank check your antivirus schedule
half-dozen. Run a virus scan
7. Update your device drivers
8. Uninstall unnecessary programs
9. Clear temporary files
10. Increase your virtual memory
11. Absurd your computer downwards
12. Verify the integrity of your hard disk
13. Defragment your hard disk
xiv. Upgrade or reset Windows
15. Upgrade some hardware
16. Switch to ChromeOS
Fix one: Close some programs
If you accept too many programs running at once, your computer will definitely slow down. Specially if they're large, resource-hungry programs (e.g. they use 99% of your CPU).
To find out what programs are running and how many system resources they're consuming:
ane) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and 10 at the same time, then click Task Manager.
ii) To see which programs are using your computer's processor the most, click the CPU column header. This volition re-sort the listing, displaying the worst offenders at the meridian. Similarly, to run across which programs are using the nigh RAM, or reading and writing to your hard disk drive the most frequently, clickMemory or Disk respectively.
Nosotros sorted the list by Retentiveness for the below screenshot. As you can see, Google Chrome is using the almost RAM here. There are multiple instances of information technology in the list because Task Manager recognizes each of your browser tabs and browser extensions as a separate process.
3) When you notice which program(south) is hogging your figurer resource, consider shutting information technology down to speed upward your PC. To do this, switch to the program, and close it as you normally would (east.1000. by clicking the X at the top right of the programme). If it refuses to shut down ordinarily, select it from the list in Chore Manager and click Finish task to forcefulness a close. (If it's a program y'all're using, e.g. Microsoft Word, make sure you lot salvage any unsaved piece of work first.)
Fix 2: Reduce the number of programs running in the background
Programs ofttimes run invisibly in the background when you lot plow on your figurer. This can slow things downwards significantly. Some of these programs are necessary, only not all, then you should take a expect at what programs are set to run at startup, and double-check that yous need them to. If you don't, so y'all should disable them. Hither's how:
one) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo cardinal and R at the same fourth dimension. Blazon msconfig and press Enter.
ii) Go to the Startup tab, and click Open Task Manager.
iii) Click the programs y'all don't want to start when Windows starts, and click Disable.
Prepare 3: Disable some browser extensions
All your browser extensions use organisation resources. So the more you lot have installed and enabled, the slower your computer volition run. Especially if they're buggy extensions.
Fortunately, extensions are very easy to disable or remove:
If you're using Google Chrome
1) In the Chrome address bar, copy and pastechrome://extensions/ and press Enter. Y'all'll then be able to run across all your extensions. To disable one, untick the Enabled checkbox. To remove one, click the trash icon.
, due east.thou.:
2) Click the dust-bin icon on the correct to uninstall the extensions you don't need.
If you lot're using Firefox
1) Copy and paste near:addons into the Firefox browser address bar and printing Enter.
2) Click Extensions and Plugins on the left side of the window to see all your add together-ons, select the ones yous don't need and click Disable or Remove to disable or uninstall them.
Fix 4: Turn off unnecessary animations
Visual furnishings such as animated windows and fading menus may look great, but they can also tedious your calculator down, specially if it has limited retention (RAM). Fortunately, you tin can easily plow off animations:
ane) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and Due south at the same fourth dimension. Blazon optimize visual and click Optimize visual brandish .
2) Scroll down a lilliputian fleck and tick the checkbox for Turn off all unnecessary animations (when possible). Then click Use and OK to save the change.
Fix v: Check your antivirus schedule
It's corking to take a proactive antivirus program – one that keeps itself updated and is ever checking, in the background, for possible threats. But some background activities – like a full system scan or a virus definition update – can slow your reckoner significantly.
By default, antivirus programs don't always do these things at convenient times. eastward.g. They may exist scheduled to happen at 3pm on a Friday – right when you're scrambling to stop an urgent projection past its COB deadline.
So you should definitely check the settings of your antivirus plan, and make certain the full system scan and virus definition update are scheduled to occur at a time when you won't be using your calculator – perhaps at midnight.
Annotation that some antivirus programs don't let you change the schedule. If yours doesn't, and y'all doubtable it's slowing your computer downwardly, you should consider switching to a different antivirus program (e.yard. BitDefender Total Security).
Set up vi: Run a virus scan
If your computer is infected past viruses or malware, it can irksome downward. To check, run a full system scan with a trusted antivirus program.
If you don't have an antivirus plan installed, you should definitely install one. We recommend Norton, AVG, Malwarebytes, Avira or BitDefender Total Security. Well-nigh of them provide a xxx-60 day free trial, and very reasonable subscription prices. (Install simply i of them, though; if you install more 1, they may conflict with each other, finer weakening your defenses confronting viruses and malware.)
