I'm really upset about this [story].
I'm really upset about this [story].
I wasn’t sure where to share this, since I’m still getting familiar with the forum (I also added a short summary, wrote it on my phone, and I’m exhausted—around 2:30 AM here). It’s mostly about Windows 10, so here it is:
First of all, I had no idea how or if this was even possible. But it looks like Windows somehow made my computer run much slower. Let's go back to the start. About two days ago, my PC started behaving oddly. I thought it was just a temporary issue and kept playing games without any problems.
The next day, when I tried to open several apps at once—like my browser, Discord, Steam, and Bethesda’s launcher—I noticed my screen went black briefly. Then some of the apps froze completely. It became more frequent, and after these glitches, some programs didn’t even recognize my GPU.
I checked my drivers and found I was missing a few updates. When I tried to install an update for the Nvidia driver, it failed, but I managed to reinstall it eventually. Now it works, right? Not really. It would work for a short time, then it would start again.
I searched everywhere but couldn’t find anything related. So I gave up. The next day I thought about restarting after updating drivers—maybe that would help. I turned on my PC and everything seemed better. I was hopeful and decided to play a game. But the first few minutes were terrible: frantic performance, lag, and audio problems. I stopped playing and started running tests.
The benchmark software showed normal results, but I realized I should also check Task Manager. That’s when I noticed something strange: while running the test, AIDA64 reported my CPU usage at 100%, but in reality it was around 60%. My CPU core clock dropped significantly from a base of 3.7 GHz to about 2.6 GHz. I checked temperatures and other metrics, but nothing stood out.
Eventually, I gave up again and turned off the PC. That’s when I saw the “update and restart” option. I thought, “Alright, whatever—it looks like this thing is broken.” Windows had been making updates frustratingly slow for a while, so I clicked it. It updated, and I ran AIDA64 again.
During the test, my CPU actually spiked up to 3.8 and 3.9 GHz at times, and I saw it work well in actual games. I was relieved it fixed things, but honestly, I’m furious. Windows really slowed down my PC (and I don’t know if that’s even possible). I just wanted to share how frustrating this experience was.
TL;DR: My computer was acting weird for two days, and it took me two days to figure out it might have been Windows slowing my CPU down because I hadn’t updated. Now I feel really confused… but at least it seems to be working now.
A common fix is disabling the quick startup. It might occasionally cause issues.
Windows 9 exists and I’m currently running it. It offers all the perks of Windows 7, complete with full updates you manage, up until 2024, without any of the issues found in Windows 10, and it doesn’t include any spyware or tracking features.
I often feel a twinge of frustration when I see online discussions about Windows 10 intrusiveness. It seems there are far more concerns these days than the software itself brings. I suspect anyone trying to avoid Windows 10 for this reason likely doesn’t own any mobile device, do they? Let’s focus on clear, relevant details from these platforms. Still, no operating system is flawless. Most problems usually stem from basic system glitches, often caused by outdated drivers. In my setting, we use Windows 10 Pro across 200 machines. We’ve experienced some update failures that led to performance drops or boot failures. These incidents are rare because our team stays tech-savvy and keeps systems streamlined. Still, the occasional issues we face trace back to the Dell update tool not being used for a while. Legacy Intel WiFi drivers have caused connectivity problems with Cisco applications after OS upgrades. Dual monitors have also failed due to outdated Intel graphics drivers.
Your point relies on exaggerated ideas that only appeal to those unfamiliar with the subject. Keep it simple and move forward. Most discussions about tech are dismissed by people without deep expertise. If you want to stay safe, focus on other topics while you wait for a more receptive audience.
I had to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 since Adobe stopped supporting photo applications on that version. I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro and set the updates to install later, allowing time for bug fixes. I performed a clean installation on a new SSD, and everything worked smoothly using the Microsoft download. There have been no problems with Windows overall. The telemetry concerns are minimal. Most of my files are already online, though staying completely off Facebook is challenging these days. Right now, other issues seem more pressing than what Windows does or doesn’t do.
It seems unlikely Windows deliberately slowed your PC due to missing updates. Probably the update you applied resolved an issue within Windows that was causing the slowdown.
It could very well be this scenario, yet it feels odd since it hasn't happened before.