10 Causes of a Slow Laptop and Causes Lag, Complete with Solutions

Kapanlagi.com - Slow laptop or running very slowly certainly makes you frustrated. Especially if you have a number of tasks that cannot be postponed by using a laptop as a support for completing tasks. However, it turns out there are several causes of slow laptop and lagging, ranging from viruses to dust buildup.

Laptop is one part of digital equipment that is now very familiar in society. Laptops are also computers but in a simpler, more simple, and practical version. Unlike computers, laptops have a built-in battery that is installed inside, similar to smartphones.

However, laptops have several similar components to computers such as hard disks, LCDs, keyboards, and other circuits. The use of laptops is chosen because of their practicality in use, affordable prices, and more efficient. Applications and software in laptops are even more advanced and spoil users with various facilities.

However, unfortunately, there are some common problems that occur in using laptops such as slow performance, quick heat, or battery drain. The cause of a slow laptop can occur due to several factors. The slow laptop sometimes makes the user emotional and experiences lagging or even hanging. This condition is certainly not expected by laptop users, especially if they have a lot of work or piled up tasks.

Therefore, it is important to understand the causes of a slow laptop in order to know what factors are causing your laptop to slow down. The causes of a slow laptop are summarized from various sources.

1. Causes of Slow Laptop Due to Virus

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The first cause of a slow laptop can be due to a virus. However, this virus is not like the virus that commonly attacks humans, but rather a type of malware software that endangers the laptop's operating system. Users can obtain this virus from an unsafe internet network or when opening or downloading suspicious websites, which can easily infect the laptop.

This type of malware can cause the laptop to slow down and even attack the memory and other program files on the laptop. In addition, malware viruses should not be taken lightly and left alone as they can steal your personal information. Cleaning needs to be done to prevent and remove malware or viruses from within the laptop.

2. Slow Laptop Due to Running Multiple Applications

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The cause of a slow laptop can also be due to the presence of background applications running on the screen. This condition can cause the laptop to experience lag and slow performance. Not only does it cause the laptop to be slow, but it can also affect the battery usage, especially if you have low RAM capacity and are running multiple applications at the same time, which will further make the laptop lag.

The easiest way to overcome a slow laptop caused by applications is by closing several applications that consume a significant amount of power when running. You can do this by accessing the laptop's task manager and closing applications that consume a large amount of memory, battery, or CPU power.

3. Slow Laptop Due to Having Many Startup Programs

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This can happen when you have too many programs open. Because some startup programs usually ask for permission to run when you boot up the computer. In addition, some programs can also run automatically without asking for permission when you turn on the computer.

The way to overcome a slow laptop due to many startup programs can be done by managing the programs you choose to run when booting up the laptop. Simply open the startup tab in the task manager, then select applications that consume a significant amount of power and memory capacity, then click on the startup impact column and select the program to disable it.

4. Slow Laptop Due to OS Update

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The cause of a slow laptop can also be due to infrequent operating system updates. Delaying the update of the operating system can cause the laptop to become slower or sluggish. This condition can also make the laptop more vulnerable to malware or viruses that can have a negative impact on the laptop's performance.

According to hellotech.com, Windows usually releases major feature updates twice a year. Meanwhile, updates to improve security or fix other system programs are usually released every month. To find out if your OS needs the latest update, you can click on the magnifying glass icon in the top left corner of the screen, then type 'update' in the search bar, open it, and select 'download' if there are updates available.

5. Slow Laptop Due to Unnecessary Files

Laptops can become slow if you also store or have unnecessary files. In this case, it is related to temporary files that are usually ended with ".tmp" or start with a tilde or dollar sign. These files are usually deleted after you close the program or application. However, in some cases, these files are stored and accumulate, causing the laptop to become slow due to consuming memory capacity.

You can overcome this by deleting temporary files by clicking the search icon in the bottom left corner of the screen, then typing disk cleanup, and press Enter. Select the drive and click Clean up system files, then you can check the box next to temporary files and click OK again.

6. Slow Laptop Due to Aging Hard Drive

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The cause of a slow laptop can also be due to an aging hard disk drive (HDD). Therefore, it is necessary to update or upgrade the hard disk to overcome the slow performance. It is known that HDD has a lifespan of three to five years. On the other hand, solid-state drives (SSD) consist of flash memory chips and are faster than HDD. To overcome this, you can contact a laptop service provider to install or upgrade your hard disk.

7. Slow Laptop Due to Small RAM

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A slow laptop can also occur due to having a small storage capacity or RAM. This condition can cause the laptop to run slowly because the storage size does not match the RAM capacity. Usually, 2-4 GB of RAM is used for word processing and internet browsing. However, if you use your laptop for multitasking, especially tasks related to graphics, you may need 8-16 GB of RAM. Despite this, adding more RAM to your laptop does not always guarantee faster operation. Therefore, a minimum amount of RAM is required.

8. Slow Laptop Due to Full Hard Disk

A full hard disk can also cause a laptop to hang or run slowly. This condition usually occurs when the hard disk usage is almost full, reaching 95 percent. You can select and manage files or programs that consume a lot of memory and power or hard disk space to delete temporary files.

9. Slow Laptop Due to Too Many Browser Add-Ons

Having too many add-ons running on the browser also affects the slow performance of the laptop. This condition also consumes a lot of battery power. Therefore, caution in using add-ons on the browser needs to be done to prevent the laptop from experiencing slowness or lag.

10. Slow Laptop Due to Many Open Browser Tabs

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Browsing the internet has become an essential part of life that cannot be separated. You may have opened many browser tabs at once. However, this condition can actually cause your laptop to slow down and consume a lot of memory. You can close some of those tabs to fix the slow laptop.

Those are the 10 causes of a slow laptop and how to overcome them. Some of the above causes may be different from the problems you are experiencing with your laptop usage. A service may be useful for you in solving laptop problems.

(kpl/nlw)