What is Going on With My PC Now?

Created in Canva Pro by Joellyn Rose Keener

Have you had issues with your computer, thinking there’s something just not right? You don’t know what to do to make it perform like it used to or better? I have an old laptop I’ve been trying to save from going to the recycling bin by keeping it in the best shape possible, and here is everything I do on an almost daily basis. I don’t have the budget to buy a new one, so I have to do my best to make sure I don’t have to yet.

The issues I face frequently are slow performance, freezing, and apps crashing.

First off, I use a free version of Malwarebytes subscription that I set up to scan on a daily basis to prevent malware. Malware can cause so many problems to occur on the computer. It also has real-time protection while you browse on your PC.

I also use Ccleaner, a system optimization, privacy, and cleaning tool that removes unused files from your computer, allowing Windows to run faster. They have a free version and a paid version. I use the paid version because it contains so many beautiful features to help keep my computer in tip-top shape. However, the free version will suffice if you prefer.

One thing you always want to do is to stop all apps from starting up when starting your computer. There are three ways to do this.

1. If you don’t have Ccleaner, in Windows 11, click on Start, Settings, then on the left side of settings, choose Apps and Select the “Startup navigation” option.
2. Click the toggle switches next to them and see all your startup programs there, and disable each one from starting up when you start your laptop. Don’t know which ones to turn off and leave on? I had that same issue but found it’s easier to turn them all off, and it won’t hurt anything. They turn themselves back on if they need to be on.

Another option is to disable all startup programs using the MSConfig app. Here’s how:

1. Open the Run window by pressing Win + R on the keyboard.
2. In the Run text box, type msconfig and click OK.
3. Click on the Startup tab, and your only option there is to click on Task Manager, so click on that.
4. Navigate to the Startup Apps tab.
5. Click the Disable option after right-clicking on the enabled application.

How to use CCleaner’s Startup tool:

1. Click the Tools icon on the left, then click Startup
2. You should see a list of all items set to start automatically with Windows. Disabled items show a No in the Enabled column. (See the screenshot below for reference.)
3. Select the program, and click Disable.

Screenshot of my app CCleaner

Here is something I do each time I have any problems going on while trying to work on my computer, and that is run the DISM tool. (Deployment Image Servicing and Management).

You need administrator rights for that, so click on Start and type in Command Prompt. Before hitting enter, look to the right of that and left-click on Run as Administrator. A pop-up window will appear that will ask you if you want that to make changes to your computer, and you click on yes. That’ll pop up a black window for you to start your DISM tool.

Here’s how you can use the DISM and SFC tools to replace missing and corrupted system files to fix problems on Windows 11.

On Windows 11, “Deployment Image Servicing and Management” (DISM) is an advanced built-in tool you can use through Command Prompt to prepare, modify, and repair system images. However, you can also use it alongside the System File Checker (SFC) to resolve system issues.

Usually, when troubleshooting a problem, such as performance issues, a specific error, or a boot problem, you can run the SFC tool to replace corrupted and missing system files. However, if those files are also damaged, the repair won’t work. If this is the case, you can use the DISM tool to bring the local image to a healthy state and then use the SFC command to fix the setup.

Important: This is a non-destructive process, but it’s still recommended to create a system backup before proceeding.

How to use DISM to fix image problems on Windows 11

The DISM command provides the “CheckHealth,” “ScanHealth,” and “RestoreHealth” options to scan and detect issues, and you want to use them in order. If the scans return errors in the image, you can use the “RestoreHealth” option to fix them.

Check health option

The DISM’s CheckHealth option helps to determine any corruption inside the local image. However, the option does not perform any repairs.

To check the Windows 11 image for issues with the DISM command, use these steps:

Open Start. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to perform a quick check and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Once you complete the steps, the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool will verify any data corruption that may require fixing.

Scan health option

The ScanHealth option performs an advanced scan to find issues with the image.

To check image problems with the ScanHealth option, use these steps:

Open Start. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option. Type the following command to perform an advanced DISM scan and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

After you complete the steps, the scan could take some time to check whether Windows 11 needs any repairs.

Restore health option

The DISM’s RestoreHealth option automatically scans and repairs common issues on Windows 11.

To repair system problems with the DISM commands, use these steps:

Open Start. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option. Type the following command to repair the Windows 11 image and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Once you complete the steps, DISM will download and replace damaged files from the Windows Update servers (as necessary).

If there are still issues to address, click here to read the article on how to fix DISM problems.

The DISM commands will help to resolve issues with the system image, not the problems with the setup. Once the local image is restored to a healthy working state, you can use the System File Checker (SFC) command to repair the Windows 11 installation.

To use the SFC command tool to repair problems on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Start. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option. Type the following command to repair the installation and press Enter: SFC /scannow

A quick tip: If the tool determines that the system has errors, it’s recommended to run the command several times to ensure that everything was fixed correctly.

Once you complete the steps, the System File Checker tool will repair the system files using the local image files, and the log files will be created on “%windir%/Logs/CBS/CBS.log” and “%windir%\Logs\DISM\dism.log,” which you can review to get more details about the repair.

One last thing for now that I’ll get into is it’s always a good idea to clear your cache and cookies when you find something that seems amiss while working on your PC.

We need to clear cache and cookies to improve the performance and functionality of our browsers and websites. Cache and cookies store information that can cause problems with logging in to or loading websites, slow down the computer or prevent us from accessing the most recent files. Clearing cache and cookies can also help us fix bugs or problems with websites, protect our privacy on public or shared computers, and prevent third-party cookies from tracking us.

To clear cache and cookies in Microsoft Edge, here’s how to do it: Please see the screenshot. The same steps apply to Google Chrome.

1. Open Microsoft Edge, select Menu (3 dots icon on the top right corner of the browser) > Settings > Privacy & services.
2. Under Clear browsing data, select Choose what to clear.
3. At the top, you’ll see the Time Range. I always choose All Time, but it’s your preference, so make a selection from there.
4. Select the “Download History,” “Browsing History,” “Cached images and files” and “Cookies and other site data” check box and then select Clear now.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope you found it informative!