My computer has become very slow — what can I do? — answered by Engineer Saeed Baatiah
The four causes in order of frequency: a full storage disk (leave at least 15% free or the whole system slows), too many programs launching at startup, a browser with dozens of tabs and extensions you never use, and an old mechanical HDD. You can fix the first two yourself in ten minutes; the fourth needs an SSD upgrade, which is the single biggest difference you can buy for an older machine.
Start with the disk, the most common cause and the easiest fix: open “This PC” and look at free space on the system drive. If it is under 15%, that alone explains the slowness, because the system needs working room for virtual memory and updates. Clear temporary files, the recycle bin and the downloads folder, and move photos and video to an external drive or the cloud.
Then startup programs: press Ctrl+Shift+Esc and open the Startup tab, and disable everything you do not need immediately at boot. Do not disable audio or touchpad drivers, but do disable updaters, sync clients and store apps — those can run when needed rather than at every boot. In the browser, close tabs and remove extensions you have not used in a month, since each extension consumes memory permanently.
And if it stays slow after those three, the cause is hardware, with two remedies in order of return: upgrading from a mechanical HDD to an SSD, the biggest difference you can buy for an older machine (the change is immediate rather than gradual), then adding RAM if you have 4 GB or less. Before buying, your current disk and memory type get checked — some thin laptops cannot be upgraded at all, and that is verified rather than assumed.
- Keep 15% of the system drive free — the commonest cause of slowness
- Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Startup → disable updaters and sync clients
- An SSD upgrade is the biggest difference you can buy for an old machine
- Check upgradability before buying — some machines do not allow it