Data Doctors: What’s slowing down my computer?
Q: How can I tell what’s causing my Windows computer to bog down?
A: When a computer starts crawling, most people assume it’s old, broken or infected. In reality, it’s often just overwhelmed. One misbehaving app, too many open browser tabs, or background process can bring an otherwise healthy system to its knees. The fastest way to see what’s really going on is a built-in tool called Task Manager.
On a Windows PC, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open it instantly. If you see a very simple window, click “more details” at the bottom to unlock the full troubleshooting tool.
Start with the ‘processes’ tab
The “processes” tab shows everything currently running, grouped by apps, background processes and Windows processes. Across the top, you’ll see columns for CPU, memory, disk and network usage. The numbers being displayed are your clues to what’s using the most resources.
Click on the “CPU” column to sort from highest to lowest. If something is constantly pegged at a high percentage when you’re not actively using it, that’s a red flag. The same goes for the “memory” column — if one app is consuming gigabytes of working memory (RAM), it can starve everything else and cause slowdowns.
Disk usage is another common culprit. If the percentage for the “disk” usage sits above 75% to 80% for long stretches, especially on older hard drives, the system will feel painfully sluggish. Sorting by “disk” quickly shows which process or application is doing the most reading and writing.
Don’t panic — interpret
Seeing high numbers doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. Video calls, photo editing, cloud backups and software updates all legitimately use lots of resources. The key question is whether the activity makes sense for what you’re doing.
If your computer is slow and the top offender is a program you don’t recognize — or one you’re not actively using — that’s when it’s time to dig deeper.
Use end task carefully
If an app is clearly frozen or misbehaving, you can right-click it and choose “end task.” This forces it to close. Stick to obvious apps like browsers or third-party software. Avoid ending Windows system processes unless you’re absolutely sure what they do. When in doubt, leave it alone.
Check the startup tab
Many slowdowns happen before you even start working. Float your mouse over the icons along the left side until you see “startup apps,” which will show you what programs launch when Windows boots. You’ll often find cloud tools, updaters and helper apps quietly starting every time and reducing your overall resources.
Look at the “startup impact” column. If something is marked “high” and you don’t need it running constantly, right-click and select “disable.” This doesn’t uninstall the program, though, it just stops it from auto-launching.
Performance gives the big picture
The “performance” tab shows real-time graphs for CPU, memory, disk and network. This helps answer a different question: is your computer simply underpowered for what you’re asking it to do?
If memory usage is always near the limit, or your CPU is maxed out during routine tasks, hardware limitations may be your problem.
Clean up or upgrade
When memory resource usage is always high, you can either reduce the load by clearing out unnecessary items or upgrade the RAM to better match how you use your computer.
If your computer hasn’t been cleaned up in a while, that would be your best first step to better performance and to fully determine if upgrading is even necessary.