It can be frustrating trying to figure out why your computer has become slower and slower over time, so here are the most common causes for a computer to slow down.
1. Too Many Applications Running
This one may sound obvious to most, but it is still one of the biggest reasons your computer can feel sluggish. If you have an old or weak computer, having too many applications open is a real possibility and can include background tasks you weren’t even aware were running or existed. Checking what is running is very easy using Windows Task Manager, which can be opened using Ctrl + Shift + Escape on modern Windows versions or by using the search function to find it manually. A good place to look is the Start-up tab as it shows what applications turn on when you boot up your computer, and there are often a lot of unnecessary applications. Besides this, you can see what is using the most of your CPU and Disk space in the Processes tab so all you have to do is determine what you don’t need to have running at the time and manage your computer’s performance respectively.
2. Full Hard-Drive
When your hard drive is full, it can cause a lot of issues for your computer’s performance and is especially true for weaker computers that don’t have much RAM. When you’ve used up all your RAM but still need more, your computer will temporarily create some virtual memory in your Hard Drive to compensate. However, when your computer has no disk drive remaining and thus no space for virtual memory, it will completely freeze up until the tasks stored in RAM are completed, allowing for more tasks to begin. Other than this issue, there is also the chance that your hard drive has become fragmented or corrupted, which is increasingly possible the more full it gets. To check for these issues, you can use Windows’s built-in functions such as Defrag Drives and Disk Clean-Up which can be found using the search bar. Keep in mind that they may be automatically scheduled for defragmentation meaning you don’t need to do anything.
3. Overheating
Laptops are especially prone to overheating because they have a lot less internal ventilation space and their fans are usually very weak. They are also on your lap a lot of the time, so your body heat and restriction of airflow make it even more difficult to cool. Still, that doesn’t mean Desktop PCs are immune to overheating and it shouldn’t be difficult to tell if they are hot because you should be able to feel the heat coming from them. For a more reliable check, you can install some software from the web that uses your motherboard’s thermometer to display the temperature of your PC’s components and will give you a good idea as to which ones are struggling to stay cool.
Hopefully, this article gives you an idea as to why your computer has slowed down! For more ideas on how to speed up your computer, visit machmachines.com Faster Windows PC.