Laptop very sluggish

Stattovic

Member
My Lenovo laptop running Windows 10 has recently become very sluggish.

It is over 3 years old and maybe needs replacing.

I have found lately that it takes 20 minutes approx to wake up when I turn it on.
When I type as on here it does not show what I have typed on screen right away, I have to pause to allow it to catch up.

All quite frustrating.

Any advise would be appreciated please.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Do a fresh install of windows most likely if its never been done in 3 years. Other then that, scan for malware, run general cleanup software like ccleaner. If it takes 20 minutes to actually see your desktop after turning it on, then it also could be a failing hard drive. What are the system specs?
 

Stattovic

Member
Do a fresh install of windows most likely if its never been done in 3 years. Other then that, scan for malware, run general cleanup software like ccleaner. If it takes 20 minutes to actually see your desktop after turning it on, then it also could be a failing hard drive. What are the system specs?

I run Windows 10. I remember you used to do a disc fragment but dont think that cannot be done.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Windows 10 does it automatically I believe. But you can check defragmentation in the tools menu. Don't defrag an SSD though, you'll shorten its lifespan.
 

Stattovic

Member
Windows 10 does it automatically I believe. But you can check defragmentation in the tools menu. Don't defrag an SSD though, you'll shorten its lifespan.

Are you saying completly re-install Windows 10 rather than the automatic updates it does ?
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
rather than the automatic updates it does ?
What does this have to do with getting the speed and performance back? Theoretically only you can figure out what has caused your performance issues as I don't have your machine sitting in front of me. If you have been laxed at doing general system maintenance or scanning for malware then your best bet is to reinstall windows fresh. But if the performance issue just started recently then look at what has been recently. Any new software or hardware installed lately? I could probably tell you after about 30 minutes of looking at it whats wrong wrong with it. I do general cleanup and malware scans first and then check performance and then go from there.
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Mechanical drive? Those have an astronomically higher failure rate than any other laptop component due to phyiscal movement/shock/etc.
 

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
Literally every giant update breaks everything and causes computers to go to shit. Backup your data and reinstall Windows.
 

Stattovic

Member

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Check the box next to the appropriate drive then the "Basic Tests" button should light up. Click that and select "Long Generic test".

rtaImage
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
That looks selectable, you need to click right on the actual square where the check goes. You can likely also use your keyboard arrow keys to get it selected.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
You have to select the drive first before you can select any tests. But to be honest, I would run WD's utility rather then seagate for a WD drive. If there are errors, I remember getting messages saying that its not their drive and you would need to run the proper utility.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
You have to select the drive first before you can select any tests. But to be honest, I would run WD's utility rather then seagate for a WD drive. If there are errors, I remember getting messages saying that its not their drive and you would need to run the proper utility.
Fair point, I just always used Seatools at my last job regardless of manufacturer. It usually passed fine on WD drives and if it threw a single error but otherwise was fine I usually just ignored it. Multiple errors on Seatools, regardless of manufacturer, is bad news though.
 

Stattovic

Member
That looks selectable, you need to click right on the actual square where the check goes. You can likely also use your keyboard arrow keys to get it selected.

OK I managed to run Seagate - long generic. Took a couple of hours and when it reached the 100% mark, that was it.

NO report,NO complete.

So after half an hour I closed it. I then did a restat of my laptop and no change there at least20 miutes to awaken. Have I wasted my time on this ?
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Was there a test status to the far right? Have you ran any malware scans such as Malwarebytes or ADWcleaner? It's also possible windows is just corrupt.
 

Stattovic

Member
I have given up on my old lenovo, now have a new hp laptop and all running smoothly.

Thanks everyone for your advise.
 
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