Why Is My Windows 10 So Slow - Here are some of the proven Reasons and Resolutions!

Introduction to Windows 10

Windows 10 is the latest(after Windows 8.1) Operating system introduced by Microsoft Corporation as a part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. This software was released to the public on the 29th of July 2015. The most notable feature of Windows 10 is it supports the universal Windows platform for the development of universal apps.

This OS has introduced Microsoft Edge as a new browser that is completely different from the Internet Explorer. Cortona is one of the outstanding features introduced in the Windows 10 OS.

It is a Microsoft digital assistant for Windows, similar to Siri. But for Windows 10 with the voice-activation feature, you need to say "Hey, Cortona" to enable it. Else go to the taskbar and select the Cortona icon or type in the search bar.

Why Is My Windows 10 So Slow?

Do you lose your patience, feel frustrated when your PC does not work fast or freeze up continuously and makes you think - Why is my computer so slow all of a sudden Windows 10?
Seeing the PC taking more time to respond to open an app or to perform any other action? Continuously thinking why is my Windows 10 so slow? Here are some of the reasons that make Windows 10 slow.

Common problems that slow down your PC

• Some applications may be running in the background that consumes more RAM which in turn slows down the performance.
• The hard disk storage capacity was full, if your hard drive is 95% full then your PC performance will drastically be decreased.
• The hard drive may be failing and the life span of the hard drive is gonna end.
• The PC may be affected by any malware or virus may have corrupted the stored files and programs.
• Usage of outdated hardware drivers.
• The usage of obsolete software.
• Hardware or Software failure.
• Running PC for a long time without rebooting it.
• If the computer processor is overheated.
• If the PC or laptop is very old.
• Storage of junk files for a long time.
• Using applications that consume more RAM.
• If the browser has too many extensions, it may end up in high usage of processor power.
• If you are running your PC in low power mode.
• It may be due to some internal or external factors.

The Main Reasons Behind Slowing Down Windows 10

Besides the common reasons for slowing down Windows 10, here are some of the main reasons that can make your processor go down. Have a look -

• You have so many startup programs. If you are running so many applications at once, your system may freeze and hang up.
• corrupted Windows system files.
• The anti-virus software is extremely active.
• The hard drive is low on space, corrupted, and fragmented.
• PC power plan, it saves your battery ie., you are running the system in low power.
• Using software that is obsolete.

But how can we check whether we are using obsolete hardware or software? No worries! here we are to tell you everything about it.

Checking Updates

You need to check the hardware and software updates in your system in order to avoid the problem of slowing down of your Operating System. Let us see how can we do so.

Software Updates

In order to keep your software updated, Windows provides you a feature that updates all the applications including Windows software. In order to see the latest updates-

• Check for Windows update.
• Else go for Start menu → Settings → Updates and Security → Windows updates.

Hardware Updates

It is also necessary to keep the hardware(the device drivers) updated. To update the device driver with the device manager on Windows 10, follow these simple steps.

• Go to the Start menu.
• Search "Device manager".
• Click on the hardware branch which you want to update.
• Right-click on the hardware you want to update and select the "Update driver" option.
• Browse my computer for driver software.
• Click on the browse button.
• Select the main folder with driver files that have been extracted earlier.
• Click OK.
• Check the "Include subfolder" option to allow the wizard to find the correct .inf file with instructions to update the driver.
• Click on the Next button.

Once the steps are done then the wizard will detect and install the driver in the computer to increase the overall experience with fixes and new support depending on the update.

Effective Fixes For The Problems

To provide the resolution to your question - why is my Windows 10 so slow, here are some fixes that you can apply to your windows 10.

• Corrupted Windows system files
  

  The system may undergo several problems like driver errors, blue-black screens, and so on.
  Fix it:
  Windows 10 gives two major tools to solve this issue. They are DISM (Deployment Image Service And Management) and SFC(System File Checker).
  DISM :
  Step 1: Go to the Windows Search bar and type PowerShell and select run as administrator.
  Step 2: Type dism.exe/Online/Cleanup-image/Restorehealth and hit enter. This will begin the DISM search for corrupt files and replace them.
  SFC :
  Step 1: Go to the Windows search bar and type PowerShell and select run as administrator.
  Step 2: Type "sfc/scannow" and hit enter. This process will find and replace corrupted files. Restart your system once it is done.

• Running too many programs at once
  

  If so many programs are running at once then it may slow down your PC and the applications take more time to load and may freeze the screen so frequently.
  Fix it:
  Go to the Task Manager and find the application that is using more memory.
  Step 1:  In the search bar, type "Task Manager".
  Step 2: Open Task the manager and find the applications that use more memory. You can sort the application based on the usage of the memory. Right-click on the Task and end it. End all the background running applications. This may free up the RAM and CPU so that your PC will run faster.

• Anti-Virus software is extremely active
  

  This software slows down the PC performance and takes more time to respond. The antivirus running in the background may consume more processor power which reduces the performance of the system.
  Fix it:
  Change the Settings. Go to the scan schedule, and edit the options.Step1: Open anti-virus software.
  Step 2: Go to settings >> click on scan schedule >> choose the scan box you want to change and then click edit.
  Step 3: Change the time and date of the scan as per your convenience and the frequency of its occurrence. This process may change from software to software but most of the steps will be common.

• The hard drive is low on space
  

  If the hard drive is full, about 95% then the performance of the processor will be reduced to 50%. The lack of storage for temporary files makes OS function improperly.
  Fix it:
  Check which file is taking more storage in the C drive and delete those unnecessary files.
  Step 1: Open storage in Windows Explorer.
  Step 2: Click on "This PC" and remove all temporary files and ensure more space availability and turn on "Storage sense".
  Step 3: Select folder from the Pop Up Apps and games, others - the common categories which take more space, continue selecting all the folders that you need to remove and delete them.
  Step 4: Open the subfolder, delete the files which are not required.

