Why Your PC Is Slow and How to Fix It for Free

Why is my computer slow? We often see a fan screaming and Task Manager showing 100% disk usage – the classic "why is everything stuck" moment. It matters because a slow PC eats your time, frustrates you at work, and can hide deeper problems. Can I speed it up without buying anything? Yes. Most of the slowdown comes from software bloat, background services, or a neglected hard drive – all of which you can address with built‑in Windows utilities or free third‑party tools. What free options do I have? Here’s a realistic decision guide. We list the steps, the effort involved, and what you’d pay a technician for the same job. Turn off unnecessary startup programmes. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Startup tab and disable anything you don’t need. A professional would charge around £30‑£50 for a "tune‑up" that includes this. Uninstall unwanted software. Use Settings → Apps to strip out trial versions and games you never use. The labour cost for a shop visit is similar to the above. Run a free malware scan. Download Malwarebytes Free or use Windows Defender. It takes 10‑15 minutes and costs nothing, versus a £60‑£80 cyber‑security visit. Check the hard drive health. Open Command Prompt as admin and run chkdsk /f /r or use the free CrystalDiskInfo tool. If the drive is failing, replacement is the only fix (≈£40 for a 500 GB HDD, £60 for a 1 TB SSD). Defragment (HDD only) or trim (SSD). Search "Defragment and Optimize Drives" and run it. A technician would charge about £25 for a m