Updated: 09/15/2019 Published: 02/08/2018

Description

Poor computer performance:

• At boot (the system or desktop takes a long time to load)
• Slows down from time to time
• Frequently slows down and freezes
• When running games or demanding programs
• After reinstalling Windows
• When waking up from sleep or hibernation
• Suddenly “freezes” for a few seconds
• Stutters when scrolling the page
• Programs take a long time to open
• Low FPS in games
• Slow Internet connection
• Freezes tightly

At the same time, the computer used to work quickly. But it is possible that the problem occurs immediately after purchasing the PC.

Cause

There can be many reasons - from software errors to hardware failure:

• The presence of a process that loads the system;
• Viruses or the presence of several antiviruses in the system;
• A large number of programs in startup;
• Problem with RAM;
• Failure of the hard drive or any other component;
• Media logical errors;
• Incorrect power supply;
• Overheating (more often for laptops or all-in-one computers);
• Problem with drivers (usually after reinstalling Windows);
• Glitch in the operation of peripheral devices;
• System error;
• Crooked update installation;
• Computer obsolescence;
• Inconsistency with system requirements.

As a rule, it does not matter whether we have a desktop computer or a laptop/all-in-one computer. Most of these problems are true for any PC.

In this article we will try to consider the maximum possible options and solutions.

Solution

The article is largely focused on the Windows system, however, most of the recommendations are valid for other operating systems.

Before proceeding with the steps below, try simply restarting your computer. If it worked for a long time without restarting, this could be the reason. You can see how long Windows worked without rebooting using this article.

1. Check your computer for viruses

Viruses can launch their own processes, which lead to system brakes. You can check your computer using the CureIt utility or any other analogue.

You can also temporarily (or permanently) install the 360 ​​Total Security antivirus and perform a regular scan - the program will offer to delete not only suspicious files, but also clear startup and temporary data:

We agree, then reboot the computer.

We also make sure that several anti-virus products are not installed on the system - otherwise, they will conflict and create additional unnecessary load.

2. Check the status of the HDD/SSD

a) Physical condition:

We install a utility to check the hard drive and display the S.M.A.R.T. status. eg HD Tune or CrystalDiskInfo. If errors or warnings are detected, the media must be replaced.

The condition must be close to 100%, otherwise the disk may cause poor performance:

b) Free space:

Among other things, you need to make sure you have disk space:

If there is not enough space, the system will slow down.

c) Logical state:

If, when viewing the computer's load, the disk constantly shows 100% load, you can try disabling the page file. Read the article Disk is 100% loaded for more details. If you need to have a swap file, set static values ​​(the same for maximum and minimum - this will prevent its fragmentation):

3. Turn off visual effects

If graphics performance is weak, you should try disabling all the beauties of Windows.

Let's go to Control Panel - system and safety - System- click on Advanced System Settings:

On the tab Additionally In the “Performance” section, click on Options- in the window that opens, set the switch to the position Provide the best performance:

4. Install/update drivers

The problem is less relevant starting with Windows 10, since the latter can automatically update drivers (if there is an Internet connection), but does not exclude the possibility of a problem occurring.

And so, the absence of a driver for a device or the presence of a version with an error can lead to incorrect operation of the equipment and, as a result, to any problems, in particular, slow PC speed.

Go to device manager (command devmgmt.msc or right click on This computer in the conductor - Control - device Manager). Drivers must be installed for all devices (there should be no exclamation marks):

You can install or update drivers manually by downloading the latest versions from the equipment manufacturer's website or automatically using a special program, for example, DriverHub.

5. Check running processes

Opening Task Manager(Ctrl + Shift + Esc) - in the window that opens you can see the recycling of equipment as a percentage:

If your computer's resources are completely full (90% or higher), you need to find processes that do this. This information can be seen in the same task manager, but specialized utilities, such as Process Explorer, will show more detailed information.

We accept the license agreement - the main program window will open with the processes running on the computer and information about the resources they occupy.

We sort the list by processor utilization:

* System Idle Process shows processor idle time (free resource). The higher this indicator, the better.