• Running in low power mode
  

  Windows 10 gives you the option to adjust your power settings to maximize performance. This can cause the slowing down of your system.
  Fix it: Follow these steps to fix this problem. Go to control panel → Hardware and sound → power options, create a power plan. Then you can see three options "Balanced", "power saver", "High Performance". Select the High Performance so that you can maximize the performance of the (processor) computer automatically.

• Someone is using your computer for crypto-mining
  

  Some websites have an extension that will use the computer processing power to mine a cryptocurrency. It is an illegal approach but it will not affect the system. Crypto mining also called crypto-jacking is the result of downloading files from the unknown sites
  Fix it:
  To figure out that you have downloaded any crypto-jacking malware - Go to the task manager and see what's demanding your processor whether it is a virus or browser-based crypto mining and verify if your processor has been used for some other needs.

• Your browser has too many add-ons
  

  The browsers use some extensions to enhance your web performance. Some add ons proclaim themselves, the popup blockers that may be browser adware, that is used to pop up the advertisements every time when we open the browser.
  Fix it: Remove the extensions and the toolbars that are not necessary for you. This differs from browser to browser.

  Firefox: Click menu bar on far-right. Select add-ons/extensions then select disable or remove for each item on the list.
  Chrome: Right-click on each extension button/manage extensions then uncheck the extensions that you no longer need. We can also check how much memory each extension is using.
  Internet Explorer: Select Tools → Manage add-ons → Show All add-ons, then select the offender, and click on disable.
  Edge: Go to settings and more → extensions and remove the extensions that you don't need.

• The System has a virus
  

  The virus, spyware, malware, and so on can slow down your system processor. A virus is malicious software that is used to run the ads frequently that generates income for the creator.
  Fix it: Run malware scan and use the updated anti-virus software to protect the system from the latest virus.

Ways To Keep Windows 10 Secure And "Performance-Ready" In Future

As of now, you might have got the answer to your query why is my Windows 10 slow and also various ways to fix the problems. Now can we do anything in advance to make our processor performance-ready? Well yes, we can do so. Let us see next-

• Update your software
  

  It is necessary to keep the Windows 10 updated and also the software that is being used in the PC. The outdated software in the system is more prone to threats and vulnerabilities. So better to keep your software updated.

• Create a restore point
  

  If once all the software installed is updated then the next step would be creating a restore point. This can be one by following these steps-
  1. Start menu → Control Panel → System maintenance → System → System protection and click on create.
  2. After installing the Windows you can go for the restore point.
  3. Rename it as clean installation and install drivers.
  4. If there is any issue in the drivers then go back and clean the "Installation restore" point.

• Back up your system
  

  The above steps are used to keep the system safe from the external threats, still, there is a chance of hardware issues that may result in loss of private information. To keep the data safe combine the external hard drive with online backup services. At the same time, you can use the Windows back up system.
  To set up go to Start menu  → control panel → back up and restore. You can also choose the network location for back up files.

• Use a Standard user account
  

  Windows 10 provides certain rights and privileges based on the kind of user account. You can have either a standard user account or administrator user account.
  It is better to use the standard user account so that the changes made will not affect the others using the system, such as deleting the files that are necessary for the system. With the standard user account, you cannot make such changes. It is recommended to use a strong password for the user account.

• Keep your User Account Control enabled
  

  User Account Control is necessary to prevent unauthorized changes to the operating system. It is recommended not to turn off the control. Instead of that disabling, its use can decrease the intensity level using the slider in the control panel. It monitors all the changes that are being made to the operating system.

• Secure web browser before going online
  

  The web browser is the main tool through which the user can access Internet services. So it becomes necessary to keep it safe before going online.
  The vulnerabilities in the web browser are most prone to threats where a hacker can enter the system and steal the user's private data. In order to keep the browser safe use the updated version, use the private browsing session whenever accessing a website.

• Encrypt Hard Drive using an Encryption Software

  Even after setting a password, a hacker can enter into the system by booting the operating system using Linux. A simple solution for this is encrypting the hard drive and protect the sensitive files. If you are using the laptop then it is recommended to have these levels of security.
  BitLocker is one of the free encryption tools. It is available for the latest Windows operating system. This tool encrypts your entire hard drive and makes it impossible for the attacker to inject malicious software. It is easy to use as it is already integrated into your website.

Conclusion

Though there are some drawbacks in Windows 10 it provides great security for its users. It has so many advanced features like Cortona and so on. Windows 10 is more user friendly and easy to use. If ever this thing comes to your mind that why is my Windows 10 so slow, just try some of these methods to fix the issue:

• Use Windows 10 tools DISM and SFC.
• End too many applications from Task Manager.
• Fix antivirus settings.
• Clear the hard drive space.
• Adjust power settings to maximum.
• Check for virus or browser-based crypto mining.
• Remove the extensions and the toolbars that are unnecessary.
• Run Malware Scan and update software.

To keep your system performance-ready for future, you can try these hacks-

• Update your software from time to time.
• Create a restore point.
• Back up your system.
• Use a Standard user account.
• Keep your User Account Control enabled.
• Secure web browser before going online.
• Encrypt Hard Drive using various software available.

So now you know how can you come out from your problem called 'why is my Windows 10 so slow'. If you have any doubts or suggestions, feel free to write down to me in the comments section below. And to read more such interesting articles, check them at SocialMirror.