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Windows 10 Running Extremely Slow: 12 Ways to Fix it

Updating device drivers may be the fastest solution

8 min. read

Updated onJuly 11, 2024

updated onJuly 11, 2024

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Resolve multiple Windows PC issues and speed up your PC effortlessly with specialized software.

Below, we’ll show you what to try when Windows 10 is very slow and unresponsive. We’ve outlined everything in easy-to-understand instructions, but if you’re a visual person, we have a video summary:

(You can always come back to this article because it has a few more details than the video).

After upgrading, Windows 10 proved very slow,frozen, or unresponsive on startup and when opening programs or folders.

What’s more, even File Explorer shows a delayed response.

If all of that sounds familiar, the solutions below should help.

How do you fix a slow computer running on Windows 10?

1. Use a cleaning tool

Excessive and unnecessary data can causehard drive fragmentation, affecting overall system performance. So cleaning your PC makes sense here.

Specialized cleaner applicationscome in handy here. The built-inWindows Defrag appcan also help. You can erase useless data from your PC and optimize your computer performance with a few clicks.

2. Update your drivers and software

If you wonderMy Windows 10 laptop is very slow, what can I do?, you should know that sometimes your Windows 10 can become slow if your essential components, drivers, or applications are outdated.

You caneasily update driversin Windows:

However, it takes a long time to find the appropriate suitable drivers to improve Windows 10’s slowness and responsiveness.

Also, keeping the drivers up to date can help you fix other issues likelaptop lagging when charging; read this guide to learn more.

3. Disable heavy performance processes

One of the simplest ways to do this is todisable the processes you don’t need. However, this will leave more resources to other apps, thus making the PC faster.

This is just one method you can use; there are, however, many other easy solutions tospeed up Windows 10and make it lightning-fast.

Elements such as disabling animations, shadows, and other special effects play a significant role in PC speed.

4. Enable a faster startup option

This feature is called Hybrid Startup and Shutdown, and it puts your PC into a hibernation state, improving the startup and shutdown process.

5. Check for slow services

6. Disable blur effects and transparency

7. Stop Windows Module Installer service

After disabling this service, check if the problem is resolved. You may want to try this solution if Windows 10 is slow after an update.

Note:By disabling this service, you might not be able to receive Windows updates, so be sure to enable it to avoid any other problems.

8. Disconnect all peripherals

Sometimes, your hardware can cause Windows 10 to become slow. So it would help if you disconnected all peripherals from your PC to fix that problem.

This includes all USB devices, such as printers, hard drives, cameras, etc.

9. Defragment your drive

Once the defragmentation process is finished, check if the problem is resolved. This is a critical fix if Windows 10 is slow to open programs.

It’s worth mentioning that many other greatthird-party defragmentation toolsoffer various advanced features.

10. Adjust the size of the virtual memory

After doing that, you’ll set the virtual memory size for that drive. This is a critical fix if Windows 10 is slow and unresponsive. Additionally, you might have to select the manual size for all your drives.

The size of your virtual memory is related to your RAM size.

As a general rule, theInitial sizeshould be at least1.5 timeslarger than your PC’s RAM. As for Maximum size, it should be up to 4 times larger than your PC’s RAM.

11. Check for viruses

Windows 10 is vulnerable to viruses like any other software, so ensure your system is clean. You can use anyfree antivirus softwareand do a full system scan to be sure.

We believe that any slowdown problem should be resolved after trying out these solutions.

12. Perform a clean Windows 10 install

Sometimes, there are software issues when you upgrade from Windows 8 or Windows 7 to Windows 10, or even when installing the latest Windows 10 updates.

So, it’s advised that you perform aclean install of Windows 10. Just be sure that you back up your important files before doing this.

A clean install is effective for extreme cases, for example, if Windows 10 has a slow boot or a black screen or exhibits slow login.

How do I clear my RAM cache on Windows 10?

There you have it. Now you should have your slow Windows 10 PC running at average speed again.

If these symptoms look familiar, here’s what to do:

So in today’s article, we’ll go through possible causes and solutions, hoping to boost your OS so that you get complete control over your device.

Why is my Windows 10 computer so slow?

Too many background processesmay be the main reason for sluggish performance; memory, laptop battery life, processor power, and internet bandwidth may all be depleted.

Also, if applications, apps, and other objects are programmed to open automatically whenever you start your PC, Windows 10 machines may get clogged immediately.

Furthermore, Windows 10 includes avariety of visual effects by default, such as shadows to give application windows a sense of depth, animations for making on-screen movements seamless, transparencies, thumbnail previews, and more.

So, why is Windows 10 so slow? The issue is that each effect consumes system resources, which might cause your PC to lag. Of course, there is also the possibility of malware, wherein you must perform a full PC scan. Below are some of the variations of the Windows running slow issue:

How can I fix Windows 11 if it’s slow?

Sadly, your new Windows 11 PCs may also become slow. The reasons behind this are similar to those in Windows 10 PCs.

You should note that you can use similar fixes discussed in this article to get them to average speed again.

Additionally, these particularsteps to make Windows 11 fasterwill come in handy.

Note that we have not written these solutions in any particular order, and we hope you will be able to try the fixes that seem most relevant to your case.

On the other hand, if you have other suggestions on this topic, feel free to reach us using the comments section.

Windows 10 Running Extremely Slow: 12 Ways to Fix it#

How do you fix a slow computer running on Windows 10?#

1. Use a cleaning tool#

2. Update your drivers and software#

3. Disable heavy performance processes#

4. Enable a faster startup option#

5. Check for slow services#

6. Disable blur effects and transparency#

7. Stop Windows Module Installer service#

8. Disconnect all peripherals#

9. Defragment your drive#

10. Adjust the size of the virtual memory#

11. Check for viruses#

12. Perform a clean Windows 10 install#

How do I clear my RAM cache on Windows 10?#

How can I fix Windows 11 if it’s slow?#