Storage Sense - Jet Mariano

*Top memory consumers at a glance—captured with PowerShell to diagnose a sluggish system.*

TL;DR: Check Task Manager → close the hog → restart apps/PC → free space → trim startup apps → update → quick scan. If it’s still slow, capture a screenshot and call IT.

1) Is it one app or everything?

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Task Manager → Processes.
If CPU / Memory / Disk sits >90% for a minute, note the top app.
Right-click → End task (only on apps you opened). If speed returns, you found the culprit.

2) Quick reset (fastest real fix)

Save work → Restart the PC (not Shut down). Restarts clear memory leaks and stuck updates.

3) Free up space

Open File Explorer → This PC. If your C: drive has <10 GB free, Windows will crawl.
Settings → System → Storage → Storage Sense → Run cleanup now.
Empty Downloads and Recycle Bin if safe.

4) Trim startup apps (the slow-boot killers)

Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Startup apps.
Set non-essentials to Disabled (music updaters, PDF helpers, “helper” launchers, etc.). Leave security/backup tools enabled.

5) Browser bloat check

Close tabs you don’t need.
Disable heavy extensions (Edge/Chrome → … → Extensions).
Consider “Continue running background apps” Off (Chrome → System).

6) Updates (do it once, then restart)

Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates.
Install → Restart outside your busiest hour.

7) Quick malware scan

Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Quick scan.

8) Network ≠ computer

If only web/video is slow, run a quick speed test. If speed is normal but the PC lags, it’s local; if speed is bad on all devices, it’s the network.

Optional: Simple PowerShell checks (for confident users)

Open PowerShell as your normal user.

Top memory users

Get-Process | Sort-Object -Descending WorkingSet |
 Select-Object -First 10 Name,Id,@{n='RAM(MB)';e={[math]::Round($_.WorkingSet/1MB)}}

Disk space by drive

Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem |
 Select Name,@{n='Free(GB)';e={[math]::Round($_.Free/1GB,1)}},
        @{n='Used(GB)';e={[math]::Round(($_.Used)/1GB,1)}}

List startup items (view only)

Get-CimInstance Win32_StartupCommand | Select Name,Command,Location

Tip: Disable startup apps in Task Manager, not via the registry.

When to call IT (and what to send)

If it’s still slow after these steps, send:

A screenshot of Task Manager → Processes (sorted by CPU and then Memory),
Your free disk space (C: drive),
What you were doing when it slowed down.

That info turns a 30-minute back-and-forth into a 5-minute fix.

Jet Mariano

Tag: Storage Sense

5-Minute Fix: Why Your Windows PC Feels Slow (and what to try before calling IT)