Computer freezing up

[Keyboy]

Hello, I hope this is the correct thread to post my question. I am running W11 on a Dell Laptop which was upgraded from W10. I am seeing that it takes longer and longer to boot up and once booted and Outlook and Firefox are very slowly loaded they are very sluggish and often times everything freezes for a short time and then resumes. During these freezes, the keyboard is not functional. I have run defrag and this did not help. What should I do to eliminate this issue? If I need to download some software please provide a reliable source.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[upinflamezzz]

Hey, we have a new Tek-tips site., Wow! To the OP, after your laptop boots you should open up the task manager and disable any programs from the startup tab that you don't want starting every time you boot your laptop. Also, view the processes that are hanging up your CPU. You have a program that's running and it's using up all your CPU or memory causing it too freeze. Memory is how many cups your can carry and CPU is how fast you can carry them to the kitchen. What CPU does your laptop have and how much memory. You'll PC will also act wonky if it's close to running out of storage.

 

[Keyboy]

Hello, well I used Task Manager to eliminate the non useful software. I then did a defrag and went back to working. After a day I had several incidents of hang up but they resolved after several minutes. I was doing some research and a black screen showed up and then a crash. I tried a reboot but the little white ring under the Dell logo just kept going around. After a while an unexpected store exception error popped up and then nothing happened. I am guessing that this message is telling me my hard drive is dead. Is this correct?

If the hard drive is dead I can get a replacement for $40 So that would be better than a whole new laptop and this one is ok for W11. Sound good?

I am sure I can replace the hard drive but the only problem is that the laptop did not come with a OS disk and I never made a OS disk since I didn’t’ Need one at that time. So is there a way to get an OS disk or something via the www? FYI I do have a running Dell desk top with W 10 installed. Would there be a way to use that OS on my laptop and then use updates to get to W11 just like it previously did?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Rick998]

Your previous Windows 10 installation would have activated itself with a digital license stored on Microsoft's activation servers. This digital license is also valid for Windows 11. You just need to download/create a bootable Windows installer USB using [URL='

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11'

]Microsoft's Media Creation Tool[/URL] or something like [URL='

https://rufus.ie/en/'

]Rufus[/URL]. There'll be no need to enter any activation key during installation... the OS will activate automatically the first time your Dell laptop connects to the internet.

One thing I would suggest is to backup your hardware drivers before you replace the hard disk. I use Matthew Wai's batch file (using 'Run as administrator' as it needs elevated rights.):

:: This script was created by Matthew Wai at TenForums.com/members/matthew-wai.html
:: [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/68426-backup-restore-device-drivers-windows-10-a.html[/URL]
:: ************************************************************************************/
@echo off & Title Backup or Restore Device Drivers & mode con cols=93 & color 17
(Net session >nul 2>&1)&&(cd /d "%~dp0")||(PowerShell start """%~0""" -verb RunAs & Exit /B)
:: ************************************************************************************/
echo.
echo    Press (1) to back up all 3rd-party device drivers into a folder.
echo    Press (2) to restore all 3rd-party device drivers from a folder.
echo    Press (3) to restore a device driver backup via Device Manager.
:Choice
CHOICE /C "123" /M "Your choice?:" >nul 2>&1
If %errorlevel%==1  (goto Option_1) & Exit
If %errorlevel%==2  (goto Option_2) & Exit
If %errorlevel%==3  (goto Option_3) & Exit
Exit
:Option_1
Call:✶ "Please select a folder or click on [ Make New Folder ] at the bottom. It is advisable to select a folder on an external device." SourceFolder
:✶
Set "✱="(new-object -COM 'Shell.Application').BrowseForFolder(0,'%1',0,0).self.path""
For /f "usebackq delims=" %%# in (`PowerShell %✱%`) do set "【Folder】=%%#"
If "%【Folder】%"=="" (Goto Choice & Exit)
dism /online /export-driver /destination:"%【Folder】%"
Echo.&Echo    The device drivers have been exported into the following folder:
Echo    "%【Folder】%" & Echo.&Echo    Press a key to exit.
pause >nul & Exit
Exit
:Option_2
Call:✶ "Please select the folder containing the device drivers previously exported." SourceFolder
:✶
Set "✱="(new-object -COM 'Shell.Application').BrowseForFolder(0,'%1',0x200,0).self.path""
For /f "usebackq delims=" %%# in (`PowerShell %✱%`) do set "【Folder】=%%#"
If "%【Folder】%"=="" (Goto Choice & Exit)
Echo.
Echo    If necessary, the computer will be automatically restarted to complete the operation of
Echo    importing the drivers. Please save and close anything open and then press a key to start
Echo    the operation.
Echo.
pause >nul
pnputil /add-driver "%【Folder】%\*.inf" /subdirs /install /reboot
echo. & Echo    The process has completed successfully.
Echo    If the computer does not automatically reboot, you may press a key to exit.
pause >nul & Exit
Exit
:Option_3
Start "" "devmgmt.msc" & Exit

It works really well and I've just used it again a week ago when I clean-installed my own Dell Latitude laptop. It saved me looking for Dell's proprietary device driver for the fingerprint reader.

Hope this helps...