It can be very frustrating to have a slow-running computer.

It can happen for various reasons so before taking the step of completely re-setting your PC, try checking whether any of the following might be causing the problem.

• Slow internet speeds: If the problem happens mainly when you are browsing the internet or using cloud applications, it may be that your computer is fine but your internet connection can’t keep up with everything you’re doing.
• Stop applications you don’t need from automatically launching at startup by opening the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and navigating to the Startup tab. Here you can disable any apps you don’t want running in the background to save some memory.
• Run updates. Windows updates might seem annoying, but they exist to patch up any bugs that might cause your computer to run slowly or worse, make it vulnerable to cyber attacks.
• Run a scan on your anti-virus software to make sure malware or adware isn’t causing the problem.

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If none of these steps help speed up your slow Windows 10 computer, then you might want to try resetting it back to factory settings.

There are options to either remove all files and data or to keep the data but remove any apps.

Please note that this is not the most secure way to remove data fully from the PC and it is advisable to use another third-party program if you are looking to resell the machine after it has been restored to factory settings. This is only a basic guide on how to remove settings and files if you wish to have a “fresh start” with your Windows 10 PC.

1. The first step would be to ensure that you have any data that you need to keep backed up, this can be via an external hard drive or a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.

2. Once you are happy that all of your important data is backed up, you will need to press the Windows key in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen (or press the key on the keyboard), and then type in the words “Reset this PC”.

3. Now you should click on the first search result in the window, this will bring up a prompt asking if you would like to keep your files or if you would like to remove everything from the PC.

4. After you have selected the suitable option from above, it will then ask you if you would like to clean the drives or just remove the files (this option will only come up if you have selected “remove everything”).

5. This will display all of the settings that you have selected and ask you for a final time if you wish to proceed with the reset. If so, continue to press the “reset” button and this will reset the PC using the settings previously specified.

6. Once the reset has finished, it may ask you to run through the windows 10 set-up wizard. When complete, you will be presented with a fresh install of Windows 10.