A laptop that takes two minutes to reach the desktop is one of the most common jobs we see. The good news: nine times out of ten it is not a dying machine, it is years of build-up that can be cleared in an afternoon. Here is what helps, roughly in order of impact.
Why laptops slow down
Speed problems are almost always one of a handful of causes:
- Too many programs launching at start-up and sitting in the background.
- A mechanical hard drive that cannot keep up with a modern operating system.
- A disk that is nearly full, leaving Windows no room to work.
- Out-of-date software, or in the worst cases malware quietly using the machine.
Five things that actually help
Trim the start-up list first. Most apps do not need to launch with the machine, and a dozen of them fighting for attention is what makes the first few minutes painful.
Then check how full the drive is. If it is past about 90 per cent, freeing space alone often brings a noticeable lift. Clear the downloads folder, empty the recycle bin, and move photos and videos to a backup.
The single biggest upgrade for an older laptop is swapping a mechanical hard drive for an SSD. It is the difference between a two-minute start-up and a ten-second one, and it usually costs far less than a new machine.
Finally, install the pending updates and run a proper malware scan. A machine that is slow and behaving oddly, with pop-ups or strange browser behaviour, may have more than just clutter going on.
When it is worth upgrading versus replacing
If the laptop is under about seven years old and the only issue is speed, an SSD and a memory top-up will usually give it years more life for a fraction of the cost of a replacement. If the screen, hinge or battery are also failing, that is the point where a new machine makes more sense. We will always tell you straight which way the maths falls.
If you would rather not poke around inside the settings yourself, this is exactly the kind of thing we sort on a single visit. See business computer repair in Kent, no fix, no fee on the diagnosis.