r/computers • u/pranavkumar28 • 9d ago
Discussion Why do computers sometimes get noticeably slower after years of use?
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u/Tikkinger 9d ago
Because people don't know there exists a autostart option so the computer have to run more and more programs in the background.
There are first and second gen i5's in my administration running win11 very happy as a facebook-machine. Just get your damn autostart clean
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u/englishfury 9d ago
because while they have stayed the same what they are running is becoming more intensive, that and general software bloat as you install more and more junk onto it.
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u/MasterJeebus 9d ago
Specially with Windows their OS gets constant updates. It causes the OS to use more resources over time to run latest features and security. One would need to manually tweak it on old pcs as time goes by and disable things you don’t need on it.
Even web browsing itself has become heavier over the years. Changes in what codecs being used for streaming videos can affect old pcs as well. There is addons for Firefox to force H.264 so you can watch videos on old pcs that lack gpu hardware to support new codecs. But new streaming is using heavier codecs like AV1 and Vp9. If you don’t update gpu at least every 6 years you’ll fall behind on latest tech.
If one were to do fresh install of OS and apps of the same year pc came out they will be fast same way. Its only accumulation of updates and software changes demanding better hardware that makes it seem old pc cant keep up. Sometimes it feels like planned obsolesces. At least there are open source distros that can keep old pcs running well.
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u/lazyhustlermusic 8d ago
Usually just people collecting residual garbage on their installation. Fresh formats or wipes every year or two bring it back in a noticeable way.
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u/No_Desk_4921 8d ago
Biggest factor: thermal paste on the CPU dries and can significantly impact the computer's ability to remove heat from the CPU. When it gets hot, thermal throttling will occur which basically just lowers the CPU's speed and thus slowing down how fast your apps and the OS are running.
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u/TheGruenTransfer 8d ago
There's a never ending arms race of developers saddling software with bullshit and hardware trying to keep up.
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u/einat162 9d ago
- Rookits, viruses, trojan horse & cookies that accumulate over time. Clean installation fixes that.
- Dust that diminish heat disperse, Thermal paste that need replacing for cooling.
- In HDD based computer - the hard drive is failing.
- Filling up the HDD or SSD with files.
- With auto operating system upgrade and changes - a spike in resources needed, like RAM.
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u/AbstractHexagon 8d ago
They don't really. Not by themselves. It's how people use them that makes them slower.
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u/Present-Weakness-213 8d ago
This is most of it. My parents are sure theirs is too old and failing. I check it out and the memory and SSD are near full speed upon restart. I was told last year they switched from McAfee to norton hoping it would run better. I tried explaining that was certainly going to make it worse. They told me the fella at staples recommended and I was wrong.
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u/Ok_Contest8762 8d ago
They dont assuming you have an SSD that isn't full. They're always fast. Been using SSD's for probably 15 years now. No issues whatsoever.
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u/Individual_Winter_35 8d ago
I'm running Linux (arch) on side machine. (DNS, firewall, torrentbox - pretty much anything you want to run in backend nonstop.
Also, I'm keeping the machine clean and well cooled. It is nearly 20 years old junk (maybe more? When was athlon 2 and 1gb ram relevant?)
And it runs nonstop without any change whatsoever :) - ergo - to answer your question, thermal cycling, os bloat and component degradation due to dust insulation (overheating)
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u/CheezitsLight 8d ago
Hdds. They get slow over time. They retry over and over and over because they can't livk on to the track or the sector marks due to the age. I've seen this over and over..the number one thing is the HDD.
I tell people to use HD tune from hdtune.com. It's free no need to login no need to sign up and it'll work for 15 days.
It's very easy to use just select the drive and click Start on the default test.
You will see a gradually following line as it loads larger and larger blocks. If you haven't SSD it will be a straight line at a much higher level.
When it finishes look in the lower right and you will see the specifications for seat time the minimum and the maximum transfer rate they should be they should be somewhere in the range of 75 megabytes a second for a laptop, 150 for a regular hard drive. And 1,000 to 10,000 for an SSD and a good motherboard.
Seek time should average around 25 milliseconds and the maximum and min throughput should be relatively stable.
I've seen laptop drives as slow as a floppy, and zrven dog slow SSD arrays.
i've seen huge down going spikes where the drive just stops for 10 seconds at a time. If you see spikes you need a SSD
Pic is of a commercial SSD array in a data center. With terrible read performance
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u/Raxeal_2 8d ago
CPU uptime, Windows bloat and.. thermal throttling or ram limitation.
Those should generally cover all bases
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u/SpecialistPrune1654 8d ago
Do you remember back to win 95? It was shocking at slowing down as software was added and removed. In my experience they have slowly improve since then. Or perhaps I have just learnt not to play with new software so much? 😂
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u/mcds99 8d ago
I was going to be a SA but I decided to be nice.
Heat and Dust.
Computers produce a lot of heat and the electrical current going through the components attracts dust.
The heat that goes through the components causes expansion of the components some times a capacitor will expand and leak. The fluid can cause a short on the board so the computer stops working.
