SOLVED Windows 10 running very slow

[SueJohnson]

My computer almost every day becomes very slow after a while. Takes forever to do anything. If I restart it, it is OK. I have 0% fragmentation. I did an error check and no errors were found. I have 68% disk space left. What could be the problem?

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Sue,

have you run the cleaning app to get rid of any unnecessary files?. (See below).

What do you have showing Task Manager > Start-up?.

(3) How to use Disk Cleanup on Windows | Windows 10 Forums

Disable what you do not need at start up.

 

[SueJohnson]

I don't need to use the disk cleanup because I have 68% unused disk space.

I checked the startup and do need everything listed

 

[Grizzly]

I don't need to use the disk cleanup because I have 68% unused disk space.

I checked the startup and do need everything listed

That is a very bold statement. Disk cleanup does not only frees up space, it also deletes temporary files that otherwise would slow down needed files. maintenance is an important measure to keep the pc running smoothly. I'd recommend to activate "storage sense" to keep your pc optimized.
How much memory do you have in your computer and how big is the swap file (if it is set to auto, Windows will calculate the size anyway)??

Do you have a spinner drive (HDD) or a SSD in your computer?? Fragmentation can slow down a computer.

 

[Wolfie]

I checked the startup and do need everything listed

Hi Sue,

firstly, @Grizzly makes a valid point and you should clean your system!. Second, please paste a screenshot of what you have starting with your system, Skype for example slows start-up and you may have other software running that is the main cause of your slow PC?.

 

[SueJohnson]

I don't have a spinner drive (HDD) or a SSD in my computer. I have 8 GB hard drive. I'll check the others later.

 

[Wolfie]

I have 8 GB hard drive

Are you sure it is only 8GB in size?, if it is, that is the reason your PC is slow because it doesn't have enough space to run correctly and is most likely only running from RAM (Random Access Memory)!. Windows 10 requires a minimum of 20GB's for the 64 bit installation alone so I doubt you only have an 8GB hard drive!.

Windows 10 system requirements (microsoft.com)

Please go to Computer Management > Disk Management and take a screenshot and paste it here please.

 

[SueJohnson]

Whoops - I have 8 GB RAM.

I don't know whether I answered the question on spinner drive correctly or not. I had never heard that term so assumed not.

How do I find out the size of the swap file?

I will do the clean up of the temporary files.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Sue,

for swap file info, see the following link.

How Big Should Your Page File or Swap Partition Be? (howtogeek.com)

Your main partition (C is 450GB in size so cleaning will help!.

You have 8GB RAM but what CPU do you have?. Open system Information and paste a screenshot please.

 

[SueJohnson]

512 MB is the page file size.

 

[StevenG]

512 MB is the page file size.

Just to put some of my experience into this conversation, please give us a caption of your “Disk Management” as that will show what disks you have and how much space is used and is free space? This will also show the exact model(s) of your disks. Btw and just a short explanation, a “Spinner HDD” which is the older type drives that has a stainless steel spinning disk that spins at about 5200rpm or higher and is the older type of storage disk, an SSD is fully electronic and doesn’t have a disk, it runs quicker, cooler and uses less power. Computers running the older type “Spinner HDD” as a boot drive for Win-10 are usually prone to run slowly and that is why you have the problems that you are having.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Sue,

what Steven said + you have an Intel i5-3470 3.20MHz CPU which is not bad!.

@StevenG below is a screenshot of her Disk Management but doesn't tell us if it is an old spinner type or SSD, her Computer is an Optiplex 7010 so I assume it is indeed an older mechanical drive.

Did you run clean up Sue????.

 

[SueJohnson]

I ran cleanup, but only on the temporary files. Is there anyway I can find out if I have a spinner drive?

 

[Wolfie]

Open the panel and look inside, if you see a drive that looks like the big bulky thing in the following link, you have an HDD (AKA: spinner) drive!.

SSD vs HDD: Which should I have in my PC?

Old vs. New.

www.windowscentral.com

The slender looking drive is an SSD called M.2 but you would most likely need a normal SSD should you ever want to replace it as your motherboard most likely doesn't support M.2 drives!. Normal SSD's are about 4 x faster than an old HDD!.

 

[SueJohnson]

I have an SDD drive

 

[Wolfie]

I checked the startup and do need everything listed

Could you please paste a screenshot of start-up so we can take a look, there maybe something in the list that is causing your PC to be slow!. (see post #2)

Also, run Disk Cleanup and clean as much of the files you can including the system files (clean up system files button)!.

How to use Disk Cleanup on Windows | Windows 10 Forums

 

[SueJohnson]

I ran disk cleanup. I already uploaded a screenshot of startup.

 

[Wolfie]

I would try disabling some of the things in your start up and see if that improves things!. There are lot of apps I've never heard of!.

 

[SueJohnson]

I need and use all of the items that are enabled in my startup

 

[StevenG]

I ran cleanup, but only on the temporary files. Is there anyway I can find out if I have a spinner drive?

Sorry, before I meant look in your "Device Manager" under "Disk drives" (see caption below) it will tell you the exact model number then look that model number up on the web and type in "model number specs" and that will tell you and show you the exact specs of your drives and even show you a caption of the drive. By your caption of the "Disk Management" you have a 500GB drive as your boot drive which is "Drive 0" and a slave of 1TB capacity as "Disk 1". Check "drive 0" and if its a "spinner HDD" then change it and clone your existing operating system to it with a USB 3.0 to SATA cord/pug and do it externally.

Also, what is the model of this computer? is it a desktop or a laptop? Is it running on Win-10 or other? As there are allot of vriables to why a computer slows down.

Note: with "Disk cleanup" you also have to clean out unwanted "Update files" that are taking up allot GB's that have been stored by "Windows Update" files so, open Disk cleanup > Cleanup system files as you will have lots of GB's of unwanted files there that frees up allot of disk space.

Just as a suggestion, I've used Samsung SSD's of both 2.5 inch SATA and M.2 drives for years, as I find them very quick, excellent and very reliable and also, they have a cloning software that is excellent and very simple to use called "Data Migration" and a disk management called "Magician" that tunes your Samsung drives and it simplifies the cloning system and drive management with just a means of installing these softwares. Also and once you have installed the SSD, enable the "TRIM" command prompt in Win-10 (see how to do that on the web) its very simple, as that also speeds your SSD within Win-10 and makes the SSD operate allot better and more efficiently. Hope this helps cheers.

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