Windows is probably the most popular operating system in the market. Although popular, it is not perfect as there are many problems that mostly arise in Windows computers such as freezing, not responding, crashing of programs and processes, etc. In this post, I’m going to tell you some really very effective tips to fix the freezing or not responding problem in Windows PCs. So, if you are facing a lot of freezing and not responding problems in your Windows PC, you should read the following 8 tips that will help you fix freezing issues on Windows.
How to Fix Freezing or Not Responding Issues in Windows – 8 Tips
1. Scan your whole computer with antivirus
If you’re having freezing or not responding problems in your Windows computer, then it may be possible that a virus infects your PC. So, you should run a virus scan. Running a virus scan depends on what antivirus software you have, but basically, you should select drive C: and/or other disks (especially hard disks) that you suspect to have a virus.
2. Close the programs after you use them
It may be the habit of many people around us to minimize programs rather than closing them. Honestly, it’s also a habit of mine but when I came to know about this fact that it may be the cause of freezing the computer, I stopped minimizing programs instead of just closing them when I complete the task.
Each program or window you open in your computer takes some of the computer resources such as RAM in order to keep it running. So, as more programs you run at a time, there will be more possibility of freezing the computer.
To make sure whether or not the freezing of the PC is due to opening more programs at a time, try to open one program at a time by closing the programs you are not using at that point in time.
Is your computer too slow? Click Here to learn the 10 ways to speed up the PC!
3. Uninstall unwanted or useless programs from PC
There may be various programs available in your computer system that are useless or unwanted so you should remove them from your PC.
It may be possible that any of the useless programs keep running in the background of your Windows computer which can slow down or hang your computer.
To uninstall a program on a Windows computer, go to Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program. Still, if you’re having a problem, Click Here to read how to uninstall a program in Windows.
4. Don’t keep your computer turned on for a long time
If for a long time you didn’t reboot or shut down your PC, it is possible that your PC start hanging and freezing. So, you shouldn’t keep your Windows computer turned on for a long time because it may be possible that you are having freezing and not responding issues just due to keeping your PC turned on for a long time. So, it will be good for you to forget this bad habit.
As you would know that most of the time restarting or rebooting the computer system solves all the issues. People knowing this fact don’t keep their PC turned on for a long time and always time to time restart the computer when needed.
5. Keep enough space in your hard drive
The free hard drive space is generally the space in your hard drives that is not in use or you can anytime write inside. Hard drive free space is not only used to store files and data but it also functions to allow swap file space and virtual memory required for the programs to operate, for example, while creating temporary files.
So, if there is not enough space in your hard drive, your PC may start freezing. You should keep at least 20% of free hard drive space. If there is less than 20% of free hard drive space in your computer, you should increase the free space by removing useless files permanently, when possible.
6. Defragment of a hard disk can fix freezing
Whenever you open, close, move, or delete files, they jump around the part of the disk physically and scatter everywhere resulting computer taking a longer time to find them. So, the fragmented disks may be the prominent reason for freezing or not responding to issues in a Windows computer.
To get rid of fragmentation, there is a simple solution called defragmentation of disks. But, how? It’s very simple! You can defrag a fragmented disk in your Windows computer very easily.
Navigate to START>PROGRAMS>ACCESSORIES>SYSTEM TOOLS>DISK DEFRAGMENTER. As soon as you will click on Disk Defragmenter, it will show you how much your disks are fragmented. So, click on a Fragmented Disk and then click Defragment Disk. It’s all. 🙂
7. Format and re-install your operating system
Formatting and reinstalling your operating system may fix all the issues. Yes, many times it works like a charm. So, if your computer is freezing so often or is not responding problems and any of the above tips is not working at all, you should format your disks and re-install the operating system. It may fix all the issues.
8. Downgrade to a lower operating system
If nothing helps, it means either you should downgrade your operating system to a lower level (e.g. Windows 8 to Windows 7) or buy a new PC. This is because your computer specs may be too low to run the operating system at a satisfying level.
If your PC has the minimum requirement to be able to run the desired operating system, it is most probably possible that it will start hanging soon. So, in this condition, you should downgrade your operating system level to keep your computer running perfectly without creating unnecessary problems.
Further Reading:
That’s all guys! I hope you will find these tips very helpful in fixing the freezing and not responding errors in your Windows computer. Let me know via comments, which of the above-mentioned methods worked for you.
You wrote two articles on freezing computer but none of those helped me. Please tell me honestly how to stop freezing computer.
Have you tried all the above tips? And still having issue, you should go to the service center! Or if you’re feeling difficulty to apply any of the above tip, let me know so that I can help you in this regard!
Very useful tips Raman. I appreciate your work from heart 🙂
Thanks for appreciation 🙂
Just restarting the PC solved the problem. Thanks man for the tips.
Very nice tips. Very helpful.