Why do Windows based PCs and Laptops appear to ‘degrade’ over time, appearing to run slower than when first purchased even after fresh Windows installations?

Question

Lots of variables I accept 《edited to remove personal view》

After say, five years, their performance is noticeably slower than it was when they were new, and the question is not in reference to increased graphical demands from games. The question is referring to day to day operations, web browsing and so on. Moving parts are limited, could they be the cause?

Thanks in advance

In: Technology

Answer 1

Mainly they get loaded down with junk. Windows runs a lot of tasks in the background and these tasks can use the CPU and memory. Windows also has a registry that can get messy. A lot of people install a lot of junk with Windows or don’t uninstall the junk that comes preloaded with it. They also download and install programs without realizing it, never clear their browser cache, never defrag their conventional HDDs, and so on.

If their computer does start suddenly running slow, they don’t make any effort to pinpoint the problem. They don’t retrace their steps or roll back updates or check for viruses and malware.

I typically do a barebones Windows install or a highly customized one and keep my systems maintained and have never had a slow down issue I couldn’t pinpoint and resolve.

What finally does the system in for me, if it’s not a hardware failure that is not worth fixing, it’s that the web sites/applications
I use no longer support the browser versions the system has and the system will not support the newer browsers. Kind of dumb because I don’t do anything online that I didn’t do 10 years ago, but the industry propels it’s profits via planned obsolescence.