Help with slow laptop

[candygirl]

Recently had a virus which Windows Defender found and quarantined.
Also ran Malwarebytes.
But laptop running very slow sometimes (not always) - takes a long time turning on, and I want to be sure all is OK.
Any help would be appreciated.
i5 CPU @ 2.50GHz, 6GB RAM (5.87GB usable)? 64 bit. 1 TB.
Windows 10
Task Manager:
Memory 56%

 

[DanDango]

Download Open Hardware Monitor http://openhardwaremonitor.org/ and check if the laptop is overheating.

Future tip replace hard drive with solid state drive.

 

[Corelli]

Recently had a virus which Windows Defender found and quarantined.
Also ran Malwarebytes.
But laptop running very slow sometimes (not always) - takes a long time turning on, and I want to be sure all is OK.
Any help would be appreciated.
i5 CPU @ 2.50GHz, 6GB RAM (5.87GB usable)? 64 bit. 1 TB.
Windows 10
Task Manager:
Memory 56%

Firstly too much rubbish on there, so zap out what you don't need. 6gb of ram is ok but 8gb is ideal. But the biggest change would be to change the hdd. Get a Samsung Evo 850/860 (you don't need a pro), and install it on there, then buy an external case for the 1tb to use it.

A ssd drive can renew an old clogged up laptop pretty majorly. 8gb of ram is also more ideal for a smoother experience. And then don't run every tom, dick and harry tool on there because you're paranoid about viruses. Just windows defender or mcafee will do. the more apps you run the more sluggish. ITunes is notorious for slowing things down.

 

[Corelli]

Oh Idling at 50% memory can be pretty normal just having a browser open and outlook and notepad.

Especially if the machine is low on memory. Using 3gb of memory in idling is not much these days.

 

[candygirl]

Thanks for this info.
When I first got laptop it was super fast, why the slowness now?

 

[LPCPT]

Block programs that auto start on booting. You will be amazed how much crap there can be. Somewhere in control panel or google how to do it.

 

[candygirl]

What is a SSD drive what does it do?

 

[Binary_Bark]

What is a SSD drive what does it do?

SSD is a Solid State Drive. It is much faster than a normal HDD.
Where you have moving parts inside a normal HDD, discs etc. a SSD has no moving parts

 

[Totempole]

Thanks for this info.
When I first got laptop it was super fast, why the slowness now?

Any number of things could be causing a slow down. More than likely just a cluttered operating system causing it.

Long story short, restoring it back to factory conditions would allow it to run like new again, but you'd need to back up all your data first. Another side-effect would be that you'd have to get back up-to-date with Windows Update.

 

[sajunky]

Thanks for this info.
When I first got laptop it was super fast, why the slowness now?

Most likely Windows update, I saw it on many laptops.
Check CPU utilization, a HDD LED showing constantly trashing hard drive, maybe MS is still mining Bitcoins on your device.

Backup your data, restore Windows from the factory partition and disable automatic updates (if you have Pro version). Any further updates should be handled manually by downloading cumulative updates from MS catalog Website.

 

[NeonNinja]

Format.