A slow computer is the number-one reason people think they need a new one. Very often, they don't. Most slowdowns come from a handful of causes — too much running in the background, a full drive, malware, or an old-style hard drive that was never fast to begin with — and most of them can be fixed for free or for far less than a replacement.
Work through these in order. The first five cost nothing.
Restart it properly
On most Windows PCs, Shut down doesn't fully reset Windows — a feature called Fast Startup saves part of the previous session to make the next start quicker. That means problems carry over. Use Restart instead, which does a full reset. If your PC hasn't been restarted in weeks, this alone can make a noticeable difference.
See what's using it up
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc for Task Manager, then click the CPU, Memory and Disk column headers to sort by each. You're looking for one program hogging resources, or a column that's constantly maxed out.
Pay particular attention to Disk sitting at or near 100% while you're barely doing anything. That's the classic sign of an old mechanical hard drive struggling — see step 7.
Cut down what starts with Windows
In Task Manager, open Startup apps. Everything marked “Enabled” launches every time you log in and keeps running in the background. Disable anything you don't need running all the time — game launchers, chat apps, updaters for software you rarely use. Disabling doesn't uninstall anything; you can still open them normally. Leave your antivirus and anything from your sound, graphics or touchpad manufacturer enabled.
Free up drive space
Windows slows down noticeably when the main drive is nearly full, because it has nowhere to put temporary files and updates. Aim to keep at least 15–20% free. Go to Settings → System → Storage, check Temporary files, and turn on Storage Sense to clean up automatically. Then uninstall programs you no longer use from Settings → Apps, and move big photo and video folders to an external drive or cloud storage.
Scan for malware — and check your browser
Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options and run a Full scan. If something is found or you're suspicious, also run the Microsoft Defender Offline scan, which restarts the PC and catches things that hide while Windows is running.
If it's mainly the internet that feels slow, look at your browser extensions too. Remove any you don't recognise — unwanted extensions are a very common cause of sluggish browsing, pop-ups and changed search engines.
Install updates and drivers
Run Settings → Windows Update until it says you're up to date, including anything under Advanced options → Optional updates. Then check your PC or laptop manufacturer's support app or website for updated drivers. Updates often fix performance bugs — and an update stuck half-installed in the background can be the slowdown itself.
Check what kind of drive you have — and its health
In Task Manager, open the Performance tab and click your disk. If it says HDD, your PC is running Windows from a spinning mechanical hard drive. Modern Windows is painful on these, no matter how clean the system is.
Next, check the drive's health with the free tool CrystalDiskInfo. If it shows Caution or Bad, the drive is wearing out — that causes freezes and slowdowns, and it's also a warning that it may fail completely. Back up your files now, before anything else.
Upgrade: SSD first, then memory
If your PC is still running from a hard drive, swapping it for a solid-state drive (SSD) is the single biggest speed upgrade most older computers can get. Start-up, opening programs and loading files can go from minutes to seconds. Your existing Windows, programs and files can be cloned across, so nothing needs to be set up again.
Memory (RAM) is next. 8 GB is the practical minimum for Windows 11 today, and 16 GB is comfortable for most people. If Task Manager shows memory constantly in the high 80s or 90s percent, more RAM will help.
When to bring it in
DIY gets you a long way, but bring it in if CrystalDiskInfo shows a drive warning, if malware keeps coming back after scans, or if you'd like the SSD upgrade done without the risk of a cloning mistake. A few typical jobs from our price list:
- Windows tune-up and optimisation — from $50.00
- Virus and malware removal — from $100.00
- Drive clone to a new SSD — from $83.00, plus the drive
- Clean Windows reinstall, files backed up first — from $70.00
And if it turns out a replacement really is the better value, we'll tell you that too. Our guide on repair vs replace covers how to tell.
Still crawling?
Bring it in and we'll find out exactly what's slowing it down — with an itemised quote before we touch anything.
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