We sort the list by memory utilization (actually allocated pages, excluding shared):

We sort the list by memory utilization (the sum of all memory pages):

If there are processes that load the system, we try to kill them:

However, when trying to stop the process svchost we will get an error:

Here we need to act differently. We hover the cursor over the name of the process and a pop-up window will appear with a list of services that hang on this process:

• Cleaning your computer from temporary files. There are various utilities for this, for example CCleaner.
• cleaning the registry. The safest way to do this is with the aforementioned CCleaner.
• We delete programs and games that we no longer use. This must be done using the Programs and Features tool, or, again, CCleaner.

On new computers with Windows pre-installed, especially laptops, the manufacturer/seller considers it their duty to install all the programs in the world. Removing this “necessary” software can lead to the computer starting to boot and work more than 2 times better!

If your new Lenovo laptop is running slowly, update or remove the pre-installed antivirus.

7. Testing RAM

This is another component that is often the source of performance problems.

You can test your memory in different ways:

1. If there are several slats in the computer, remove them all, leaving one. We test and move to another bar.
2. We use a special utility, for example, memtest86.
3. We try to plug the memory into different slots on the motherboard.

If problems are detected, we return the memory for warranty or replace it with a new one. You need to buy the same bracket as the others or read the motherboard compatibility sheet.

8. Check the condition of the remaining equipment

Download and install the AIDA64 program and conduct a system stability test:

If problems are detected, the program will generate an error. In this case, the faulty component must be replaced.

9. We evaluate the operation of the power supply and electrical outlets

Not always obvious, but the real problem is the lack of power supply for normal operation of components.

There are several approaches to testing this theory:

1. Take the computer to a different power source, possibly in a different room.
2. Replace the power supply.
3. Use diagnostic utilities, for example, AIDA64.

On laptops, when running on battery power, the system may run slower to save power. In this case, we connect the portable device to a power source or change the power mode from economical to efficient.

10. Setting up the power supply scheme

By default, Windows uses a balanced power plan. This is not always the best solution in terms of performance.

To change the power plan, open Windows Settings and enter “power” in the search - select Selecting a power plan:

In the window that opens, open the hidden option by clicking on Show additional diagrams- select in the menu that opens High performance:

* if we see that the switch is set to the “Energy Saving” position, we should first try switching to Balanced.

11. Check the temperature

Overheating can cause poor performance - the system will run slower to prevent components from burning out.

To view the current temperature of the main components, you can use the above-described AIDA64 or SpeedFan.

If overheating is detected, you must perform the following actions (not recommended for warranty computers):

1. Disassemble the computer and clean it of dust.
2. Depending on the overheating component:
   • Remove the processor cooler, remove the remaining thermal paste, apply new thermal paste and put the cooler in place.
   • Remove the video card cooler, remove the remaining thermal paste, apply new thermal paste and put the cooler in place.
3. In the case of a desktop computer, install a cooler that blows hot air out of the case.
4. Check the functionality of all fans (visually and using a program, for example, SpeedFan).

12. Checking peripheral devices

Peripherals that work poorly or begin to fail can lead to problems with the computer itself.

Disable all devices except the mouse. Remove the CD from the drive, if there is one. We check the functionality of the computer. Disconnect the mouse, connect the keyboard, continue the test. If the computer works well without peripherals, we connect additional devices one by one to determine which one is the problem.

13. Network problems / slow Internet

The system may have software installed, the operation of which is highly dependent on the network. If there is a network connection, but there is no network as such (for example, due to a logical error), these programs may try to send requests with high timeouts (response waits). At the same time, while waiting, they create a heavy load on the system, slowing down its operation. This most often leads to a deterioration in the computer's loading or attempts to launch various programs.

In this case, try unplugging the network cable or turning off WiFi. If the problem is resolved, try to figure out the network - this may be a temporary glitch or the firewall is not working properly.

If, by itself, the computer works satisfactorily, but the Internet speed is low, measure it using the corresponding article. If the speed is poor, try disconnecting the cable from the router and plugging it directly into the computer - if the speed remains low, contact your service provider. Otherwise, try connecting your computer to the router via wire rather than via WiFi. If it doesn’t help, reconfigure the router or replace it - quite often, switching to the 5 GHz frequency helps.

