A slow Windows laptop that takes an eternity to respond to your click or load a website is irritating to work with. Be it your important video call or an emergency assignment – a slowed-down laptop can ruin your productivity and even mar your impression.
Why is your laptop slow and can you do anything to fix it? Well, lots of scenarios can make your laptop run slow and eliminating those triggers may restore your laptop’s speed. Let’s find out possible reasons for your laptop being slow and how you can get your device’s speed back.
10 Reasons Your Windows Laptop Is Very Slow
Over time, your laptop ages and it’s very normal for the machine to lose its magical touch including its efficient performance, light-blazing speed, etc. According to laptop repair Dubai experts, the following factors can contribute to a slow speed among laptops regardless of their manufacturers and builds:
- Multiple apps running in the background
- Low storage available on the disk drive
- Little RAM availability
- Excessive junk files on your laptop
- Too many startup programs while the laptop booting up
- Malware or virus attack
- Hard disk problems
- Malfunctioning web browser
- Overheating or thermal throttling
- Improper power options selected
Well, the list can go endless. However, the above-mentioned causes are more common among laptops. Let’s see how you can fix your laptop’s swiftness issues and boost the overall speed.
8 Ways to Improve Your Windows Laptop’s Speed
Is your Windows laptop performing slowly for the first time in a while? In that situation, you can try restarting your laptop. Restarting your laptop can free up some temporary memory from the RAM and hence, it instantly speeds up your computer.
Additionally, all your background programs close with a restart. So, your laptop makes a fresh start and shouldn’t stutter. However, a restart won’t be sufficient if your laptop has become slow nowadays. Let’s check out some more effective ways to speed up your machine as advised by technicians from laptop repair near me:
1. Restrict Startup Applications
Whenever your laptop boots into Windows, a bunch of applications launch. Now, too many startup applications can slow down your PC. Hence, you can identify unnecessary startups for your Windows PC and disable them.
Here’s how you can handle Windows start-up applications:
- Navigate to the Task Manager. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and pick Task Manager.
- Next, head towards the Start-up tab.
- Choose the program you want to deselect from appearing as a startup application. After that, hit the Disable button to eliminate it from the start-up menu.
2. Detect Resource-Hungry Applications and Disable Them
A sudden decline in your Windows PC performance can indicate that too many applications are running in the background. The easiest way to find out is to sneak into the Task Manager and check out where your laptop resources are being utilised.
Let’s check out the process:
- Right-click the Taskbar of your Windows laptop.
- Then, hit the Task Manager option.
- Under the Processes tab, you can see all the running applications or programs on your laptop. Additionally, you can notice how much CPU, memory, disk, and network resources are occupied by them right now.
- If you see specific programs using too many resources, you can close them from the Task Manager window. Simply, click on a particular application and choose ‘End Task’.
3. Get Rid of Unnecessary Files
Laptops tend to get cluttered if you don’t manage your files and data manually. You may keep adding more and more applications and files to your system without thinking about the storage capacity of the native hard drive. The available space dwindles with lots of high-resolution videos, images, audio files, and more.
It’s better to generate a healthy habit of cleaning up your unnecessary files from your Windows PC. furthermore, it’s important to erase those deleted files from the Recycle Bin too. Apart from tackling large files, you should uninstall applications that you barely use.
To uninstall a program, head towards the Control Panel and look for an option that says, ‘Uninstall a program’. Next, select the app you want to remove. Moreover, you should free up some space on your hard drive by getting rid of temporary files like this:
- Press the Windows and R keys together.
- A Run window will appear. Type in ‘%temp%’ in the box provided.
- Afterwards, hit Enter to see a list of temporary files.
- Delete those temporary files that are no longer in use.
4. Work on Your Internet Connection and Web Browser
Do you find the internet activities to be slow on your laptop? Chances are that something is wrong with your internet connection or the web browser you typically use. First, check your internet connection’s speed using a compatible tool.