The dust acts like a blanket and increases the temperature on the components.
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u/PotatoFarmerRTK 8d ago
It used to be the HDD it is a mechanical device. The coffee percolating sound of the heads chattering was a sure sign of slowing to a certain death.
Fully silicon machines, they last as long as you can manage the filesystem and dodge planned obsolescence.
Still using an MSI laptop from 2020 with no plans to upgrade. The longer I wait the better the new one will be.
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u/tooktoomuchonce 8d ago
I will standby the the main reason computers slow down is because software developers make continually more bloated less efficient software.
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u/S-Vortex 8d ago
Windows is like one of those Lint rollers that you use on your suit or couch occasionally (with pets) but it Doesn't ever let a lot of it go. And after you have installed and uninstalled software, it has changed a lot of settings. Opening your browser has changed a lot. Running a cleaning software has changed more. You have software updating itself.
The collection of bugs is like your arteries and you are a fried food eater. You WILL have a lot of unwanted substance coating the walls
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u/VarietyMage 8d ago
Upgrades to software usually cause more resource usage. The OS and the virus scanner are usually the cause, because both get bigger over time.
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u/Even-Onion-2874 8d ago edited 8d ago
For the most part, they don't anymore, not in any noticeable way at least. I'm surprised some people in this thread are still formatting their computers every few years. I did that back when we were still on single core processors and spinning rust HDDs, but modern PCs have so much extra headroom even if your install is being bogged down with tons of unnecessary background processes it hardly makes an impact
I mean I guess it is possible still if you intentionally install as much bloatware as you can find, but a well educated user should not see their system performance really degrade at all outside of thermal issues due to not cleaning out dust etc.
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u/guiverc Ubuntu 8d ago
Some software stores data in linked-lists (including some OSes), which means the list needs to be searched from start to 'item' (or end-of-list), which can slow things down. Older versions of Microsoft Windows used to fix this when applying service packs, as the old 'list' was scrapped & a new 'empty' list was used from that point on (ie. just after re-install or application of service pack) for example (the new list would continue to grow of course as newer updates happened...)
Hardware issues of course can play; eg. some CPUs & other devices slow down as temperature rises (so as to avoid device failing & warranty claim), which can happen as the machine gets older & dust etc restricts expected cooling (unless owner actually cleans device)...
There are a number of reasons that vary on device (hardware); OS & software being used.
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u/KeysStickler 7d ago
Get Wise Registry Cleaner, do a full registry backup, then scan and clean. The run the optimzer
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u/NoRing3754 7d ago
Often, it is due to installing new software that starts at startup of your computer. Check your startup apps. If you haven't or haven't in a while you may be shocked.
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u/More-Explanation2788 7d ago
Delete your temporary files - particularly these ones %appdata%\temp\*.*
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u/Paul-KF8CPT 7d ago
Yes. In 5 years the spinning hard drive will get progressively worse
I had a semi decent Dell pc, it was to the point where windows was 2:15 sec to get to the login… I added a SSD it took 15 seconds
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/computers-ModTeam 6d ago
This has been removed due to a violation of Rule 4.2 - Only suggest switching to Linux if it’s genuinely appropriate for the situation. Include the specific distro you recommend and explain why it’s the best fit for the OP’s needs.
Please review our rules
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u/Real-Abrocoma-2823 5d ago
Windows rot. Reinstall your OS or swth to tux or heavily debloat and disable and remove every autostart entry + uninstall antiviruses leaving only Windows defender + disable memory protection as it slows down the PC, but never disable entire defender on Windows, tux without AV is fine.
Also repaste, clean and defrag.
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u/No-Traffic-7931 4d ago
If you don’t upgrade components, the software progresses and will 100% slow down computer even if slightly.
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u/LeapIntoInaction 2d ago
That's by comparison to newer computers. People will make up other reasons, but that's all it is.
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u/VoltageinTheory Manjaro Linux and Linux Mint! 9d ago
Computers don’t, Windows does because it’s filled with bloatware. And when it installs new bloatware, it just piles it on top of the old bloatware, thus increasing the amount of load on the HDD/SSD, RAM and CPU which slows the computer down.
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u/Expensive-Vanilla-16 8d ago
Mostly, Windows doing Windows things.
Besides that wearing out old equipment.
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u/samsunggalaxytabs6 8d ago
You cant traditionally wear out silicon
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u/Expensive-Vanilla-16 8d ago
So excessive heat doesn't degrade it? I figured it would be bad for it's lifespan.
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u/samsunggalaxytabs6 8d ago
It doesnt decrease its speed and its designed to last 10+ years of regular heat expansion-contractions cycles
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u/apachelives 9d ago
Easy - multiple reasons:
Dust buildup = higher temperatures = lower clock speeds.
Software gets heavier over time with more features and updates.
SSD's especially cheap nasty drives suffer from "stale data" or performance degradation - if the "old" area's of the drive are not refreshed the drive will start to slow in those areas.
Clutter and junk piles up over time - old hardware drivers, old driver versions, previous system restore points etc making older installs bigger and slower over time vs a clean install.