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Solved: Laptop Very Slow After Formatting

No more lags and unresponsiveness with these tips!

8 min. read

Published onOctober 19, 2023

published onOctober 19, 2023

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Key notes

Formatting your laptop is like cleaning out your closet. It’s an organized way to get rid of unnecessary files and free up space on your computer. But what happens when you get unexpected results like a slower device?

This can happen to anyone, even if your laptop is brand new. It’s no cause for alarm as we’ll walk you through how to speed it up after a format so that it works like new again.

Does formatting a laptop affect performance?

When you format a laptop or desktop computer, you are deleting everything on it, including registry files. These files are critical for your operating system to run properly.

Since this information needs to be created again from scratch, it will take longer for your programs to open and for websites to load. That’s why you might notice theboot time is longerbecause the operating system will be reset to its default settings.

How do I fix my laptop if it’s slow after formatting?

Begin with the following basic steps before attempting the somewhat technical solutions:

1. Clear Windows cache

You might also want toperform a comprehensive PC cleanupif you don’t have a lot of RAM to work with.

2. Run the CHKDSK command

3. Restart the SysMain service

The SysMain service is a system file that is used by Windows to help run various processes, such as starting programs and loading data into memory. While it is meant to boost the performance of your PC, if yourPC is running low on memory, it can lead to a slow laptop and cause other performance issues.

If this is the case, you can disable it and see if there are any notable changes.

4. Perform clean boot

5. Increase Virtual memory

6. Create a new user profile

If you notice a performance boost in the new profile, it could mean the previous one was corrupted. In this case, you canrepair the corrupted profileormigrate the old one to the new user account.

7. Run an antimalware scan

If your main reason for formatting your laptop was to get rid of malware, there’s a good chance you’ve resolved the issue. However, some viruses are stubborn, and even a format is not enough to remove them.

You canrun a virus scan, but to completely remove them, you will need a tool stronger than the built-in Windows Defender. We recommendinstalling antivirus softwarewith the capability of outing hidden malware.

8. Update your laptop’s BIOS

The BIOS controls the core functions of a computer’s hardware components. It’s important tokeep your BIOS up-to-datebecause it can allow new hardware and software to operate more efficiently on your PC.

If you’re experiencing a problem with your laptop running too slowly after formatting, it may be time for an update.

9. Cleanup your Registry

Cleaning up the registry is one of the most effective ways to speed up your laptop. This can be done using a registry cleaner or by manually removing obsolete files from the Windows Registry.Use a registry cleanerif you don’t know how to do this yourself.

In addition to helping you find and remove obsolete files from the registry, these software programs also offer many other features, including defragmentation, startup management, and privacy protection.

10. Replace your hard drive

Formatting tends to leave unused space on the hard drive. This unused space can lead to fragmentation, which makes thecomputer run more slowlyand experience more crashes and system errors.

However, before you jump to acquire a new one,try defragmenting your hard drivefirst and see if there’s any improvement. If not, go ahead andupgrade your hard drive. Perhaps it had shownsigns of failureall along; you just missed them.

What should I do after formatting my laptop?

It is evident that formatting of laptop periodically will keep it running smoothly. However, during the inopportune times that it doesn’t, the above fixes should help you bring it up to speed.

It’s also important to get to the root of the problem. Sometimes, yourlaptop may run slow after a system restorebecause you created it incorrectly, and other times, it’s just your hardware component setting.

Remember, your PC’s speed is directly proportional to the resources available, such as RAM, CPU cores, and processor type, among others.

Did you manage to boost your laptop’s speed with any of our recommended fixes? We’d love to hear about it, so drop us a comment down below.

Solved: Laptop Very Slow After Formatting#

How do I fix my laptop if it’s slow after formatting?#

1. Clear Windows cache#

2. Run the CHKDSK command#

3. Restart the SysMain service#

4. Perform clean boot#

5. Increase Virtual memory#

6. Create a new user profile#

7. Run an antimalware scan#

8. Update your laptop’s BIOS#

9. Cleanup your Registry#

10. Replace your hard drive#

What should I do after formatting my laptop?#