I've noticed that my computer has become really slow lately. My browser is lagging, and it's taking ages for programs to open. This sudden change started a few days ago when I think I might have accidentally visited some streaming sites. I ran a full scan with the built-in virus detection on my PC, but it didn't find anything. Fortunately, there haven't been any signs of unauthorized logins on my accounts. I'm worried about what might be happening to my computer, and I'm looking for advice on the best steps to take to get it back to its normal speed. Should I consider doing a system reboot instead? For a bit more context, I can still play intensive games without any issue, so it seems to be mostly a problem with my browser. At first, I thought it was just my internet being slow, but my roommate isn't experiencing the same issues. One particular thing that freaked me out today was that a game I downloaded said it needed an update, but that update was the same size as the entire game, which makes me wonder if it somehow uninstalled itself. Could this just be a coincidence, or am I right to be paranoid?
2 Answers
First off, definitely try running an offline scan with Windows Defender. It's known to catch hidden malware that a regular scan might miss. Just go to the scan options and look for the offline scan option—this usually does the trick!
You might want to check your hard drive's free space. If it’s around 25% or less, empty the recycle bin and run a disk cleanup. Regularly doing this can really help improve performance. After that, a reboot can work wonders, even if your scans come back clean!
Good idea! I’ll check my free space and perform a cleanup. Hopefully, that will speed things up.