14. Make sure that the computer’s power meets the system requirements

If performance is low when running certain programs or games, or after changing Windows to a newer version, it is worth studying the system requirements of these software products. It is quite possible that the computer should not work quickly with them.

If the problem only occurs with one specific program/game, try reinstalling it.

If the computer worked quickly with the same program/game before, try to analyze when the problems started. Also try disabling your antivirus program before starting.

We monitor the number of simultaneously running programs. In some cases, the computer may be running a browser with a large number of open tabs + office programs. Every process requires resources. It’s also worth knowing that each open browser tab is a separate process. We must monitor the number of open programs and close everything that we do not use, otherwise, buy a more powerful computer.

If our computer has less than 4 GB of RAM and we do not plan to expand, we do not install 64-bit Windows - it consumes a little more resources. If more than 4 GB, install Windows x64, otherwise, all resources will not be used. This is also true for choosing a system edition: you should not install the maximum possible Windows, it is not a fact that all the features will be used, and resources will be wasted.

15. We use specialized software

There are utilities that can analyze your PC and report possible performance problems. One such utility is Auslogics BoostSpeed.

However, this program requires a license, so we either buy it or use it as a source of information.

16. We evaluate performance

Starting with Windows Vista, there are system tools for overall system performance assessment. Based on this, we can conclude which component is outdated or slow.

To begin with, we perform the following check:

a) Windows 7:

Right click on Computer - Properties. In the window that opens, click on the link Windows Experience Index and press Rate your computer. The evaluation process will begin, which can take up to 10 minutes - wait, then we will receive the results, for example:

* in this example it is clear that the weakest component is the video card. This computer should comfortably handle office tasks, but will slow down when running demanding games. The maximum score is 7.9 points.

b) Windows 10/8:

Starting in Windows 8, the Experience Index assessment is run from the command line. To do this, open it as administrator and enter the command:

winsat formal -restart clean

We are waiting for the process to finish. Then open the folder \Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore. In the list that opens, select the latest file by date whose name contains Formal.Assessment (Recent).WinSAT.xml and open it using any browser:

We are interested in the tag WinSPR:

For convenience, you can download a utility that allows you to see the assessment in a convenient form - Winaero WEI Tool. Download, unpack, run:

*please note that the maximum score is 9.9 points.

I will also mention that in addition to the built-in tools, there are other utilities. For example, the free WhySoSlow.

17. Studying the system log

Based on the entries in the system log, you can try to draw conclusions regarding the operation of the PC. It is quite possible that this will help solve the problem.

The log can be opened with the command eventvwr or from the control panel.

It is necessary to pay attention to all errors and warnings, primarily for system events:

18. Trying to disable hibernation mode

If the hibernation file is damaged, waking up the computer will be accompanied by lags for several minutes. To solve the problem, turn off the power saving mode, restart the computer, and turn on the mode again.

To do this, open the command line as administrator and enter:

Reboot the computer. Returning hibernation mode:

19. Software incompatibility

This is true in cases where everything works slowly when several programs are running at the same time.

As a solution, we try to update the program data. If add-ons (plugins, extensions) are used, we try to update them, reinstall them, disable them, remove them.

20. Game settings

If the computer runs slowly only when running computer games or one particular game has low FPS (even though the computer is quite powerful), then you need to look at the settings of the computer game itself.

Some games have the option to support multi-core processing, for example CS:

Typically, it should be turned on for optimal performance.

21. Reinstall Windows

If all else fails, the only option left is to reinstall the system. This is not the best way to solve the problem and should be used only as a last resort.

Perhaps before this you should try to perform a system rollback using a checkpoint to a time when the computer was working normally. And, if this does not help, copy the important data to another medium or to the cloud, and reinstall the operating system.

