Resolved Sleep or Shut Down?

When I turn my pc on in the morning and the system fully starts up, the internet responds quickly and surfing is a pleasure. I then cease my pc activities around midday and put it into sleep mode. When I awaken it several hours later I find that it can be very slow, and towards the end of the day and into the night it behaves like molasses and becomes almost useless. Would I be better choosing 'turn off' rather than 'sleep' if I'm going to be 'away' for several hours? Thank you. (See attached file)

 

We don't know what you are paying for so don't know if those download and upload speeds are what you should be getting. That said, there are many who would love to see those speeds. They are actually very good.

We also don't know what you mean by "PC activities". Does that mean everything, including use Word and other "local" tasks? Or only Internet activities like surfing the web, checking email, updating Facebook, etc.?

When it bogs down, how do you restore it? Does a simple reboot work?

How do you connect to your network? If by Ethernet, understand Ethernet cables are cheap but critical network devices that are easily damaged. Try a different cable and connect it to a different port on your router.

If you connect via wireless, you can try moving closer and/or away from big objects like microwave ovens, stoves or refrigerators. If your router has external antennas, try changing antenna orientations. If internal, you can rotate the router 90 degrees.

Have you scanned for malware? Cleaned out the clutter with Windows Disk Cleanup?

To answer your question, I almost never ever turn off my computer. I always just let it go to sleep, regardless if I will be away for a few hours, or overnight. You say you "put" it into sleep mode, how? As I said, I just let my computers go to sleep on their own.

 

Yes, those upload and download speeds are what I'm actually getting when I turn my computer on. It's only when I wake it up from sleep after several hours that the speed becomes slower and slower, until I lose patience and turn it off. Restarting doesn't bring about a speedier machine, until I lose patience and close everything down,

I use the computer for emails, family history research, surfing and a bit of Youtube. I gave up Facebook because it was consuming too much of my time,

Re-booting does nothing to solve the problem. I have a wireless router beside the computer which never gives me trouble,

Yes, I regularly scan for viruses (I use Avast Premium Security and also clear out junk regularly with an Avast app and Ccleaner.

I put the computer to sleep with the power button 'sleep' option. Maybe I should let it go to sleep itself rather than being a power freak.

With the COVID19 pandemic where so many are locked down and therefore spending a lot of extra time online, I wonder might that be the cause of the slowdown?

 

Do other computers in the house see this slow down?

What other applications do you have running with Windows?

 

See my post below.

 

The following apps are running in the background:
7-Zip, Connect, Doc Viewer, Feedback Hub, Get Help, Groove Music, Maps, Messaging, Microsoft Store, People, Settings, Snip & Sketch, Windows Security,
Your Phone, Paint.net, iTunes.

 

As I'm replying to you, Bill, two laptops are going well. My main computer is going well too. The problem I've been having, though, is that if I were to send the main computer to sleep and then awaken it later tonight, it would go slower and slower, eventually becoming unresponsive. I'm hoping that it's just a local issue rather than the computer itself.

The following apps are running in the background:
7-Zip, Connect, Doc Viewer, Feedback Hub, Get Help, Groove Music, Maps, Messaging, Microsoft Store, People, Settings, Snip & Sketch, Windows Security, Your phone, Paint.net, iTunes. I see on my toolbar that iCloud, Malwarebytes Premium, Avast Internet Security, Avast Clean-Up Premium are running.

 

I sure would remove most of those from the startup and call them up only when you use them.

I personally see no reason for Avast Clean-Up to be running, among other things. In fact, with Malwarebytes Premium, I would disable Avast Internet Security too. I use Malwarebytes Premium and Windows Defender on this and my other main system. And Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Free on all my other systems and have never had any malware or performance issues.

 

When I discovered how many apps were running in the background I was taken aback. I'll follow your advice and remove most of them from startup. When the time comes for Avast renewal I'll seriously consider settling for Malwarebytes + Windows Defender.

Thank you!

 

I stopped about fourteen of the above-mentioned background apps and restarted the computer. I'm happy to report that there's no sign this evening of any slowdown at all. Many thanks, Bill.

 

Great! Now if not already, I recommend you get into the habit of ALWAYS choosing the custom install option whenever you install or upgrade one of your programs, then carefully step through each option so you can opt-out of any extras most programs want to foist on our systems. These extras often include auto-updaters - programs that must run with Windows.

 

Will do, Bill.