How to Fix Windows Slow Performance or Freezing — Step‑by‑Step Guide (Windows 10/11) + SSD “Max Writes” Explained

 How to Fix Windows Slow Performance or Freezing — Step‑by‑Step Guide (Windows 10/11) + SSD “Max Writes” Explained

Meta title: Fix Windows Slow Performance or Freezing (Windows 10/11) — Step‑by‑Step Guide + SSD Endurance (TBW)
Meta description: A practical, step‑by‑step tutorial to stop Windows slowdowns and freezes. Covers startup cleanup, drivers, SFC/DISM, memory & disk tests, malware checks, cooling, and explains SSD endurance (TBW/DWPD) — why deletes don’t undo writes.

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TL;DR

1. Reboot and apply pending updates. 2) Trim startup apps and services. 3) Scan for malware. 4) Run SFC/DISM and check disk health. 5) Update/roll back drivers (GPU/storage first). 6) Check temps and power plan. 7) Test RAM and SSD/HDD. 8) If SSD, verify endurance (TBW) and avoid unnecessary write‑heavy habits. 9) As a last resort, in‑place repair or Reset this PC.

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Why Windows Slows Down or Freezes

• Too many startup/background apps hogging CPU/RAM

• Malware/PUA (potentially unwanted apps)

• Driver issues (GPU/storage/network) or bad updates

• Disk bottlenecks (HDD fragmentation; SSD running near full; failing drives)

• Thermal throttling (overheating CPU/GPU)

• Low RAM (heavy paging to disk)

• Browser bloat (many extensions/tabs)

• Power plan limiting performance (laptops on battery saver)

• Resource Monitor check CPU, Memory, Disk and Network

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Step‑by‑Step Fixes

Step 1 — Quick sanity checks

1. Reboot your PC (clears stuck processes).

2. Ensure Windows Update isn’t mid‑install (Settings ▸ Windows Update).

3. Leave the PC 5–10 minutes after sign‑in if it’s been off for weeks — Windows may be indexing or optimizing.

Step 2 — Trim startup apps

1. Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Startup → turn Off anything non‑essential (messengers, game launchers, updaters).

   

2. 
   

3. Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) ▸ Startup apps → Disable high‑impact items.

4. 

5. Optional clean boot: Win+R ▸ msconfig → Services tab → Hide all Microsoft services → Disable all (you can re‑enable later to isolate offenders).

6. 
   
   
   

Step 3 — Check for malware/PUA

1. Windows Security ▸ Virus & threat protection ▸ Quick scan.

2. If issues persist, run Microsoft Defender Offline scan (restarts into a deeper scan).

3. Uninstall toolbars, adware, and unknown apps (Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Installed apps).

Step 4 — Repair Windows system files & image

Open Windows Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin) and run:

sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Run SFC again after DISM completes.

Step 5 — Check disk health (HDD/SSD) / Win+R ▸ cmd

HDDs:

chkdsk C: /scan

If errors appear:

chkdsk C: /f

(Reboot to run.)

SSDs: Don’t defragment manually. Use Settings ▸ System ▸ Storage ▸ Optimize Drives and click Optimize for your SSD (this performs TRIM). Keep at least 10–20% free space.

Step 6 — Update or roll back key drivers

1. Device Manager → focus on Display adapters, Storage controllers, Network adapters, USB controllers.

2. If slowdowns began after an update: Properties ▸ Driver ▸ Roll Back.

3. Otherwise, Update driver (or get a clean install from your GPU/PC vendor).

4. For storage, prefer OEM‑approved Intel RST/NVMe drivers where applicable.

Step 7 — Watch resource usage (find the hog)

1. Task Manager ▸ Processes → sort by CPU, Memory, and Disk to spot spikes.

2. Open Resource Monitor (search resmon) → CPU and Disk tabs show live culprits.

3. If Disk = 100% for minutes: look for antivirus scans, Windows Search indexing, cloud sync (OneDrive/Google Drive), or a failing drive.

Step 8 — Fix browser bloat

• Remove unused extensions; keep only essentials.

• Clear cache; limit open tabs or use a tab‑sleeper feature.

• Toggle Hardware acceleration on/off to test.

Step 9 — Temperatures & power plan

• Ensure fans spin, vents are clear, and there’s no dust carpet on heatsinks.

• Settings ▸ System ▸ Power & battery ▸ Power mode → try Balanced or Best performance (on AC).

• Laptop users: avoid soft surfaces that block airflow; consider a cooling pad.

Step 10 — Memory pressure & pagefile

• If RAM regularly hits 80–100%, add RAM or close heavy apps (video editors, VMs).

• Keep the pagefile on System managed (Settings ▸ System ▸ About ▸ Advanced system settings ▸ Performance ▸ Advanced ▸ Virtual memory).

• Heavy paging on HDDs = severe slowdowns; an SSD system drive helps a lot.

Step 11 — Rebuild Windows Search index (if constant disk churn)

Settings ▸ Privacy & security ▸ Searching Windows → Advanced indexing options → Advanced → Rebuild. This can take time; performance improves afterward.

Step 12 — Optional advanced checks

• Reliability Monitor: Win+R ▸ perfmon /rel to see a day‑by‑day timeline of app crashes and warnings.

