New laptop on and off slow

[Nish3nn]

Hi i recently purchased my laptop as of early October 2024 and it has been running fine with all my apps until February 2025 when it started to run very slow, before it had been lightning fast. It has been on and off slow and fast. There will be 3-hour periods where it is back to normal and ill close it and come back and it will be extremely slow again. I have completely wiped the computer (factory reset) but it still has the same problem. It has been getting to the point where it is sometimes unusable.

Specs: 

Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 5 125U 3.60 GHz

Memoey: 16.0 GB (15.4 GB usable)

System type:64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

task manager view: 

[Garp_senchau]

@Nish3nn, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

Your HP Envy x360 has solid specs, so the sudden slowdown is concerning. Since you've already done a factory reset and the issue keeps coming back intermittently, let’s break down potential causes and solutions:

What We Can See from Task Manager:

Memory usage is around 46% (which is fine for 16GB RAM).

CPU usage is low (3%), so no major bottlenecks there.

Disk usage is also low, meaning it’s not an SSD issue.

Check for Background Apps Hogging Resources

Even though CPU/RAM usage looks normal in these screenshots, it might spike randomly.

Open Task Manager > Processes

Click on Memory and CPU columns to sort by highest usage

Look for any app consuming too many resources when your laptop slows down.

If you see anything suspicious, try disabling startup apps.

Windows Power Management Issues

If performance drops after waking from sleep, Windows may be limiting CPU speedGo to Control Panel > Power Options

Select High Performance (or Best Performance in Win 11)

Click Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings

Under processor power management, set:

Minimum processor state: 100%

Maximum processor state: 100%

Corrupt Windows Updates or Drivers

Since it started happening in Feb 2025, a Windows Update or driver issue could be responsible.

Run Windows Update → Check for pending updates.

Check HP Support Assistant for missing driver updates.

SSD Health & Performance Check

A faulty SSD could slow things down even when CPU/RAM look fine.

Open Command Prompt (Admin)

Type: wmic diskdrive get model,status

If it says "Caution" or "Bad", your SSD may be failing.

Malware or Windows Corruption

Run a full Windows Defender scan.

If performance doesn’t improve, try sfc /scannow:

Open Command Prompt as Admin

Run: sfc /scannow

Let it scan and fix system file errors.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Regards,