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My Computer Is Running Slow — What To Do
Step-by-step troubleshooting for a slow Windows PC — try these before submitting a support ticket.
⏱ 5–10 min
????️ Windows 10/11
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Pro tip from Computer Joe: The most common cause of a slow computer is too many programs running at startup, a full hard drive, or needing a simple restart. Start with Step 1 before anything else.
1
Restart Your Computer (First!)
A fresh restart clears memory, applies pending updates, and closes background processes. This fixes 40% of slowness issues.
???? Start → Power → Restart (not Shut Down — Restart is different)
2
Check What’s Eating Resources (Task Manager)
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
- Click the CPU or Memory column to sort by highest usage
- Look for anything using 80%+ CPU or memory
- If it’s a browser, close extra tabs. If it’s an unknown program, call Computer Central.
⚠️ Do NOT end “System” or “svchost” processes — this can crash Windows. Only close programs you recognize.
3
Disable Startup Programs
- Open Task Manager → Click the Startup tab
- Look for programs with High startup impact
- Right-click and select Disable for anything you don’t need at startup (e.g., Spotify, Teams, Slack)
- Restart your computer to see improvement
4
Check Available Disk Space
- Open File Explorer → click This PC
- Check the C: drive — it should have at least 15% free space
- If it’s over 85% full: empty the Recycle Bin, delete files in Downloads, and run Disk Cleanup
???? To run Disk Cleanup: Search for “Disk Cleanup” in the Start menu → Select C: → Check all boxes → OK
Still Slow After All Steps?
If the computer is still slow after restarting and checking the above, it may need deeper diagnostics. This could indicate:
- Failing hard drive or low RAM
- Malware or virus infection
- Windows corruption requiring repair
