Hey everyone! I've been using my Dell Inspiron for about three years, and to be honest, it has never really performed well. Simple tasks like typing have always been sluggish, and even the quick access menu is nearly non-functional at times. However, after the recent Windows 11 update, I noticed some improvement—the typing lag seemed to get better. The laptop does get pretty hot, especially when gaming, and despite having an i5 11th gen processor, it struggles to run even older games smoothly. Lately, though, all my previous issues have come rushing back, and it's become unbearable. Everything is lagging—from applications to drop-down menus, and even streaming 720p videos is choppy. I can't even open a PDF without waiting nearly 30 seconds for it to load. Is there anything I can do to fix this or at least figure out what's causing the performance issues?
3 Answers
If you're really stuck, reimaging the laptop might be your best bet. Also, head over to dell.com, enter your service tag number, and make sure all drivers and the BIOS are up to date.
First things first, try opening the Task Manager and check the Performance tab. If something is hogging your resources, it could be the reason for the lag. Post a screenshot of what you see so we can troubleshoot further.
Running a hardware health check could help identify if your storage is failing. Also, consider downloading the Windows 12 install image from Microsoft. It’s a good idea to back up your data first and do a full reimage instead of a reset, which often doesn’t fix problems. ASIO can help manage your drivers efficiently, too.
How do I perform the health check? And for the Windows reinstall, will it automatically activate my license when I sign in with my email?
I've checked and disabled unnecessary apps. My RAM usage is around 50%, and my CPU seems to fluctuate between 15-60%, so I don't see any major culprits.