DOES YOUR LAPTOP FEEL SLUGGISH? - TRY THESE 9 THINGS BEFORE YOU GIVE UP

DON’T DITCH THAT AGING LAPTOP UNTIL YOU TRY THESE SPEED-BOOSTING TRICKS FIRST.

- MATT SMITH

Does your laptop feel sluggish? Do you have to wait five minutes after rebooting the laptop before it responds? Does it struggle to switch between browser tabs even when you have less than half a dozen open?

A slow, frustrating laptop may have you shopping for a new model, but you should try these tips before you give up. Improving the performance of your aging laptop can extend its life by several years and keep it out of the landfill.

1. RESTART YOUR PC

Have you tried turning it off and on again? It’s a cliché for a reason. If anything, this trick is even more relevant today. A modern laptop is reliable and can be placed in an efficient sleep mode to save power. There’s no reason to turn it off unless you’re installing a Windows update or troubleshooting.

Give it a try. Shut down the laptop and turn it back on using the power button. It only takes a minute.

2. CLEAN STARTUP APPLICATIONS

A fresh start also lets you see what applications launch when your laptop boots into Windows. Many applications are designed to launch when Windows loads, and they tend to pile up over time. A large pile of startup apps can really bog down a laptop.

You can clean startup applications by opening Windows 10’s Settings app. Select “Apps from” and then Startup. You will see a list of apps that launch at startup. Toggles next to each app let you enable or disable them. Windows even has an estimate of how much they impact boot times (though this estimate hasn’t proven accurate in my personal experience).

Most applications will appear in this list, but some may not. You can disable these apps the old-fashioned way with the Windows System Configuration application (go.pcworld.com/olfs).

3. CHECK YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION