HP Notebook - 15-da0032wm is only 1 year old and so SLOW

[Megann1]

HP Notebook - 15-da0032wm bought brand new Sept 2018, used for Hulu/Netflix streaming, Word, document saving, internet use. EVERY operation is so slow- opening word takes a minimum of 60 seconds, opening chrome is slow, typing in chrome address bar is usually delayed (as I'm typing, nothing shows up for about 3-6 seconds), starting up from sleep- login screen takes about 45 seconds to even appear. HELP!

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Megann1 

I would suspect a couple of very different issues at work.

First, the laptop might be running out of disk space, as it has been doing Windows Updates since you bought it and MS does not clean up after itself.

Here are some things you can do to recover some of the disk space:
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3012-disk-cleanup-open-use-windows-10-a.html
http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-clean-up-winsxs-folder-in-windows-10/

Also, the community Win10 Forums has the following suggestions:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/83441-free-up-drive-space-windows-10-a.html

In addition, I have found the utility Cleanmgr+ to have LOTS of options for removing Windows junk, including log files. I use it practically every day. You can get it from here: https://www.getclone.app/download/category/11-cleanmgr

Also, there is a freeware app known as Wise Disk Cleaner. I use it every day to get rid of junk files: https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html

See if those help the laptop's performance at all.

If not, then it's likely to be the second issue -- Windows Update -- which plagues Win10 PCs.

With a Win10 PC, you're going to experience a variety of problems not typical of the older PCs.

First is sluggishness. You may experience a very slow PC at times because Windows Update (WU) is hogging your PC, searching for, downloading, and installing updates -- to bring your PC up to the most current version of Windows. This can also contribute significantly to high processor temperatures, as it is being heavily used.

Second is fan noise. That's directly related to fan speed, which is the result of processor heat, and WU is known to drive up the processor load -- sometimes to 100%. That can cause the fan to run loud and continuous for some time.

Third is disk usage. WU can easily force the disk usage to 100% and and keep it pinned there for some time. That's because it writes WU files to the drive, then it turns around and reads them, then it overwrites existing Windows System files. All of that takes a lot of disk usage to complete.

These processes are compounded by Win10 because new Win 10 patches coming out nearly every Tuesday. Since you can't stop Updates like you did with Win7, this means you're going to get updates, regardless of what you do.

To find out what version and build of Win10 your PC is running, do the following:
1) enter "cmd" (without the quotes) into the search area and select the Command Prompt option
2) enter "winver" into the command window (again, without the quotes)
3) The most current Win10 versions as of 7/9/19 are the following:

a) v1803: Bld 17134.915

b) v1809: Bld 17763.615

c) v1903: Bld 18632.239.

If yours is older than that, most likely WU is hogging your PC trying to update it.

Some folks have been told that resetting your PC will fix this. but, if you reset your PC, you only make matters WORSE! Why? Because you will reset Win10 back to the original version that came preloaded on the PC and that will restart Windows Update all over again.

To disable WU temporarily, do the following:
1) Enter "services" in the search area (again, without the quotes)
2) When the window opens, scroll down until you see Windows Update
3) If it say Running under status, that indicates that WU is running
4) To change that, double-click on that task, select Stop under the Service status, and then Apply
5) That should stop WU -- and you should see an immediate improvement in performance.

If not, then WU is not the problem.

WU will restart itself automatically later on, so you basically have no choice than to bear with it until it finishes.