Don’t panic if your computer runs slowly. Here’s the complete guide on How to Clean Your Laptop System? Especially after years of continuous use, a PC’s performance will gradually slow down. From too-full hard disk drives to hardware failures, there are many things that can cause it.
Some simple fixes can restore your machine’s performance to its optimal levels with no technical knowledge required. It’s even easier to keep your PC running smoothly with some antivirus suites, like TotalAV, that include device optimization tools.
You can speed up and clean your computer with these simple solutions. As a result of these fixes, your device will gain significant speed, your PC’s lifespan will be extended, and you will be able to save time and money. Also read about How to Connect MacBook Air to Monitor?
How to Clean Your Laptop System? – Step-By-Step Guide
Below are the reasons why computers get older and slower after some time of use.
- Old and outdated hardware.
- Software issues.
- Viruses or system malware.
Components on computers can wear down after years of continuous use, causing slower performance. Despite being a bit annoying, this is totally normal. In addition to upgrading your device, you can do a few things to make your older system perform better.
Slow-running computers can also be caused by software. You are storing and running more files on your device as you install more software. As a result, if your machine is running multiple processors at once, it will have to work harder, thus slowing it down. Your battery life and processing power may be slowly depleted by some software that runs in the background unnecessarily.
In addition, computer slowdowns can also occur due to viruses and malware that can get on your computer if you do not have adequate internet security protections in place – and they will typically affect the performance of your computer. You don’t always know if your device is infected by malware, so it’s important to have a reliable antivirus program installed (such as TotalAV – my recommendation for 2022).
Let’s go through some fast and simple techniques to clean and speed up your computer.
1. Restart Your Computer
In almost every case, restarting your computer will solve the problem, including slowdowns in the general system. Restarting your computer stops all running programs, documents, processes, and tasks draining your computer’s resources.
It is likely that your computer will start up much faster after you restart it, as it will have a lot more free memory to work with. In general, you should always restart your machine first before trying any other method because it is almost effortless (and pretty quick).
2. Stop Heavy-Duty Tasks & Programs
Slowdowns in computers are usually caused by programs that require a large amount of RAM, CPU power, or hard drive space. Open the Windows Task Manager and close the programs that are consuming the most RAM, CPU, and memory. Without opening the Task Manager, you will not be able to see what programs are consuming the most RAM, CPU, and memory.
In order to do so, open the Task Manager by right-clicking on the Windows Start icon and selecting “Task Manager”. A “Processes” tab will show you all the running processes and programs, as well as how much disk space and energy they consume, so you can identify which ones need to be stopped.
In the bottom right corner of the window, click “End Task” to end a program or process. Alternatively, you can click “End Task” on the right-click menu of the program you wish to close.
By doing this, your CPU will drain less and your computer’s performance will likely increase, as well as the battery life of your laptop (if you have one) or you can get Macbook 12in m7.
3. Download a Device Optimization Program
Your PC can be cleaned and speeded up extremely easily with device optimization programs – like those included with antivirus programs like TotalAV. With many antivirus programs, such as TotalAV, you can optimize and clean up your PC with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are unsatisfied with the program, you can get your money back.
4. Remove Unused Apps, Software & Bloatware
Your computer will not be as fast and optimized if you have too much software installed and/or running.
You should delete any apps or other software you have previously installed but do not use. Many programs and processes are important to keep, but you should delete any you no longer use. Most computers nowadays come pre-installed with “bloatware,” which are ad-sponsored apps and utilities that have no real purpose.
Choose “Apps and Features” from the Windows Start menu on the lower left-hand corner of your screen to remove unused programs and bloatware. All the installed software on your computer will appear in a list. Uninstalling unwanted programs is as simple as clicking the uninstallation button from the Control panel.
5. Delete Large Files (Manually & With Disk Cleanup)
Your computer’s storage space may now include information like:
- Leftover files from program installs
- Offline web pages
- Temporary files
- Setup log files
- File compression
Your computer will have to work harder as these files grow in size, eventually becoming “monster files.”.
In some cases (and depending on their size), you may have to wait up to an hour to remove these files. Keeping unnecessary files cleaned regularly – or even after a task completion – will help you avoid long waiting times.
You can do this by right-clicking on the Windows Start button and opening File Explorer. If the main location bar doesn’t show “This PC”, make sure it does.
The top right-hand corner of the page has a search box. Type “size:empty”. By clicking this button, you will be able to search for files with 0 bytes and open the main search tools window. From “Empty” to “Gigantic”, you can choose any size you want. If any of the “Large”, “Huge”, or “Gigantic” files are not important, delete them. The files can be deleted by right-clicking them and clicking “Delete”.
6. Empty Your Recycle Bin
The most common method of deleting files is moving them to the Recycle Bin, then deleting them again as soon as they have been moved. For deleted files to be fully removed from your system, you must regularly empty the Recycle Bin.
In addition, please note that when you empty your Recycle Bin, this permanently deletes the files from your PC, and unless you have backed them up onto an external hard drive that you’ve kept, or if you have stored them in the cloud, you won’t be able to retrieve them.