Fix 7: Update your device drivers
If your device drivers are too old for your current operating system, information technology'southward very likely that your PC will run slowly. So y'all should ensure that all your drivers are correct and up to date. You can do this either manually or automatically:
Manual commuter update – You can update your drivers manually by going to each manufacturer's website and searching for the most recent correct driver for all your devices (e.g. video card, audio card, printer, monitors, mouse, keyboard, network bill of fare). Notation that for some drivers, you may need to attempt both the manufacturer of your PC and besides the manufacturer of the component itself.
Automatic driver update – The Driver Easy windows application will automatically recognize your system and detect the correct drivers for all your computer'south cards and components. You lot don't need to know the details of your organization, or who all the manufacturers of its hardware are. Nor practise y'all need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, or making a error when installing. Driver Like shooting fish in a barrel does it all for yous, completely automatically:
ane) Download and install Driver Easy.
2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now push button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3) Click the Update push side by side to all flagged devices to automatically download and install the correct version of their drivers (yous tin do this with the FREE version of Commuter Like shooting fish in a barrel).
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your arrangement – with only one click.(This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a thirty-day coin back guarantee. You'll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
4) When the update finishes, you'll be prompted to restart your computer. Later restarting, check to meet if your PC is running faster.
Fix 8: Uninstall unnecessary programs
If you lot have as well many programs installed on your estimator, information technology can tiresome down considering they apply deejay infinite, memory and processing power. So you should delete any programs y'all don't use (and which Windows doesn't need to role properly). Here'southward how:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo cardinal and S at the same fourth dimension. Type add together remove and click Add or remove programs.
2) Click to highlight a program you no longer need and click Uninstall.
3) Wait for the uninstall to finish, then highlight and uninstall the next plan you don't use.
4) Repeat until you've uninstalled all programs you don't demand.
Fix 9: Articulate temporary files
The longer yous use your reckoner, the more temporary files (aka 'temp files') it collects.
Importantly, we're non talking about the files that you create, receive and download, hither. Temporary files are files that Windows and your installed applications create automatically during ordinary functioning, merely which they only need for a brusque period. Ideally these files would be automatically deleted when they've served their purpose, but unfortunately, this oftentimes doesn't happen. Instead, they're left to build up on your hard drive, gradually taking upward more and more space.
This clutter makes it harder (and slower) for your estimator to locate data, so yous should clean your hard drive, from time to time, to remove it:
i) On your keyboard, printing the Windows logo key and R at the same time, type %temp% and press Enter.
2) Press the Ctrl cardinal and A at the same time to select all the files you meet hither, and press the Delete central to delete them all.
3) If, while trying to delete these files, you get a message proverb a file or folder is in use, click Skip. The file won't be deleted, but that's OK; you can get it next time.
4) Information technology could have up to a few minutes for all these files to be deleted – especially if many of them are big. If yous're clearing your temp files regularly, though, it should take simply a few seconds.
5) Restart your computer and see if it's running any faster.
Set 10: Increase your virtual retentiveness
If your PC is running slow, calculation more virtual retention can assistance speed information technology up. Virtual memory supplements the physical RAM installed on your computer, so y'all don't run out of retentivity as often. This makes accessing files and programs faster.
Hither's how to add together more virtual memory:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows key and Suspension / Break key at the same time. And then click Advanced System Settings on the left panel.
2) Go to the Advanced tab, and click Settings.
3) Become to the Advanced tab, and click Change.
4) Make certain the checkbox forAutomatically manage paging file size for all drives isNon ticked.
5) Select your Windows drive (the hard bulldoze or partition that has Windows installed on it – usually C:), then click Custom size and enter an Initial size and Maximum size for your virtual memory:
- Initial size– This value varies, depending on your estimator. If yous're non sure what value to use, just enter whatever the number is in the Recommended category.
- Maximum size – Don't set this value likewise high. It should be virtually 1.5 times the size of your physical RAM. east.g. A PC with 4 GB (4096 MB) of RAM should have no more than nigh vi,144 MB virtual retention (4096 MB x i.v).
Once you've entered your virtual retentivity values, click Set, then click OK to go along.
half-dozen) Restart your computer and see if your PC is however running slow.
Fix 11: Cool your computer down
If your computer is overheating, it volition definitely slow downwardly. Just unless yous track your PC'south temperature with a programme similar CAM, it can be difficult to tell if information technology'southward overheating. Here are some typical alert signs:
- your estimator'due south internal fan gets louder (information technology may exist spinning faster, trying to cool the system down);
- your mouse and keyboard stop responding as well equally usual;
- y'all get a 'bluish screen of decease' mistake, and a sudden restart.
To reduce the temperature of your reckoner, you lot can:
- reduce the temperature of the room;
- bank check if the computer'south ventilation is clear and clean – it may be clogged by dust and fluff;
- check if your cooling fans are working properly – if they're non spinning fast and freely, or they're making loud noises, you may need to supplant them;
Once you've washed your best to reduce the temperature of your figurer, check to see if your calculator is still running slow.
Notation that overheating tin likewise exist acquired by a damaged or faulty RAM stick, processor or graphics card. If you lot believe your PC is still running too hot after you've done the above, you may need to consult your PC retailer or manufacturer, or your local computer repair store.
