If your computer is crawling, freezing, or taking forever to boot, you're not alone. Slow PCs are one of the most common issues we see at Howard Resource. The good news: most of the time it's fixable without replacing anything.
1. Too many startup programs
Every app you install wants to start when Windows boots. Over time this builds up and your PC spends the first 5-10 minutes of every session loading programs you didn't ask for. Fix: open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Startup tab → disable anything you don't need running immediately.
2. Your hard drive is full or failing
Windows needs free space to operate — typically at least 15% of your drive. If you're under that, performance tanks. A failing drive is worse — it's slow, throws errors, and eventually stops working entirely. Signs: clicking sounds, files taking forever to open, frequent crashes.
3. Malware or background processes
Viruses and malware often run silently in the background, eating CPU and RAM. Even legitimate programs can go rogue. If your PC is suddenly slow after it was fine, this is worth checking first.
4. Overheating
When a CPU or GPU gets too hot, it slows itself down to avoid damage. This is called thermal throttling. Dusty fans and clogged heatsinks are the usual cause. A good cleaning fixes it completely.
5. You need more RAM
If you're running Chrome with 20 tabs, Spotify, and Zoom at the same time on 8GB of RAM — that's your problem. Upgrading to 16GB is one of the cheapest and most effective performance upgrades you can make.
Not sure what's causing yours? Our diagnostic is $24.99 flat, credited toward any repair. We'll find the problem and explain it in plain English before touching anything.