Symptoms

My computer is extremely slow.  The computer locks up after if has completely started up.  The Start Menu does not open and launching programs does not work.  There is a spinning cursor when I move my mouse pointer over the Taskbar.

Cause

There are a number of possible causes.   There are a few things you can chek that will improve performance.

Solution

You may want to check the following:

• (!) Disable Superfetch and Windows Search services ( [Win]+[R] + “services.msc” )
• Remove and re-install Antivirus software.  Windows 8/10 comes with Microsoft Defender.
• Recently installed software.
• Automatic update settings.  You may want to disable installing recommended updates and install security updates only (by user prompt only rather than automatic).
• Run a hard disk health check: chkdsk.exe /f /r
• Check your internet browser add-ons
• Check Task Scheduler and automatic startup of programs using the Autoruns utility.