This extreme measure can be caused by various problems:

1. The presence of a system error, which is very difficult to understand even for a highly qualified specialist.
2. Update installation curve.
3. Garbage that has accumulated over the years after installing/uninstalling various programs.
4. Single or multiple overflow of the system disk by 87.5%. The problem is related to the peculiarity of the NTFS file system to reserve 12.5% ​​of the space for MFT (which is necessary for the normal operation of the file system itself). When space runs out, the system takes 12.5% ​​of the reserved space from the MFT, which can lead to fragmentation of the latter. Defragmentation won't help anymore.

On average, in my experience, the lifespan of the Windows operating system is from 2 to 5 years.

22. Update BIOS

But there is a nuance! If the computer starts running slowly on its own, updating the BIOS will not help. There is a need for this procedure only if the computer starts to slow down after replacing some equipment, for example, a processor, disk, memory, and so on.

23. Changing the computer

In the case when even reinstalling Windows and all of the above did not help solve the problem, and the computer continues to work slowly, it is time to change the computer itself.

Firstly, over the years, the physical properties of components deteriorate due to the appearance of microcracks and oxidation of contacts, and secondly, the software becomes more demanding and there is a need to increase capacity.

On average, the lifespan of a computer is from 3 to 7 years.

Risk-takers can try to overclock the central processor. This method is not suitable for many, because not every CPU can be overclocked. But if successful, the purchase of a new “stone” can be postponed for another year. Read ours. The essence of this operation is to increase the voltage on the central processor, and thereby increase its clock frequency. The operation itself is quite risky and not for all processors; in some cases, you can simply disable the CPU, or significantly reduce its service life.

To roughly determine the weak points of the system, use the built-in function for assessing computer performance, which we have already discussed above. The “weak link” can be determined by the assessments that are obtained after checking the performance. Where the score is lowest, in that direction it is necessary to increase the PC power. For example, if the disk data transfer speed has the lowest rating, then you should think about buying a faster hard drive.

Cleaning the insides, repairing faulty elements of the cooling system

Various malfunctions in the cooling system can also significantly slow down the operation of the entire system. If the cooler on the central processor breaks down, this leads to its overheating and a decrease in clock frequency.

Overheating is generally a dangerous thing and can occur even with a working cooling system. Take it, remove the cover from your system unit, and see how much dust there is. It not only covers all surfaces, but also gets tightly packed into all radiators and settles on the cooler blades. Dust acts as a kind of heat insulator, which leads to overheating. Clean the system unit very carefully and you will be able to increase the speed of your computer, as well as extend the life of its components and get rid of the main breeding ground for various allergens and bacteria - dust.

We clean the hard drive of everything unnecessary, perform defragmentation

Those who hear the term “defragmentation” for the first time should understand that this is the very first thing to do to improve system performance. Defragmentation allows you to collect various fragments of programs that are located in different parts of the hard drive into one heap. Thanks to this, the hard drive reader does not need to perform many unnecessary movements across the disks, because everything is in one place. This way productivity increases.

In addition, you need to get rid of unnecessary information and any software junk that accumulates on the disk over time. This is especially important when there is practically no free space on the operating system partition. If the space is less than 2 GB, the system loses its performance. So don’t overload the disk and try to have thirty percent free space on it, if possible, of course.

Reinstalling operating system

This step almost always helps speed up your computer. In some cases, productivity can triple. This is simply the essence of the operating system; over time, various errors accumulate in it, it becomes clogged with unnecessary services, which even make serious changes to the system itself. This and much more leads to a deterioration in the speed of the computer; many operations now require much more time.

If you carefully monitor the cleanliness of the system and do not install anything there, you can use the same Windows for years. But more often than not, there is constant movement on the computer: programs are installed and uninstalled, drivers are updated, large amounts of various information are loaded - under such conditions the system gradually begins to “stupid.” It is best, for prevention, to format the disk about once a year and install a new operating system from scratch.

We optimize the operation of the OS

We recently did this, because a properly configured and optimized system is the main guarantee of computer performance! The system can be configured quickly and without unnecessary hassles using special utilities. For example, AeroTweak copes well with these tasks.

The PCMedic program performed well. The main feature of this utility is the complete automation of all operations. You just need to select the appropriate parameters and start the setup process.

