If your PC is running slowly, the following suggestions might help speed things up. 

Check for Windows Updates

  1. Select the Start  button, then select Settings  > Update & Security  > Windows Update  > Check for updates. Click the Check for updates button and let those updates install (you can continue working while updates are installing, and you will be prompted when a reboot is required). On the check for updates page, if you see a link “Check online for updates from Microsoft Update”, click on that to get more updates. You will need to click the button and link again after updates have been applied until no more updates show up
     
    When selecting "Check online for updates from Microsoft Update" you might be presented with the link "View optional updates".  Click this button and select all options except windows 11 (sometimes windows 11 shows and sometimes it does not, but we do NOT want to install windows 11 at this time).
     
  2. Restart your PC when it prompts, and come back to Windows updates & security to see if there are more updates to install.

      NOTE:  When updating to windows version 1809, 1903 and 1909, the reboot may take 1 hour, so time the reboot accordingly

Run Disk Cleanup

To delete temporary files (these are files the computer creates over general use and can be deleted, they will regenerate if needed):

  1. In the search box on the taskbar, type disk cleanup, and select Disk Cleanup from the list of results
  2. Select the drive you want to clean up, (Drive C, or Windows C) and then select OK
  3. Under Files to delete, select the file types to get rid of (select all the check boxes, you will have to scroll down the list to see all the boxes to select)
     
  4. Select OK
  5. A box will come up showing the cleanup progress, and will close on it’s own when it is done

More files can be cleaned up to help with performance and space:

  1. Go back into Disk Cleanup
  2. Select Clean up system files from the lower part of the screen
  3. You will be asked to select a drive again, select the C drive (Windows C), it should be the default option
  4. Select all the check boxes under Files to delete
  5. Select OK
  6. Disk Cleanup will bring up a box indicating it’s progress and will close when it is done
  7. When it is finished, reboot your computer

 

Run Disk Defragment

Optimizing your drives can help your computer run smoother and boot up faster. To optimize them:

  1. Select the search bar on the taskbar and enter defrag
  2. Select Defragment and Optimize Drives

  1. Select the disk drive you want to optimize (drive C, Windows C)
  2. Select the Optimize button
  3. When it is complete, the Optimize button will be active again, you can close the program and see if your computer works better