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So my crappy Asus Vivobook is getting slower and slower.
Today it took 4 minutes to get to the log in screen, then another 6 minutes before it would open a Chrome tab!
It's always been a bit slow but it's getting worse.
The drive is only a 1/3 full and I have disabled all apps on start up, except security and Google Drive which I need.
Any suggestions?
Would upgrading the drive to a SSD make much difference?
Installing an SSD along with a fresh installation of the window's OS will make most laptops quicker. I have recently installed a small SSD on my father in laws very old laptop, it has brought it back to life.
Also worth looking at, have you checked it for any virus's and malware etc?
About 5 years ago I replaced the HDD in my laptop with an SSD & did a fresh Win10 install - upgrading from Win7. It went from being well over 2mins boot time, to ~30seconds.
The laptop is now 11 or 12 years old (can't remember if i bought it in late 2011 or early 2012) but it still manages to boot in 30secs - as in, from cold to a tab opened in Chrome.
Given the cost of SSDs, it would definitely be worth a try.
Had a similar issue solved by fitting an SSD. The difference was remarkable, for the relatively little outlay
SSD is definite, can't believe anyone runs on HDD's now, too slow. Our 9 year old i7 laptop was upgraded to SSD just after we bought it, and it still flies !
So an SSD it is then.
Can't believe how cheap they are now.
I got a 1TB one in an Amazon black Friday, and used vouchers. Was way over £150 back then, even on sale. Only reason for 1 TB then, was the existing drive was 1TB and it was so easy to clone the drive with software, and just swap them over.
SSD will fix it because you'll do a fresh windows install, so, yeah I'd do that as it's probably your quickest fix.
Still worth getting an SSD mind, for healthy windows installs they're often an order of magnitude quicker than a spinner.
Add a bit more memory too if you can.
In this case your laptop is almost certainly waiting.....for something. Difficulty is ... what? Take a look at the event viewer perhaps to see if anything's giving up and timing out.
We have a PC that I installed an SSD on day one but now, after about four years, it is starting to get painfully slow (not *as* painfully slow as previous laptop experiences with HDDs, but still noticeable). It seems to be an inherent problem with Pcs.
We have a PC that I installed an SSD on day one but now, after about four years, it is starting to get painfully slow (not *as* painfully slow as previous laptop experiences with HDDs, but still noticeable). It seems to be an inherent problem with Pcs.
When I used windows (Chromebook is perfect for me these days) I did a fresh install every year or so. Made a massive difference.
@johnoh backup your data elsewhere and re-image the laptop. Windows clogs up with crap over time, though it a lot better than it was... and over a 4 year period, meh, it used to be you'd bin anything 4 years old.
PS: @gobuchul is this your only PC? Make the Windows 10/11 iso image on a USB drive before you replace the drive...and buy a external case for your old drive to use it as one of your backup options
backup your data elsewhere and re-image the laptop. Windows clogs up with crap over time, though it a lot better than it was… and over a 4 year period, meh, it used to be you’d bin anything 4 years old
I know, it just seems a faff and I can't be bothered (I barely use it TBF and until my wife starts moaning about how slow it is, I won't do a thing).
backup your data elsewhere and re-image the laptop. Windows clogs up with crap over time, though it a lot better than it was… and over a 4 year period, meh, it used to be you’d bin anything 4 years old
+1
I only replaced my old laptop because it was so old it wouldn't run Zwift (or it would but at about a fifth of a frame per second), it was still running a Core2 processor and DDR3! But for office, browsing, netflix etc it was as good as new with a fresh battery and an SSD.
Ditto - fresh install on an SSD.
Wife's laptop was unbearably slow so she replaced it.
I stuck in a small spare SSD and fresh install of Windows and it is zipping along doing a great job as my workshop laptop - ideal for covering in fork oil while looking up oil volumes, watching YouTube when rebuilding a shock or something like that!
The other demon is fluff in the fan and cooling veins of the processors
If the computer detects a processor over heat it will throttle back the processing speed. So if you can get in and clean these bits it can have a dramatic impact on usability
Although the SSD is a no brainier too
I'm on holiday with a sodded phone and can't type a long reply. But basically, what they all said.
Model number / spec may be helpful.
Well thanks for all the advice.
I got a 1TB Crucial SSD for less than £40.
I just cloned the existing hard drive, couldn't really do a fresh install as I don't have all of my product keys to hand and I'm too tight to pay for key finder that works on Windows 11.
The Crucial software seemed very slow but it's free and got there in the end.
Laptop is way quicker and is quite pleasant to use now.
glad it's working better now, for reference your key is already registered with Microsoft, so you only have to re-image the device and then when it connect to the internet it will automatically validate your license for you.
It was more to do with some "dodgy" OEM keys for various apps.