It’s necessary to keep your system updated by installing Windows Update. But Windows Update sometimes can cause system issues. Computer slowness is one of the common errors caused by Windows Update. To fix the error, you can try the methods below.
Try these methods
Method 1: Run the System File Checker tool
Method 2: Clean Windows Update temporary cache folder
Method 3: Adjust your page file settings
Method 4: Roll back the graphics card driver
Method 5: Uninstall Windows Update
Method 6: Perform a System Restore
Method 1: Run the System File Checker tool
Corrupted system files can cause your computer to run slowly. You can run the System File Checker tool to scan the system files and replace the corrupted files.
To run the System File Checker tool, you can follow these steps:
1) Press Win+R (the Windows logo key and the R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.
2) Type “cmd” into the Run box, and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys to open Command Prompt as administrator.
3) At the Command Prompt window, type “sfc /scannow” and then press Enter. Then the tool will scan system files to detect corrupted system files. If there are any corrupted system files detected, the tool will replace them automatically.
Note: The whole verification process may take some time. Please don’t exit until the verification is 100% complete.
Method 2: Clean Windows Update temporary cache folder
To fix this problem, you can try cleaning the SoftwareDistribution folder, which temporarily stores files required to install new Windows Updates. After cleaning, Windows will recreate and download all necessary files and components. So it’s safe to do this.
Here’s how:
1) Press Win+R keys to invoke the Run box.
2) Type “%windir%\SoftwareDistribution” into the Run box and press Enter. This will open the Windows Update temporary cache folder.
3) Delete all contents of this folder.
4) Restart your computer and check to see if the problem is resolved.
Method 3: Adjust your page file settings
Some users have reported that adjusting the page file settings helped them fix the problem. You can also try this method and see if it works for you.
What is a page file? When we’re using the computer, for example, viewing a web page, the computer reads data from the RAM instead of from the hard drive directly. It means data being used is stored in RAM. This is because reading from RAM is much faster than reading from a hard drive. However, the RAM can get full. When it gets full, Windows will move some of the data you aren’t using back to your hard drive and place it in the page file. In some rare cases, Windows can read data from the page file and that might cause the computer to run slowly.
You can follow these steps to adjust the page file settings:
1) Open Control Panel. To Open Control, you can press the Windows logo key, type “control panel” and then select Control Panel.
2) At the Control Panel window, type “performance” in the search box, and under the System section, click on Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows. Then the Performance Options window will open.
3) Go to the Advanced tab, and under the Virtual memory section, click the Change… button.
4) Untick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, and then select the drive that you have the system installed on. Generally, it could be the C:\ drive.
5) Select Custom size, set Initial and Maximum size to the value recommended by Windows.
6) Click OK to save the changes.
7) Restart your computer and check to see if the computer slow issue is resolved.
Note: If this method doesn’t work, remember to revert the changes. Open the Virtual Memory window again and tick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
Method 4: Roll back the graphics card driver
A bad driver can be installed via Windows Update and causes your computer to run slowly. So, to fix the problem, you can try rolling back the graphics card driver to the previous version. To do so:
1) Open Device Manager.
2) Expand the category “Display adapters” and double-click on the graphics card device to open the Properties window.
3) Go to the Driver tab and click on the Roll Back Driver button. Then follow the on-screen instructions to roll back the driver to the previous version.
4) Once done, click OK.
5) Restart your computer and check to see if the computer slow problem is resolved.
Tip: If the problem persists, you can try downloading the latest version of the graphics card driver from the PC manufacturer, and then install it on your computer.
Method 5: Uninstall Windows Update
To fix the problem, you can try uninstalling the Windows Update that you suspect causing the problem. To uninstall a Windows Update, you can follow these steps:
1) Press Win+R to invoke the Run box.
2) Type “appwiz.cpl” and click OK.
3) Click View installed updates.
4) Select the update and then click Uninstall.
After uninstalling the update, check to see if the problem persists. If the problem is gone, you can hide the update in case Windows installs it again.
Microsoft provides a Show or hide updates troubleshooter that can be used to hide updates. You can use this tool to hide the update causing the problem. However, The troubleshooter is no longer available on Microsoft official website. You can search for the tool on the internet or directly download it from Tenforums.com. On Temforums.com, you can also learn the specific steps to hide an update that you don’t want to install.
Method 6: Perform a System Restore
This method only works if you have a restore point created before the update. Here’s how to perform a System Restore:
1) Press the Windows logo key, type “restore point” and then select Create a restore point.
2) At the System Protection tab, and under the System Restore section, click the System Restore… button.
4) Select Choose a different restore point and click Next.
5) Select an event that occurred before the update and click Next.
6) Once done, restart your computer and check to see if the problem is resolved.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below.