Why your computer is slow — the 4 real causes

Before you spend money, narrow it down. 95% of slow Perth computers we see fall into one of four buckets:

Cause	Symptom	Fix difficulty
Old spinning hard drive (no SSD)	Takes >1 min to start; everything feels treacle	Replace drive (~$95 part + 1hr labour)
Bloated startup / background apps	Boots OK, then chokes after login	Free — 10 min DIY
Browser overload / tab + extension chaos	Computer fine, only browser is slow	Free — 5 min DIY
Malware / adware / "PC optimiser" junk	Pop-ups, fans spinning, slow even when idle	Free scan first; tech if persistent

Run Fixes 1–7 below in order. Most people clear the slowness by Fix 3.

Fix 1: Kill startup apps you never asked to run

On Windows 10 / 11

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Click the Startup apps tab.
Sort by "Startup impact" — anything marked High that you don't use, click it then Disable.
Common culprits: Spotify, Skype, Adobe Updater, OneDrive (if unused), iTunes Helper, Razer Synapse, manufacturer "Assistant" apps.

On Mac

System Settings → General → Login Items.
Remove anything in Open at Login you don't actively use.
Under Allow in the Background, turn off Adobe Updater, Razer, Logitech background helpers, etc.

Restart. If your computer was slow to get usable after login, this alone often solves it.

Fix 2: Free up disk space (and check if you need an SSD)

Windows and macOS both choke when the system drive gets above 85% full. They start swapping memory to disk constantly — on a slow drive, this is the single biggest reason your Perth PC feels glacial.

Quick check (Windows)

Right-click This PC → Properties → Storage.
If C: drive is >85% used, that's your problem.
Run Storage Sense (Settings → System → Storage) to clear temp files, old downloads, the Recycle Bin.

Quick check (Mac)

Apple menu → About This Mac → More Info → Storage.
Click Manage → remove old iOS backups, large unused apps and "Other" cache.

Most important question

Does your computer have an SSD or a spinning hard drive? On a 5+ year old Perth-bought PC, it's almost certainly still a spinning drive. Adding an SSD is the single biggest speed boost you can do — a 5-minute boot becomes 15 seconds. Parts ~$95 for a 500GB SSD; install + Windows transfer ~1 hr with a tech.

Fix 3: Tabs, extensions and the Chrome RAM problem

Chrome treats each tab and extension as a separate process. With 30 tabs and 20 extensions you can easily eat 6–8 GB of RAM — on a 4 or 8 GB laptop, that is the slowness.

Close tabs you haven't touched in a week. Use a "Read it later" tool like Pocket if you can't bear to lose them.
Open chrome://extensions and remove anything you don't recognise — especially any "Search Bar", "Coupon Helper" or "PDF converter" you installed once.
Try Microsoft Edge or Safari for a week — both use noticeably less memory than Chrome on the same machine.
If Chrome alone is the slow part, install the Memory Saver feature: Settings → Performance → Memory Saver = ON.

Fix 4: Scan for the quiet malware

Modern malware doesn't always pop ads. Cryptocurrency miners, browser hijackers and "PC speed-up" tools you accidentally installed often eat 30–100% of your CPU silently.

Windows Security (built-in): Settings → Privacy & Security → Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Quick scan. Then run Microsoft Defender Offline scan for stealthier infections.
Free second opinion: download Malwarebytes Free from malwarebytes.com (the .com — not random ads) and run a scan.
Mac: download Malwarebytes for Mac — macOS has malware too, despite what people say.

Don't install

"PC Cleaner Pro", "Driver Booster", "Advanced SystemCare", "MacKeeper" or anything advertised in YouTube ads. These tools are usually the cause of slowness, not the fix.

Caught a stubborn infection?

Same-day on-site malware removal across Perth metro — flat fee, no fix no fee.

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or call 08 6385 7940

Fix 5: Run Windows / macOS updates properly

A pending update is a slowness multiplier. Windows downloads it in the background, holds RAM hostage, then warns you 5 times an hour. macOS does the same.

Settings → Windows Update (Win) or System Settings → Software Update (Mac).
Run all pending updates. Restart when asked.
After it's done, run it again until it says "You're up to date".
Plug the laptop in — updates often pause on battery.

If updates fail (common on older Perth PCs), that's a fix-it-properly job — corrupt update files can themselves cause the slowness. Skip to When to call a tech.

Fix 6: Do you actually need more RAM?

RAM upgrades are oversold. Most modern Perth PCs come with 8 GB — fine for browsing, email, Office. You only need 16 GB for video editing, gaming, or 30+ Chrome tabs.

How to actually know

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Performance tab → Memory.
Use your computer normally for 10 minutes (browsing, Outlook, whatever you do).
If memory in use stays under 80%, RAM is not your bottleneck. Don't upgrade it.
If it sits at 95%+ with normal use, then yes, +8 GB will help.

A 4 GB laptop is the only "automatically upgrade" case — that's the bottleneck even with one tab open in 2026.

Fix 7: Heat, fans and dust

If your laptop's fan runs loud constantly, or you can hear the desktop straining when you open Chrome, your CPU is thermal throttling — deliberately slowing down to avoid overheating. Almost always dust in the heatsink and fans.

Laptops: use a can of compressed air on the side vents. Don't open the case unless you're confident.
Desktops: shut down, unplug, open the side panel, blow out fans and heatsink with compressed air. Most Perth desktops we open haven't been cleaned in 5+ years.
Surface placement: never use a laptop on a doona or carpet — they block the intake vents and cook the CPU.

Five minutes of cleaning often restores 30% of lost performance on a 3+ year old machine.

Still slow? When to call a Perth tech

If you've worked through Fixes 1–7 and your computer is still slow, you're probably in one of these situations:

Failing hard drive — slowness comes and goes, system freezes for 30 seconds, file copies error out.
Windows install corruption — updates fail, error 0x... appears. Often faster to wipe and reinstall fresh.
Persistent malware — Defender keeps re-detecting the same thing. Needs offline scan environment.
Genuinely outdated hardware — 2014 Core i3 with 4GB RAM and HDD is past useful life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it cheaper to fix or replace a slow Perth computer?

If your machine is under 6 years old and the slowness is software-only (or fixable by adding an SSD/RAM), it's almost always cheaper to fix — usually $200–$450 vs $1,200+ for a new mid-range laptop.

Will an SSD make my old laptop fast again?

For most pre-2020 laptops still running a spinning hard drive: yes, dramatically. Boot times drop from 1–3 minutes to 10–15 seconds. App launches feel near-instant. We do this upgrade weekly across Perth.

Why does my computer get slow only after a few hours?

That's almost always a memory leak in a specific program (often Chrome, Outlook or Teams). Restart the offending app every few hours, or restart the computer once a day until you have a tech identify the leaker.

Do "PC speed-up" tools actually work?

Almost never. The free ones include adware that makes the slowness worse. The paid ones do what Windows already does for free. Skip them all.

How do I know if I have an SSD or a hard drive?

On Windows: Task Manager → Performance → Disk 0. The model number tells you (e.g. Samsung 980 = SSD; WDC WD10 = HDD). On Mac: About This Mac → More Info → Storage — "Flash Storage" = SSD, "Hard Drive" = HDD.

Make Your Old Computer Fast Again

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