Windows Becomes Laggy and Really Slow - Time to Install Updates?

justyy (82)in #blog • yesterday

I use a Microsoft Surface Studio as my daily workstation and rarely shut it down or restart it unless Windows forces an update.

Recently, the entire OS became sluggish, with Chrome freezing the system when loading pages with large tables. At first, I tried closing unnecessary applications and clearing some memory, but the issue persisted. Even simple tasks, like switching between windows or opening the Start menu, felt laggy. Eventually, I decided to reboot, which immediately triggered the installation of pending updates.

After the reboot, everything returned to normal—Chrome no longer froze, and the overall system performance improved significantly. It made me realize that prolonged uptime without installing updates might lead to performance degradation over time. While Windows is designed to manage memory and resources efficiently, certain updates—especially those related to security, drivers, or performance improvements—may require a reboot to take effect.

So, if your OS starts feeling slow or unresponsive, it could be a subtle reminder to install any pending updates. Keeping your system up to date not only ensures better performance but also enhances security and stability. Moving forward, I might reconsider my habit of avoiding restarts and make regular updates part of my maintenance routine.