Why is My Laptop So Slow?
If you’re asking yourself “Why is my laptop so slow?” you certainly aren’t the first and won’t be the last to ask that same question. Technology moves along at lightning speed, so it may feel frustrating to see your old laptop moving at a snail’s pace.
Improving the speed and usability of your laptop might be possible with one or a few quick fixes, or the problem may simply be too complex or frustrating and you may wish to consider buying a new laptop. Before spending your hard-earned money, however, consider the following practical tips to make an old laptop run faster.
1. Clean Up and Optimize Your Device
1.1. Remove Unnecessary Files and Apps
A little spring cleaning is good to keep your house tidy, and cleaning your laptop every once in awhile and deleting unnecessary files and apps can yield some decent increases to performance. Accumulated data and files take up space and your hard drive might struggle to read/write data if it’s nearly full.
1.2. Use Cleanup Tools
If your laptop has built-in cleanup tools, use them to help get rid of unwanted files and folders, uninstall unused software and apps, and run a defrag (for hard disk drives). Free and paid software is available online that can perform some or all of these tasks.
2. Update Software and Operating Systems
2.1. Keep Your Device Updated
Software updates and patches, operating system updates, and security updates can all help optimise your laptop’s performance and you should endeavour to keep apace with updates when they become available. Both Microsoft Support and Apple Support offer valuable insights on performance improvements for devices operating on Windows and macOS, respectively.
2.2. Consider Lightweight Software Alternatives
Some applications such as web browsers can be resource-intensive and slow down your laptop considerably. Whenever possible, use lightweight software alternatives instead that consume fewer resources and are designed for optimised performance.
3. Optimise Startup and Background Processes
3.1. Manage Startup Programs
One of the most common culprits of a slow laptop is from the startup processes that run when you turn on or restart your laptop. Having too many apps or software programs running at startup can drastically reduce boot time. Go to your device settings and manually disable unused or seldom-used applications from launching at startup.
3.2. Limit Background App Refresh
Limiting background apps from running and refreshing frees up precious RAM and processing power, thereby improving laptop performance and battery life. Disable unused apps from running in the background in your device settings.
4. Upgrade Hardware Components
4.1. Increase RAM
Adding more RAM is one of the most effective ways of maximising performance on your laptop. Additional RAM enables you to run more applications simultaneously without bottlenecks to performance. Most laptops have RAM slots that can be upgraded by opening up the case.
4.2. Switch to Solid-State Drives (SSD)
As opposed to older hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs) tend to offer superior read/write speeds and are thus much faster and offer superior performance. Most laptops today use SSDs, but if you’ve got an older laptop with an HDD you may be able to replace it with an SSD.
4.3. Replace Batteries if Necessary
Old batteries that no longer hold a charge well may force you to compromise on performance in order to prolong battery life. Laptop batteries may need to be replaced in order to improve laptop performance.
5. Adjust Performance Settings
5.1. Change Power Settings
The best way to speed up an old laptop without having to upgrade components is often to adjust the default settings, opting for high performance modes rather than power-saving modes. Whereas power-saving modes conserve battery life, they do so at the expense of performance.
5.2. Disable Visual Effects
Your laptop’s operating system may come with flashy features that are largely unnecessary and eat up precious computing resources. Windows Cortana, dynamic backgrounds, and other animations can be turned off in the settings menu to speed up your old laptop. For gaming and video streaming, consider reducing graphics quality settings and/or resolution to improve performance.
6. Protect Against Malware and Viruses
Malware and viruses can drastically reduce the performance of your laptop. You should always have an antivirus software running (which will consume resources, but it’s worth it for security) and run routine scans and updates. Scheduling scans, e.g. overnight or when the laptop is not in use, can keep your device running at peak performance.
7. Consider a Factory Reset
If you’ve tried the above tips yet your laptop still chugs along slowly, you may wish to consider a factory reset of the device as a last resort. Backup all sensitive data first to a USB drive, make sure you’ve got your activation key for Windows or your Apple ID at hand, and go through the factory reset process.
8. Explore Refurbished Devices
Refurbished Laptops and Phones as an Upgrade Option
Rather than try to increase the speed of an old laptop, which can only be improved to a certain limit, it may simply be a sign that it’s time to upgrade your device altogether. Refurbished Laptops tend to be much more affordable than buying brand new, whilst still providing plenty of performance and features for your needs.
Trusted Sources for Refurbished Electronics
Buying refurbished electronics is not the same as buying second-hand from any old stranger. Refurbished laptops should always be purchased from reputable sellers with a reasonable return policy and warranty protection should anything go wrong. Wisetek Market sells refurbished laptops with a 12-month warranty and a 30-day return policy for peace of mind.
Additional Tips to Extend the Life of Your Laptop
Regularly Restart Your Device
You may be in the habit of using your laptop then leaving it in sleep mode, without restarting or turning it off for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Reboot your device every so often so that critical updates can be applied.
Use Cloud Services
Rather than saving all of your files on your hard drive, consider using cloud storage to reduce the burden on your hard drive and to maximise performance. Dropbox, Google Drive, and other products can be used to offload many gigabytes of data.
Keep Your Device Cool
Laptops can begin to slow down or simply turn off if they aren’t properly ventilated and heat builds up around the critical hardware components. Clear away dust with compressed air canisters and consider using an elevated surface or laptop fan to keep it cool.
Why is My Laptop So Slow? Upgrade Your Laptop at Wisetek Market
With a few tweaks to performance, your laptop speed can be improved quite drastically. Uninstalling and deleting unused files, frequent updates, optimising background processes, upgrading hardware, adjusting performance settings, and using good antivirus and malware software can all contribute towards speeding up your laptop.
Wisetek Market has refurbished electronics such as Refurbished Phones, Refurbished MacBooks, Refurbished Tablets, and Dell Refurbished Laptops at great prices. If your laptop has seen better days and it’s time to upgrade, consider buying a sustainable refurbished laptop from us instead.