Such tools are available online and tell you the accurate upload and download speed. If you notice a decline in the overall speed then it perfectly explains why your gaming, Netflix streaming, or simple browsing bothers you so much. Restart your Wi-Fi router, move closer to the router, try a wired connection, or contact the ISP if the problem persists.
On the other hand, the issue might be contained in your web browser only. In that scenario, you can try debloating your preferred web browser. For your sluggish browser, you can perform the following steps to get things back on track:
- Clearing browser cache and history
- Removing plug-ins and add-ons
- Trying out speed-up extensions
- Reinstallation of the browser
- Finding alternative
5. Update Apps, Drivers, and Windows
Experts from a laptop repair service near me remind us the importance of software update for both security and performance. Make sure that you regularly update all your installed apps and drivers. You can toggle on automatic updates to avoid the struggles of manual updating.
On a related note, your Windows need to be on its latest version to guarantee its optimum efficiency and security. Generally, your Windows laptop will inform you if there’s an update is available and you need to install it.
However, you can also check for an update by following the instructions below:
- Hit the Windows key and click the gear icon or Settings from the Start menu.
- Now, navigate to Updates & Security (or Windows Update, depending on your Windows version).
- Select Windows Update if you run Windows 10 or previous versions.
The system will scan if there’s any updates are pending. Then, the laptop will prompt you to install those updates and restart the device. Updating your Windows laptop can definitely help boost the overall speed, as confirmed by technicians of laptop repair services in Dubai.
6. Shift Your Laptop to a Cooler Place
Now, this tip may sound strange but helps you with your laptop’s declined speed. When a laptop overheats, it tries to reduce its performance as a coping mechanism. Consequently, you have to confront some serious performance issues.
So, you can try a couple of basic troubleshooting to deal with the overheating situation. First, you can take your laptop to an air-conditioned room to ease up its thermal throttling. Next, you can make sure that your laptop vents don’t get clogged.
Otherwise, your machine will fail to dissipate its heat. Similarly, you can remove your laptop’s back panel if possible and dust the CPU cooler, air vents, etc. to free them up from the accumulated dirt and dust. Now, check if the situation improves a bit after cooling down your Windows laptop.
7. Modify your Laptop’s Power Options
Most Windows laptops run on the Balanced power option that balances between battery life and optimum performance. However, you can easily switch to a performance-priority plan if you notice a sudden degradation in your laptop’s performance.
For example, toggle the High-Performance option on if you don’t mind your laptop using more battery life. Simply, click the battery icon from your laptop’s Taskbar and choose the Best or High-Performance option.
Alternatively, you can create a customised power plan using the Control Panel:
- Enter the Control Panel window.
- Next, choose Hardware and Sound followed by Power Options.
- After that, click on ‘Change power-saving settings’.
- Hit the option that says, ‘Create a power plan’.
Now, you can personalise the performance plan and name it accordingly.
8. Perform Some Disk Operations
Try a built-in Windows tool, Disk Cleanup, to remove junk from your system before you choose a laptop repair in Dubai. So, here’s how you can access the tool:
- Open your laptop’s Control Panel portal.
- Afterwards, go to the System and Security section.
- Hit the option named Windows Tools followed by Disk Clean-up.
If you run an older version of Windows then you have to access Administrative Tools instead from the System and Security page. Once you access the tool, choose the files you want to delete and hit the OK button.
Another way to enhance your PC speed is to defragment the hard drive. Files on your hard drive can become fragmented. Thus, your system has to check multiple places to present you the intended file and it makes your laptop slower.
Simply, search for ‘defragment’ and click the first result. Click on the Optimise option if it’s an SSD. Otherwise, you will notice an Analyse option.
Opt for Hardware Upgrades and Refurbishments
Can’t your laptop still reach the speed milestone as expected by you? Check for malware and adjust graphics settings to get the desired performance. On the other hand, you might have to upgrade the RAM and hard drive components.
Adding an SSD can upgrade your laptop’s overall performance. Similarly, adding more RAM will let you handle multitasking without worrying about resources. Contact a laptop repair Dubai professional to understand your laptop’s limitations and scopes for hardware upgrades and refurbishments.