Fix 12: Verify the integrity of your hd
When a hard disk drive ages, it tin can develop faults and errors in its file system. This can slow the bulldoze significantly, which makes Windows take much longer when it opens and saves files.
So if your computer is running tiresome, you lot should practice a 'check disk' (aka 'chkdsk'):
i) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and Ten at the aforementioned time, then click Command Prompt (Admin).
When prompted to provide administrator permission, click Yep to go on.
2) In the black window, type chkdsk and press the Enter fundamental on your keyboard. The disk scan volition then starting time.
If the check disk reports problems, you should probably consider replacing your hd.
Set up 13: Defragment your hard disk drive
Important: Please ignore this fix if you have a solid state drive (SSD), equally it may harm the drive.
You probably think of a file as a single thing (e.g. a Discussion document, picture or a photograph). But when you save a file to your hard drive, some of the data is stored in one place on the disk, and the rest of information technology is stored in other places.
This is called 'fragmentation', and when it gets really bad, a single file can exist spread out across hundreds or even thousands of places on your disk. And those locations tend to be a long manner from each other.
This can really ho-hum your calculator downwardly, because when Windows opens a fragmented file like this, information technology has to gather all those pieces together showtime. And the more than spread out they are, the longer information technology takes. The same applies when you save a file; the more than spread out the data, the longer it takes to save.
Bad fragmentation is generally plant on onetime computers where the hard disk has been in utilise for a long time.
Fortunately, Windows comes with a built-in tool you tin can utilise to defragment (aka 'defrag') your hard drive. Here'due south how y'all utilise it:
i) If you have whatsoever open up programs and/or files, shut them all.
2) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and S at the same time, type defrag and clickDefragment and Optimize Drives:
3) Select the drive yous want to defragment, and click Optimize.
four) The defrag will have anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours to cease, depending on the type of disk and the data you have on it.
When it finishes, restart your computer and see if it's now performing better.
Set 14: Upgrade or reset Windows
If you're still using Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows seven or Windows eight, your reckoner is very probable to be sluggish. These versions of Windows are now outdated and were not designed to piece of work with most of the software designed today.
Fortunately, you can upgrade your operating organisation to the latest version bachelor today: Windows 10. But before you lot upgrade your Os, you need to check if your current devices see the requirements of the update.
If y'all are already on Windows 10, try resetting it. This is the fastest style for y'all to have a clean computer, free of problematic software and/or device drivers. But be sure to support all your data first.
Fix fifteen: Upgrade some hardware
If you lot've tried all the above fixes, but your reckoner is still running slowly, it'southward time for you lot to focus on your hardware. A damaged video card, an bereft amount of RAM or worn out cooling fans could be causing your computer to run slow.
The simply way to tell if this is causing the problem for you is to replace each component, one at a time, until your computer's performance returns to normal. This takes a degree of expertise, though, so if you don't have feel doing it yourself, you should probably contact your local calculator repair shop or consultant for assistance.
Gear up sixteen: Switch to ChromeOS
Windows is a very former technology. Sure, Windows ten is relatively new, but it'due south still simply the latest iteration of a decades-one-time operating organisation, designed for a bygone era (pre-internet).
Now that we have the net, fast connexion speeds, free cloud storage, and endless spider web apps (like Gmail, Google Docs, Slack, Facebook, Dropbox and Spotify), the unabridged Windows mode of doing things – with locally installed programs and local file storage – is totally outdated.
Why is that a trouble? Considering when you're constantly installing uncontrolled 3rd-party programs, yous're constantly opening the door to viruses and other malware. (And Windows' insecure permission system compounds this problem.)
Plus the way Windows manages installed software and hardware has e'er been a problem. If your computer shuts down unexpectedly, or a plan installs, uninstalls or updates incorrectly, you can become 'registry' corruptions. That'south why Windows PCs always ho-hum down and become unstable over time.
Also because everything'south installed and saved locally, it doesn't take long before you run out of disk infinite, and your disk gets fragmented, which makes everything even slower and more unstable.
For most people, the simplest way to solve Windows bug is to ditch Windows altogether, and switch to a faster, more reliable, more secure, easier to utilise and cheaper operating system…
Google ChromeOS.
ChromeOS feels much like Windows, but instead of installing heaps of programs to email, chat, browse the net, write documents, practise school presentations, create spreadsheets, and whatever else you normally exercise on a reckoner, you employ spider web apps. You don't need to install annihilation at all.
That means yous don't have virus and malware problems, and your calculator doesn't slow down over time, or get unstable.
And that'southward only the first of the benefits…
To acquire more about the benefits of ChromeOS, and to see comparison videos and demos, visit GoChromeOS.com.
Feel free to ask if you accept any questions. Nosotros'd be more than than happy to help.
Source: https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/why-is-my-computer-so-slow-and-what-to-do-about-it/
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