How to Resolve Slow or Lagging PC Problem on WINDOWS.

Slow PC or PC lagging problems are common and happen to everyone but only a few people know that it could be resolved easily by spending some time to resolve it by following these steps.

Many people would suggest you increase RAM or replace HDD with SSD, sure it would work but it is not only costly but also not effective if you aren't doing the methods described below.

No matter how much RAM you have or if you are using SSD. It will still lag or run slow after a certain time. Thus learn to do the following methods every month at least.

Personal Recommendation: I would suggest you download this Instructable in PDF format and keep it with yourself so that you can refer to it whenever you want to.

Cover image:Illustration by Freepik Storyset

In this first step, the major reason why your PC might be slow is that your hard drive is full.

Delete the unwanted or unused applications or software from your PC.

Go to This PC and then click on the uninstall or change a program.

A window will open displaying all the apps with their size and version, double-click on the apps that you want to uninstall, and then a small window will appear showing the uninstallation process.

It might take some time.

Note: Don't delete any Microsoft or your laptop's essential applications as it might lead to more problems.

For Temporary File:

A temporary file is a file created to store information temporarily, either for a program's intermediate use or for transfer to a permanent file when complete.

If not deleted they can take up a large amount of hard drive space.

Press Win + R to open Run Window, then type %temp% to open temporary files location.

Now, click Select all and then click Delete.

Delete all the temporary files.

For Deleting Recycle Bin Trash:

The Recycle Bin acts as a 'holding bay' for deleted items, such as files and folders (and even shortcuts!). When you delete a file or folder, it is not deleted from your computer permanently. Instead, Windows places the deleted items into the Recycle Bin.

Open Recycle Bin, click Empty Recycle Bin.

Note: These two methods are very effective to restore the pc from lagging.

For Disabling Startup:

The Startup programs are those programs that start automatically at the startup of your PC. Multiple programs running simultaneously during the startup can cause the PC to lag and some of these applications aren't even necessary to startup automatically.

Press Win+R to open Run Window, then type msconfig.

Click on the startup button, then click on Open Task Manager.

Look for applications that have a HIGH or MEDIUM startup medium. Right-click on the app and disable it.

The Hardware Diagnosis tool can be used to check if your hardware health is good as it also can cause the lagging of the PC.

Hardware Diagnosis Software is provided by every laptop brand Lenovo, HP, etc.

Run the test and check if there are any errors in it.

A computer will divide files into blocks for storage on your hard disk drive. This can cause your PC to slow down and even shorten the life of your hard drive. Defragmenting, or defragging, your hard disk drive on a regular basis will increase the overall health and speed of your computer system.

Follow the picture shown above.

Press Win+S to open the Search bar, then type Defrag then choose Defragment and optimize the drive.

1. Click the drive you like to defragment.

2. Then click Analyze.

3. Then click Optimize.

Wait for the disk to optimize and then do the same for all the other disks too.

Defragmentation should be done on a weekly or monthly basis. Thus set up the optimization schedule by clicking Change settings

Note: This is only done for HDD and not for SSD

Animations running on your PC also cause it to lag and thus you can disable it to give the best performance.

Click on System Properties then click Advanced system settings.

Click the Advanced section and then under the Performance section click Settings.

Change the Adjust for best appearance to Adjust for best performance.

Battery power options especially for laptops affect the running of PC.

Sometimes your PC is lagging just because it is set at Power Saving Mode.

My Recommendation:

Use Power Saving Mode when the laptop is not plugged into the charger else run it on High performance or Dynamic performance.

Now open the Battery settings and choose Dynamic or High performance.

You can also change the setting of the High or dynamic power modes on how they should work while plugged into the charger and when they aren't plugged into the charger.

Note:

1. Gaming or Video editing should be done in high performance or dynamic performance. (Recommended)
2. Don't use high or dynamic power mode options if your laptop isn't plugged into the charger as it may lead the battery to discharge more fastly.

Your operating system no matter which one you are using requires you to check for new updates and should be updated whenever available.

To check for updates:

1. Open the Search bar using Win + S, then search PC Settings.
2. Click Update and recovery.
3. Click Windows Update and then Check for updates.
4. If new updates found, install it

It might take a lot of time and a good internet connection.

Open Command Prompt using the Search bar. Run Command Prompt using Run as administrator. (Right-click on the command prompt to display options)

It is important to run the command prompt using Run as administrator.

Open Command Prompt three times or just run these following commands one after another.

Now run these three commands:

1. Run the CHKDSK command and then press Enter, wait for the process to end.
2. Run the wmic command and then press Enter. Then wmic:root\cli> will appear below and now write diskdrive get status command. If the status is OK then there is no error in that.
3. Run the sfc /scannow command and wait for the process to end.

Explanation:

The primary function of CHKDSK is to scan the filesystem on a disk (NTFS, FAT32) and check the integrity of the filesystem including filesystem metadata, and fix any logical filesystem errors it finds.

The diskdrive get status command is used to determine if the hard drive is failing.

The Windows System File Checker (SFC) is a tool that is built into all modern versions of Windows. This tool allows you to repair corrupted system files in a Windows installation. SFC can be run from an elevated command prompt (Using full administrator privileges) both from within Windows and using recovery media.

The laptop's software or driver also requires regular updates and thus we are going to use a company-provided resource as the one Lenovo had provided.

Various other brands also provide these kinds of update checking websites or software. Example: HP provides HP diagnostics.

For Lenovo:

Choose between manual update or automatically update.

You can choose and update any of the components required for your PC like GPU updating or Power Management.

Those who didn't find any resources for driver updates or didn't know how to do it can use this software namely Driver Easy that will detect any updates required by the drivers.

Just download the free version and you can update the driver manually or if you want to update the driver automatically you can purchase the one-year subscription also.

You can check my other Instructable specifically made on how to use this software here: How to Manually Update Drivers on PC [Using Driver Easy: Free Version]

You can buy or download any free antivirus like Avira to scan the entire PC to check for any malicious virus that is causing your PC to lag.

Always run Full scan instead of Quick scan.

Schedule a scan every week to ensure the safety as well as the performance of your PC.

Additional Note:

• Don't use cracked version Antivirus and also check the reviews of the antivirus before purchasing.
• Don't use Avast antivirus.

Refer to these for more info regarding Avast( Avast Antivirus tracks your clicks and views, The Cost of Avast's Free Antivirus: Companies Can Spy on Your Clicks)

A YouTube Video is also available to watch.