My laptop is suddenly slow
Three main suspects: a runaway background process, near-full disk, or a Windows update in progress.
Try this first
- 1Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc for Task Manager. Which app tops CPU or Memory? Close it if you can.
- 2Check disk space (Explorer > This PC). Below ~10%, Windows turns slow. Free space, or move downloads/photos to an external drive.
- 3Look in Settings > Update for an active update. A background update can flatten an hour.
- 4Fully restart the laptop (not "shut down", which keeps the session). Many laptops never get a full restart for weeks these days.
When to bring us in
Still slow after a clean restart? Task Manager > Performance > watch SSD or HDD usage at idle. Persistent high (>30%) at idle means a failing drive; call us before it dies.
See also
- One specific application is slow for everyoneIf an app is slow for one person: local. For everyone at once: server side or vendor side.
- Opening files from the file server takes minutesOften the server itself is fine and the issue is network routing or stalling DNS resolution.
- My laptop runs hot and the fan blows constantlyHardware is shouting: something is working far too hard, or cooling cannot do its job.
None of the above fits?
Describe your situation below. We pass your input plus the steps you already saw to our AI and return tailored next-step advice. If it's too risky to DIY, we'll say so.
Or skip the DIY entirely
Our Managed IT clients do not look these things up. One point of contact, a fixed monthly price, resolved within working hours.