The program consists of only one main window. Here we select our operating system, the type of central processor (for example, Intel or AMD), then we need to choose one of two optimization methods - Heal (cleaning the system), or Heal & Boost (in addition to cleaning, acceleration is also performed). After selecting all the parameters, click on the “Go” button - the program will make all the necessary changes.

There is another program that boasts truly powerful functionality - Ausloqics BoostSpeed, which, unfortunately, is paid. It consists of several utilities that allow you to optimize the system in almost all directions. Using this application you can defragment, clean the file system, clean the registry, increase Internet speed and much more. The program has a built-in advisor that helps determine priority areas for optimizing the system. Although I recommend not to blindly trust an adviser and see whether all these actions are really necessary for you.

In order to clean the system of all junk, there are many special cleaning applications. For example, CCleaner can be a good help. It is capable of cleaning the disk from unnecessary, temporary files and cleaning the registry. By deleting unnecessary files, you can increase the amount of free space on your hard drive. But when cleaning the registry, there is no significant increase in performance. But if some important parameter is accidentally deleted, the system will begin to generate errors and this can lead to serious failures.

ATTENTION! Before performing all these steps, it is highly recommended that you create a restore point!

ALWAYS look at the files that system cleanup utilities remove. There are cases of permanent deletion of necessary and even important files that programs falsely mistook for unnecessary or temporary files.

Windows 7 users can slightly improve the speed of their computer by simplifying the graphical interface. To do this, open the Control Panel and go to the “System” section, open the “Advanced” item and select “Settings”. Here we remove some of the unnecessary checkboxes, or set the switch to the position to ensure the best performance.

Setting up the BIOS

The BIOS stores computer parameters that are responsible for hardware, OS loading, time and other key elements. To get into the BIOS parameters, when turning on the PC, before loading the operating system itself, press the Del, F2 or other key (this depends on the motherboard manufacturer, usually the name of the key is displayed on the screen). Most often, BIOS settings do not cause any performance degradation and it’s not even worth messing with. But in rare cases, if critical parameters are incorrect, your computer may start to slow down.

If you doubt the correctness of the settings, but do not know which ones you need to specify, you can use the option to automatically configure the optimal parameters “Load Optimal Settings” (the name of the function may be different, depending on the manufacturer). After this, save all settings and restart your computer.

Disable everything unnecessary, control startup

Nowadays, almost every program tries to register itself in startup. And it's not much fun for your system. Gradually, programs in startup accumulate and they all need to be launched every time the system starts. Because of this, the computer takes a very long time to turn on and off. Additionally, after startup, all these applications remain in working order, devouring resources. Just look at how many unnecessary icons are on the taskbar (near the clock), do you really use them? Therefore, it is best to remove unnecessary applications, or at least disable startup for them.

To view all applications that start with Windows and disable unnecessary ones, simultaneously hold down two Win + R keys and in the next window write msconfig, then press Enter. A system configuration window will appear, now go to the startup section. There will be a list of startup applications here. Just uncheck all the ones you don't use. If something happens, the program can always be returned to startup by checking the required box. The main thing is to have an idea of ​​what these programs are and what their purpose is.

In the most extreme cases, you can disable the antivirus and the system will be slightly unloaded. Due to this, productivity will increase. But this should not be done when you are on the Internet or installing new programs, because there is a risk of infection with viruses.

We update drivers

This step can have the desired effect if outdated drivers are installed or those that were installed with the system. The driver for the motherboard can have the greatest impact, although others also have a good effect on the speed of operation.

It is safest to manually update drivers. But the laziest can use special utilities that can determine the necessary drivers themselves, find them on the Internet and install them. For example, you can use Drover Checker.

Overheating or a virus. Or both! You know, like in the song: “maybe a cow, or maybe a goat...” only sadder. Lots of reasons because...

This article lists the main reasons for a drop in laptop performance and also provides recommendations on how to fix the problem.

If your laptop suddenly starts to slow down terribly for no reason, freezes, turns off, or simply takes longer to open applications, you should take certain measures. After all, the problem can have many causes, some of them are very serious.

