HP Laptop 17-bs0xx Speed

[DanMW]

Hello, I am having speed issues with my laptop. It takes considerable time to fire up and forever to run some programs. I have done the obvious by cleaning up the system files and other pertinent tasks - but it still runs slow. Will increasing the RAM help? and can I increase the processor in any way. Current system uses an i5-7200U processor and has 12GB RAM

[WAWood]

@DanMW 

Increasing the RAM -- no -- that will do nothing to speed up the PC.

This issue is often due to a failing drive. So, let's check that first, because if it is failing, it would need to be replaced and there is no point then in doing anything else until we confirm that.

If your PC is new enough to support UEFI, you can use these steps to test the hard drive: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00439024

If not, to check the drive you have to follow these steps:
1) Press Esc key repeatedly, several times a second, while rebooting the laptop. Do NOT hold the key down, just press it over and over.
2) Eventually, you will see an HP Startup Menu
3) Press the Function key for testing the hard drive (usually F2) and let it run.
If the drive checks out OK, then report that and I can provide you options for reinstalling Windows on your PC.

[DanMW]

Good afternoon WAWood, 

Thank you for the information. I have the newer UEFI / BIOS on my laptop. I followed the link that you sent and followed the instructions it listed. However when I re-started and applied F10 to get into the system there was no function that would allow me to do a hard drive test. So I keyed exist and at that point in proceeded to perform a test and said it would give me a report once completed and the computer rebooted (automatically of course). Well there was no report. 

I also checked with HP to see if there was an update to the BIOS (Insyde F.12). There didn't appear to be.Mind you When I checked the Insyde site they don't even acknowledge this BIOS.

So, i am not sure what to do next?? And the computer is still running slowly.

Regards Dan