Is your PC running Sloowly Now?
Updated 12/29/2022
Skip to the main menu to learn how to Revitalize your old PC.

Battery Health Report
    If you own a Windows laptop, one of the primary things that may interest you is the state of your laptop's battery. If this is the case go to PCWorld's article - How to check your laptop's battery health.
    Note: Hold down the Windows key then press the X key (Win+X). The Windows Quick Link Menu will appear. Choose either Command Prompt or Command Promp (Admin). Enter powercfg /batteryreport at the prompt then press Enter. The report may be saved in either your Users folder or the Windows folder depending on which Command Prompt you choose.

Slow PC?
    When you first unboxed and powered up your brand spanking new PC it ran like the Roadrunner. Everything was snappy and responsive. Windows booted briskly and in less than a minute your PC was ready for anything you wanted to do. New windows just popped open. The internet was fast - pages loaded quickly.

    But now - a few months (or a few years) later you (and your PC) are playing the waiting game.
    Now you may be waiting over-long for your PC to boot and for the operating system to stabilize so that you can simply an open explorer window that seems as if it paints itself on your screen one pixel at a time.
    Or you may be simply waiting (and waiting) for your once-snappy programs to start. Even the internet runs at a snail's pace!

    What happened to that speed-demon machine you were (once) so pleased with? Can anything be done to speed up your PC to make it run like new again?

Or will you simply have to bite the bullet and get a new machine?

Perhaps your PC is simply just too old?
    If it's more than seven or eight years old then perhaps you should consider replacement.
    If it's more than ten years old seriously consider it.
    How to buy a "Cheap" PC.

    Or is it cost-effective to revitalize an older PC?
    Go to the main menu to learn how to Revitalize your old PC.

Unnecessary programs installed or Malware?
    After booting your PC do you spend time dismissing windows and/or dialog boxes informing you of program updates and special offers?
    Or worse yet.
    When browsing the internet do your searches get re-directed? Does a notice window pop up warning you of some type of problem, infection, or even a fake notice from the FBI?

Is your hard drive more than 70% full?
    Have you defragmented your hard drive lately or checked it for errors?

Too many startup items?
    Do you see a long line of tiny icons appear in your task bar every time your PC boots? If so, you may have too many startup items, applets, and/or programs enabled.

How much RAM (random access memory) is installed?
    Do you have 2GB (gigabytes) or less of RAM installed?

What operating system does your PC run?
    If your PC is running anything older than Windows 8? You should seriously consider buying a new PC. Windows 7 SP1 is almost obsolete and Windows Vista certainly is obsolete, as is Windows XP. .


Other concerns: The BIOS
    "I have been advised that I should "flash" the BIOS on my PC. What is the BIOS and how do I flash it?"
    About the BIOS.

The remainder of this article is dedicated to (hopefully) answering the above questions. >

    Even the speed of an ancient (5 years old or more) PC can be improved if you're willing to spend time cleaning it up.




Restart your PC (or shutdown then reboot)

    Restarting a PC, or shutting it down completely, rather than allowing it to sleep, can solve many problems. If your PC's power button is set to put your computer to sleep rather than shut it down completely you may eventually have problems. Sleep does not recover RAM memory nor does it shutdown running services or close apps and programs. This means, if you happen to have a memory leak in a program or a program develops a glitch, more RAM memory will continue to be used and/or the faulty program will not start fresh again with no glitches. For a more detailed explanation see this good article at How-To-Geek website.

    If the power button on your PC is set to put your computer to sleep rather than to shutdown you can change this in Power Options of the Control Panel. To do this go to the Control Panel and then Power Options then click Choose what the power buttons do (it's on the left in the Power Options window). Use the drop-down menu to change the setting in both Battery and Plugged-in from Sleep to Shutdown. Save your change (Click - Save Changes) then close the Control Panel.

Really want your PC to sleep?
    If your PC has no dedicated Sleep button you can still choose Sleep in the Start Menu rather than Shut Down or, if you have a laptop, simply close the lid (this option can also be set in the Control Panel).



Rule out Hardware Problems

    If you suspect that your PC may have a hardware problem, before checking for software glitches, you can check its hardware first.

RAM Memory
     If your PC seems to run well just after a reboot, but slows down considerably as you use it.
    Or if your PC is plagued by frequent freezes, reboots, or BSODs (Blue Screen Of Death) your RAM could be wearing out or bad.
    Another sign of bad RAM can be corrupt files, especially when the corruption is found in recently opened and used files.

Use the Windows Memory Diagnostic test - in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, & 11
    *Click the Start Button (or Search Icon)
    *Type Memory into the Search Box (or into the Start Screen in Windows 8)
    *Choose Windows Memory Diagnostic and run the test. Your PC will reboot and the test will run before Windows starts.
Note: If you have more than one RAM module installed it will be necessary to check them, one at a time, to find the bad one. Be sure to power down your PC when removing or replacing the modules. If your PC is a laptop, it is best to also remove the battery (if possible) before removing or replacing RAM.

Hard Drive
    Unfortunately, you may not see (or hear) any symptoms if your hard drive is going bad until it simply quits.