Why is it that my laptop got so slow and what can I do about it?
You can install an SSD, cost maybe 20-30 euro and make your laptop noticeably faster!
Reset once or ssd
If your laptop doesn't already have an SSD, installing one would make a huge difference.
You can also upgrade the RAM.
You can only improve loading times. Depending on what kind of laptop you also have the RAM. But the high-performance components such as CPU or GPU can't normally be exchanged.
Apart from the junk data that you could remove with special programs:
You probably also have a mechanical hard drive installed. You can have it exchanged for an SSD hard drive… And you'll be amazed at how fast the laptop starts up all at once.
Besides setting up the operating system again and only installing the necessary things, there's also the option of removing the dirt from the fins of the heat pipe. Often a dense felt collects here, so that the fan can no longer transport the heat away from the CPU. If the CPU overheats, then the processor throttles the performance down as far as possible to avoid overheating.
So just unscrew it once and remove the dust or use new thermal paste. Be careful when removing it and find out how to open your laptop securely on YouTube, for example.
With some laptops, you can simply access the fan and you can also easily clean the heat pipe fins.
If it is very difficult, you can try to blow hard into the fan (best to try outside), i.e. In the opposite wind direction to the normal air movement of the fan.
But if there's important wool behind it, then it acts like a piece of cellulose handkerchief, the fan / heat pipe must be removed to remove it.
Thermal compound doesn't make the computer faster
Thinking of an SSD?
Of course, you don't make the processor a better processor technologically, but if it has dried out or too much (thick layer) or too little (small blob on the edge) was used during manufacture, then the processor no longer slows down and ultimately it runs then faster.
With laptops, however, it is often the case that thermal pads are used, which should actually not age so easily and last a long time.
The main focus is clearly on removing the accumulated dirt.