• Windows Memory Diagnostic: Win+R ▸ mdsched.exe → Restart now.

• BIOS/UEFI & firmware: Update from your OEM’s support page if a newer stable version addresses performance or stability.

Step 13 — Last resorts

In‑place repair (keeps files & apps): Create Microsoft installation media, run Setup.exe from within Windows, choose Keep personal files and apps.

Reset this PC: Settings ▸ System ▸ Recovery ▸ Reset this PC → Keep my files (removes apps) or Remove everything (factory reset). Back up data first.

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Special Section — SSD “Max Writes” / Endurance Explained (TBW & DWPD)

What “max writes” means

• TBW (Total Bytes Written): The amount of data the manufacturer rates your SSD to write over its warranty life (e.g., 300 TBW).

• DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day): How many times you can write the whole drive capacity per day during the warranty (e.g., 0.3 DWPD for 5 years on a 1 TB SSD ≈ ~547 TBW).

Do deleted files still count toward SSD writes?

Yes. Every time data is written to NAND, it consumes part of the drive’s write endurance. Deleting or emptying the Recycle Bin does not undo those past writes. TRIM only tells the SSD which blocks can be reused; it doesn’t “refund” wear.

Why writes add up faster than you think (write amplification)

SSDs perform garbage collection and wear leveling, which can internally write more data than the host wrote. That ratio is write amplification (>1×). So 1 TB of host writes might equal >1 TB of NAND writes.

How to check your SSD’s total writes on Windows

Easiest (GUI tools):

• Manufacturer tools: Samsung Magician, Crucial Storage Executive, WD/SanDisk Dashboard, Kingston SSD Manager, Intel MAS — show Total Host Writes, Total NAND Writes, and health %.

• CrystalDiskInfo (free): Shows Total Host Writes and SMART attributes; many SATA SSDs expose Attribute 241/242 (Total LBAs Written).

Built‑in (PowerShell):

# Get reliability counters for all drives (works on most Windows 10/11)
Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter |
  Select FriendlyName, Wear, Temperature, PowerOnHours, TotalRead, TotalWrite | Format-Table -Auto

TotalWrite shows host writes (bytes). Some NVMe models also expose a Wear or PercentUsed style indicator.

Advanced NVMe (if supported):

# On some systems, this class reports NVMe Data Units Written (DUW). 1 DUW = 512,000 bytes.
Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi -ClassName MSFT_NvmeDriveProperty |
  ForEach-Object {
    $tbw = [math]::Round(($_.DataUnitsWritten * 512000) / 1TB, 2)
    [pscustomobject]@{ Model=$_.ModelNumber; Serial=$_.SerialNumber; TBW=$tbw }
  } | Format-Table -Auto

If the class isn’t present, use your manufacturer tool or CrystalDiskInfo.

What TBW means for real life

• Consumer SSDs often rate 150–1200 TBW depending on capacity. Hitting TBW doesn’t mean instant failure; it’s the warranty rating.

• Modern SSDs usually outlast typical consumer workloads, but heavy tasks (4K video editing, VMs, compiling, torrenting with constant rechecks) can push writes up.

Tips to reduce unnecessary writes (and extend SSD life)

• Keep 15–25% of the SSD's capacity free so it has room for wear leveling.

• Avoid constant moving/re‑saving of large files; prefer editing in place and versioning only diffs when possible.

• Don’t run third‑party “defraggers” on SSDs. Use Windows Optimize Drives (TRIM) only.

• If RAM is small and paging is heavy, consider upgrading to a larger RAM to reduce disk thrashing.

• Configure torrent clients to limit disk caching/rechecks; store temp/download folders on a secondary drive if available.

• Disable excessive logging from apps you don’t need.

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HDD vs SSD: Different care

• HDD: Fragmentation hurts performance → run Defragment and Optimize Drives regularly.

• SSD: Fragmentation is largely irrelevant; Windows will occasionally perform a tiny defrag for volume snapshots — that’s normal. Do not schedule frequent full defrags.

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FAQ

Q: My Disk is at 100% for minutes after startup — is that normal?
A: Brief spikes are normal during updates/indexing. If it lasts >10 minutes daily, check for antivirus scans, cloud sync, Search indexing rebuild, or a failing disk.

Q: Is it safe to disable the pagefile on an SSD?
A: No. Keep it System managed. Disabling can cause crashes and won’t materially extend SSD life.

Q: Do I need a “SSD optimizer” app?
A: No. Windows TRIM is enough. Extra “optimizers” often add unnecessary writes.

Q: Will deleting files reduce the TBW number?
A: No. Writes are cumulative. Deleting frees space, not wear.

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SEO Notes (for publishers)

• Primary keyword: fix windows slow performance, windows freezing fix

• Secondary: stop windows lag, windows 11 slow, ssd endurance tbw, how to check ssd writes, total host writes

• Suggested slug: /fix-windows-slow-performance-freezing-ssd-tbw

FAQ Schema (JSON‑LD)

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Final tips

• Make one change at a time; reboot and test.

• Keep backups current so advanced fixes are low-risk.

• If freezes persist, capture the pattern (app, time, temperature) — it often points to the culprit fast.