A slow laptop usually has one of a handful of causes, and you can check all of them in half an hour. These steps are for Windows, which most laptops in Ghana run; a Mac section is at the end.
1. Restart it properly
Closing the lid is not a restart, and on Windows even Shut down often only hibernates. Use Start, Power, Restart at least once a week. Many slow laptops have simply not been restarted in a month.
2. See what is actually using it
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager and click More details if needed. Sort by CPU, then by Memory, then by Disk.
- Disk at 100% for minutes on end is the classic sign of an old hard drive. See step 6.
- Memory near 100% means too many things open at once, usually browser tabs.
- A program you do not recognise using a lot of CPU could be unwanted software. Look its name up before ending it.
3. Stop programs starting with Windows
In Task Manager open the Startup apps tab. Disable anything you do not need the moment the laptop starts: music apps, game launchers, updaters, printer utilities. Do not disable your antivirus. This alone often halves the start-up time.
4. Free up space
Windows slows badly when the C: drive is nearly full.
- Settings, System, Storage, then Cleanup recommendations or Temporary files. Delete temporary files and old Windows update files.
- Empty the Recycle Bin.
- Move videos and old downloads to an external drive or cloud storage.
- Settings, Apps, Installed apps: uninstall what you do not use, especially trial software that came with the laptop.
Aim to keep at least 15 to 20 percent of the drive free.
5. Tame the browser
Each Chrome tab uses memory. Twenty open tabs on a laptop with 4GB of memory will make everything crawl. Close tabs you are not using, remove extensions you do not recognise (chrome://extensions), and turn on Chrome's Memory Saver in Settings, Performance.
6. The upgrade that changes everything: an SSD
If your laptop is more than a few years old and has a spinning hard disk (HDD), replacing it with a solid-state drive (SSD) is the single biggest improvement you can make. Start-up drops from minutes to seconds and everything opens faster. To check, open Task Manager, Performance, click the disk: it says HDD or SSD.
An SSD costs far less than a new laptop, and a technician can copy your Windows and files across. Adding memory (going from 4GB to 8GB) is the second most useful upgrade, if your laptop allows it.
7. Check for malware
Run a Full scan in Windows Security (built into Windows 10 and 11). Pop-up adverts, a browser home page that changed itself, or programs you never installed are signs something unwanted got in. See do you need antivirus?.
8. Heat
A laptop that is hot underneath slows itself down to cool off. Use it on a hard surface, not a bed or your lap, and have dust cleaned out of the fan if it roars constantly.
On a Mac
Open Activity Monitor (search with Cmd + Space) to see what is using the CPU and memory, remove login items in System Settings, General, Login Items, and keep at least 15 percent of storage free.