My aging desktop computer has become a sloth (Page 3): Are you syncing everything (deliberately or accidentally) to the internet? You might want to check that and do an internet speed...

Guyserman Loc: Benton, AR

Are you syncing everything (deliberately or accidentally) to the internet? You might want to check that and do an internet speed check.

photoman43

The first thing I would do is download the free version of CCleaner and run it. It ought to help free up space and conflicts on your drives.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Check the CPU cooling fan to see if it's spinning or perhaps choked with fluff and/or dust. Replacing it is easy if that's what's wrong.

rcarol

BebuLamar wrote:

If you said you only run Office and Lightroom i think the best way it to reformat the SSD. Reinstall windows 10 and reinstall Office and lightroom. It would run a whole lot faster. Your computer is still quite powerful for what you use it for. Shouldn't be too slow.

Before buying a new computer, I would consider reformatting the SSD and reinstalling Windows and your programs. It's a lot of work but what do you have to loose? If you buy a new computer, you will have to install all of your programs so why not try it on your present system.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

When my computer starts to slow down, I dump all the cookies, history, and look for unused programs, and files. You can do this in your browser. Download CC cleaner, free program. Run a CC Cleaner scan and clean out the registry of any junk in there. It will backup your registry first. Run a malware scan, and virus scan. Good Luck.

BebuLamar

rcarol wrote:

Before buying a new computer, I would consider reformatting the SSD and reinstalling Windows and your programs. It's a lot of work but what do you have to loose? If you buy a new computer, you will have to install all of your programs so why not try it on your present system.

Yes that is what I suggest. Take a day or two. But it would be a lot faster I am sure of it.

Bayou

BebuLamar wrote:

If you said you only run Office and Lightroom i think the best way it to reformat the SSD. Reinstall windows 10 and reinstall Office and lightroom. It would run a whole lot faster. Your computer is still quite powerful for what you use it for. Shouldn't be too slow.

bgroome

When my Windows 10 starts to slow down, I run the free version of Glary Utilities. It has a registry cleaner that really works. My computer guy recommended this years ago. Never have had a problem with it.

photoman43

Bill Emmett wrote:

When my computer starts to slow down, I dump all the cookies, history, and look for unused programs, and files. You can do this in your browser. Download CC cleaner, free program. Run a CC Cleaner scan and clean out the registry of any junk in there. It will backup your registry first. Run a malware scan, and virus scan. Good Luck.

This is much better stated than my reply!

On your C: drive look at the Downloads folder using Explorer. Delete and files not needed, like older versions of software downloads, archive file folders, etc. Just make sure that you check the folder to see what is in it before deleting. Once done, run CClearer again. I run CCleaner every day on my laptop and desktop. .

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

AnotherBob wrote:

My aging Dell computer, which is usually reliable ... (show quote)

One problem that often occurs is that over time more and more programs are running in the background that you aren't even aware of. These set themselves up to start when the computer starts, slowing startup and using system resources as you try to use your computer. Go to the Windows icon, usually in the lower left corner and right click on it. From the pop-up menu select Task Manager and then select the Start Up tab. This will bring up all the programs that start up and run when you start your computer. It will show if they are enabled or disabled and give you an idea of how much of a resource drain they are. Disabling any of them does not prevent them from working it just means they won't start until actually needed. It may make a noticeable difference to disable the ones you don't immediately need. You can also eliminate one or two at a time to see if any particular program is causing your problem. Virus programs, such as the Norton program Windows uses, can be huge resource hogs. You might check that first. I don't use the Windows virus programs. I have other far less intrusive programs such as Webroot and Malwarebytes that are excellent without slowing things down anywhere near as much as Norton.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

LFingar wrote:

One problem that often occurs is that over time mo... (show quote)

Check the amount of free space on your Hard Drive, if it very low the computer will not have enough free space to properly use the paging files.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/how-to-manage-virtual-memory-pagefile-windows-10,36929.html

Polock

Task Manager is what you need
https://www.howtogeek.com/405806/windows-task-manager-the-complete-guide/
don't mess with Microsoft things and back up the registry before you do anything

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

burkphoto wrote:

...Another thing to check is whether or not your system is infected with some sort of malware, OR whether you are running SO MUCH anti-malware software that the system is just crawling because it is constantly looking for malware!

My concern also. The hardware you mention shouldn't be a sloth.
Using Task Manager can you determine what is using resources?
Have you tried to completely shut down, then start over?
Can you run a chkdsk /F to repair any disk error?

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I have a win 7 machine and it runs fine but after reading this thread seems I need to do some routine maintenance. I'll do a system restore point before I start.
I wish there was an easy way to do all the above process for someone not too knowledgeable

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

AnotherBob wrote:

My aging Dell computer, which is usually reliable ... (show quote)

If you are not completely confused by now I would be amazed. Helping someone that is having problems is a good thing, unless you have 3 pages of suggestions from Hoggers, and each one a different course. Have any of you helpers read all of these suggestions?

Have you ever done some cleanup work on junk files? If not, your computer is full of junk files considering it's age. They slow done computers. What brand of anti-virus do you use? If this slow-down happened at the snap of a finger, you probably have picked up a virus or malware, or you also could have a faulty stick of ram. Give us more information about what you have been doing lately on your computer.