Decreased performance and general sluggishness can easily frustrate anyone who owns or regularly uses a laptop. We all know the frustration of having a laptop for a couple of years and then having it suddenly take ages to load and perform simple tasks. Luckily, laptops can often be restored to their previous performance levels by cleaning up unnecessary files and completing simple maintenance.
General solutions
There can be a variety of reasons for sluggish laptop performance. When experiencing this problem, an anti-virus software can be helpful to ensure the latency is not due to malignant software. In addition to this, updating computer software and plugins can simultaneously increase security and computer performance.
Browser solutions
If laptop performance dramatically decreases when using a browser, cleaning the program of extensions, unnecessary data, and add-ons may allow the browser to run faster. In addition, older browsers may not support all websites and may experience lag because of this issue.
Often, add-ons and extensions may inadvertently be installed by other programs or no longer be useful for the laptop user. Depending on the browser, add-ons can be disabled by navigating through the “Internet Options” menu or browser settings.
Temporary files, including cache and cookies, can also decrease browser performance. To delete cache and cookies, locate the “Browsing History” menu. This menu is frequently located under either preferences or settings, depending on the browser. Ensure that only cache, cookies, and temporary files are checked to avoid losing saved passwords on the browser.
Storage solutions
As computers become cluttered with unnecessary files and programs, computer speed can suffer. An evaluation of each program can allow a user to uninstall any that are no longer needed or wanted.
In order to clean up excessive files that may still be needed in the future, cloud based storage can be utilized to free up considerable space on the laptop’s hard drive. There are a multitude of free cloud based solutions, including Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and iCloud. Using cloud-based storage also features the added bonus of a secure way to store important files. Storing files on a server ensures no data would be lost if the laptop is damaged or stolen.
Although the concept of dealing with a slow laptop can be frustrating, poor performance can often be fixed. By evaluating storage and programs, lag, and other latency issues are easily remedied to restore previous computer performance.