By Elijah Odhiambo
Is your laptop acting slowly? Do you have to wait five minutes for the laptop to react after resetting it?
If your laptop’s Windows isn’t as fast as it used to be, there are lots of ways you can get it working like new. By just closing a few apps, or updating your operating system, you can speed up a newer laptop. However, if you have an older laptop, you might have to replace your hard drive or memory cards. Here are the most common reasons why your Windows laptop might be running slow, and how you can speed things up.
Update Your Operating System
You may be missing out on new driver updates and software patches if your operating system hasn’t been updated in a while. This may cause your laptop to run slower and expose you to security flaws that hackers may use to infect your system.
The solution: Press Windows + I on your keyboard to launch Settings and check if your OS needs to be updated. If any updates are available, select Update & Security, click Check for updates, and then click Download.
Quit Programs Running in the Background
One of the simplest methods if your laptop is running slowly is to close as many programs as you can. some programs continue to run in the background even after you have closed them. These programs could use up a lot of your processing capacity, which will make your laptop sluggish.
However, your laptop can be using some background apps that are essential for it to work effectively. Therefore, before deciding to force-quit an application, be sure you understand what it is.
Fix; To end background-running processes, utilize the Windows Task Manager.
To do this, select task manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.
Then make sure to click more details in the bottom-left corner to see which programs are using up your computer’s CPU, memory, and more.
Click the Process tab in the top-left corner, and then you can click the header of any column to see which programs are using the most resources. Finally, select a program and click End Task in the bottom-right corner of the window to force quit the program.
Too Many Startup Programs
If you have too many programs open when you start the computer, your laptop may be running slowly. Every time you switch on your computer, these programs will launch automatically and run until you turn it off, slowing down everything in the process.
The fix: Press Ctrl, Alt, and Delete on your keyboard and choose Task Manager to see which programs are starting when your laptop turns on.
Next, select the Startup tab at the window’s top. In the bottom right corner of the window, choose the program you want to disable, then click OK.
To discover which programs are slowing down, click the heading of the Startup Impact column.To hasten the booting process even further, close all the programs before turning off your computer. This way, you won’t have applications trying to start up every time you boot your laptoour laptop the most.
Your Laptop is Infected with Malware
If you are seeing pop-up ads on your laptop or programs are randomly crashing, your computer might be infected with malware (malicious software). Your computer can get infected when you open emails from unknown senders or download files from suspicious websites.
There are different kinds of malware that can cause your laptop to slow down for various reasons. Some malware can infect your laptop’s memory and spread to other programs and files on your computer. Hackers can also use malware to steal your personal information, such as your bank details or other personal data.
The fix: To remove malware from your computer, click the magnifying glass icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen. Then type Security into the search box and click Open. Next, select Virus & threat protection and then click Quick scan.
If you’re looking for even more protection, you can also install a paid antivirus program
You Have Too Many Temporary Files
Every time you make a file or change an existing one, temporary copies are kept on your laptop. These files frequently have names that conclude in “.tmp” or that begin with a tilde or dollar symbol. After you exit a software or application, temporary files are typically removed.
Your laptop does not always remove these files automatically, though. As a result, they might occupy space on your hard drive and slow down your laptop. You can stop this by manually deleting temporary files.
In order to remedy: On your laptop, click the magnifying glass icon in the bottom-left corner to erase temporary files. Next, enter “disk cleanup” into the search box, then press “Open.” When the pop-up window displays, select the drive that you want to clean and click OK. Finally, check the box next to Temporary files and click OK.
I believe these tips will help you resolve your laptop’s performance issues. If not, it’s time to consider a new laptop.
