Laptop is bogging down, again.

[Vae_Vobis]

Last December I purchased and installed HP system recovery media because my laptop had been behaving erratically (slow operation, not installing updates...) and while I was attempting to rage-recover Windows using on-board tools I'd toasted the system files somehow.  So after re-installing Windows using the recovery media, pc ran great - better than it did out of the box, actually.  Starting a week ago, it's been bogging down again; any action I try to perform takes an inordinately long time - opening file windows, starting programs, whatever.  I've done what I could think of to do - ran the pre-installed HP diagnostic software (shows no errors), cleaned files using the Windows disk cleaner, defragged.  Opening task manager I don't see system resources (cpu, ram, hard drive) clogged up with high usage percentages.  I haven't installed any new programs in conjunction with the start of this problem.  Also haven't gotten any flags from Windows Defender security scans.  Any ideas would be much appreciated.

  FYI, I don't have any third-party security or maintenance utilities installed, as I've learned most of these are at best useless and at worst malware/spyware.  The only programs installed that aren't Windows apps are:  LibreOffice, VLC media player, 4K video (youtube) downloader, Audacity, ACID Music Studio 9, Firefox and Chrome, and these have all been installed for a while, long before this issue started.  Again, any help is appreciated.

[Echo_Lake · Accepted solution]

@Vae_Vobis
Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue:  

Firstly, perform Hard Reset: Follow steps from the link: https://hp.care/2GnkMa8.

Next, BIOS default: 

1. Turn off the computer and wait five seconds.
2. Press the Power button to start the computer and repeatedly press the F10 key to enter the BIOS setup menu.
3. On the BIOS Setup screen, press F9 to select and load the BIOS Setup Default settings.
4. Press F10 to Save and Exit.
5. Use the arrow keys to select Yes, then press Enter when asked Exit Saving Changes?
6. Follow the prompts to restart your computer.

Next Step: 

Perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant:

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Vae_Vobis]

Hi, Echo Lake (that sounds like a relaxing spot for a vacation), responding to let you know that I followed the troubleshooting steps and my pc does appear to be running better.  It was current on Windows and HP updates so apparently the hard reset and/or resetting the BIOS to default helped with the problem.  Out of curiosity, since I like to know the whys and wherefores when possible, what could have been the issue that these actions corrected?  Thanks for the assist.

[Echo_Lake]

@Vae_Vobis
Glad to hear that the issue is resolved.
To get the answer to this question, the root cause for this issue is "windows update" as its computer windows will be pushing all major driver updates to it.

Going forward you can check windows update manually and update the available drivers. 

If you need any help, feel free to reach out to us.

Have a great day!