Let's look at this diagram in more detail.

As you can see, one of the main reasons for a drop in productivity can be a virus. But here's a nuance. In 90% of cases, problems caused by viruses manifest themselves when working with the network - you can encounter them while playing an online game, or while doing regular Internet surfing.

WHAT TO DO? Check the Internet connection status. To do this, click LMB on the connected Internet icon in the lower right corner of the screen.

we are interested in the readings of “received” and “sent” bytes

BUT! In addition to the terrible viruses that scare people on the Internet, other third-party programs can load the network:

1.launched torrent

2. firewall, antivirus, or even Windows itself, constantly downloading something from the network.

3. other software (think about the last one you installed on your computer)

Reason #2: Problems with Windows

If the laptop worked for 1-2 years on one OS, and then “suddenly” began to lag: then the matter is clear, reinstall your Windows, it is clogged. Or at least:

1. defragment

2. Clean up the system disk (performance often decreases when there is little space on the system disk: for Win XP - the required minimum is 1.5 GB, for the “seven” - about 5 GB

The main thing in this case is to act immediately.

Other possible problems:

For example, performance can drop sharply due to an antivirus. Set up the optimal security level, “play” with reducing the level of heuristic analysis, disabling “auto-update” can also solve the problem.

On the day you bought a new computer, you definitely couldn't be happier with how quickly it responded to given commands, but over time, the PC's performance level began to decrease.

What to do in this case? And is it possible to return the original speed? But it is quite possible to solve this problem; it is only important to determine the true reason for the slow operation of the computer.

There could be several reasons why your PC is performing poorly.

One of them is processor temperature. After all, most users simply ignore the indicators of the “heart” of the computer, and it is its severe overheating that can threaten not only slow operation, but also cause the chip to burn out.

In order to monitor the temperature of your PC, you can use a program such as “Everest”. If the processor temperature is more than 50 degrees, then it is advisable to remove the system unit cover to check the coolers and clean the device from dust.

If the situation has not changed after this, then the reason for the slow performance should be looked for in the registry, which can simply be overloaded with all kinds of entries. After all, after deleting a program, all components of its activity do not always disappear. Very often, excess balances are found in the registry. You can get rid of this problem and carefully remove all “invalid” components using the well-known program “CCleaner”.

To learn more about your computer's situation, you can use the Performance Index check. To do this, you need to open “My Computer”, select “System Properties”, then “Performance Index”.

If the index is too low, you will need to make changes to the operating system graphics. To do this, open “System Properties” and click on “Advanced system settings”, then find “Performance” and open the parameters. Now all that remains is to configure the visual effects, but one nuance should be taken into account - the more effects are enabled, the slower the performance.

Also, one of the reasons for the slow performance of the computer may be a large number of programs that start automatically when turned on. In order to remove these programs from startup, you need to go to the control panel and select “Hardware and Sound” and open “Startup”. Next, in the window that appears, you need to uncheck all unwanted processes. But remember that turning off your antivirus can have unforeseen consequences, so you should be careful about what exactly you turn off.

Most often, the cause of this type of problem can be the action of a malicious program. Therefore, you should scan your computer with an antivirus and exclude this option.

No matter how fast and efficient new computers are, their performance may degrade over time. So even the state-of-the-art computer you bought last year won't be exciting after installing dozens of programs, downloading anti-spyware and anti-virus tools, and filling up your disk space with tons of junk from the Internet. Performance may decline gradually, and you will hardly notice it until one day, when you open a program or file, you exclaim: “What happened to my poor computer?”

Whatever the reason, there are many ways to speed up Windows and improve your computer's performance without having to upgrade your hardware. Listed below are a few tips for optimizing Windows 7 to improve performance.

Windows 7 Troubleshooter

The first step is to use the performance troubleshooter, which automatically finds and fixes problems. This tool checks for settings that may be slowing down your computer, such as the number of users logged on and the number of programs running at the same time.

Open the Performance Troubleshooter. To do this, click the button Start and select Control Panel. In the search field, enter problems and then select Troubleshooting . In chapter system and safety select item Finding Performance Issues .