Things to do when your laptop constantly hangs

A laptop that hangs or freezes is one of the most frustrating issues to deal with, especially when your work is held up. Sometimes the issue is more serious, but most of the time the fix is simple. But the mere act of finding what’s wrong can be immensely frustrating.

If you are in such a situation, here are some tips to get the issue resolved as soon as possible. It goes without saying that a computer is a very complex system and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but the suggestions we have for you here should be sufficient for most scenarios.

Embrace Task Manager

More often than not, a laptop that’s hanging is doing so because some errant app or service is eating up all your system resources. This not only slows other applications, but also causes your system to overheat. It’s also possible that your hardware is acting up – perhaps a dying hard drive or an issue with your laptop. In either case, checking Task Manager for issues is a good place to start.

To open Task Manager

1. Hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc on your keyboard, or

2. Right click on the Taskbar and select ‘Task Manager’ from the pop-up menu

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The first tab that you will see is ‘Processes’. It shows the various programs running on your system and the resources they’re consuming. Here you need to focus on three things: CPU, Disk, and Memory, in that order.

1. An errant app

If your CPU usage is over 20% when idle (i.e. you’re not doing anything on your computer), some app is hogging resources. Clicking on the CPU icon will sort the apps by CPU usage and highlight the app that is using up all the resources. If it’s an app you recognise, simply right-click on it and hit ‘End Task’. Doing so will close the app and hopefully speed up your system.

If your system is responding normally now, that app was your problem and you need to uninstall it (and reinstall it later if you need it). If there’s no effect, your issue is elsewhere.

2. High memory usage

If your memory usage shows up as very high – 100% or thereabouts – you likely need to add more RAM. Apps that are using a lot of RAM will also need to be avoided.

3. High disk usage

This is very bad and usually an indicator of a failing hard drive or SSD. If your disk usage is very high when your PC is idle, it’s likely failing. Backup your data immediately and replace the drive as soon as possible.

4. High CPU usage with no obvious app load

If CPU usage is high but you can’t see any errant apps, it’s possible that your laptop is damaged and the CPU is overheating or suffering from some other issue. It’s best to take the laptop in for servicing, in such a scenario.

Disable unnecessary startup apps

Programs that are designed to start and run in the background when your computer starts can cause your laptop to hang or slow down after booting up. To resolve this issue, open Task Manager and head to the ‘Startup Apps’ tab. Here, sort apps by system impact and disable any unnecessary apps that you see. For example, if you don’t use OneDrive, you can disable the OneDrive app and prevent it from starting up with your PC.

Overheating laptop

If your laptop is running hotter than normal, or is generally uncomfortably hot, it’s time to get your laptop serviced. Usually, disabling errant apps will help reduce the load on your laptop, but when there’s no obvious issue other than overheating, it’s possible that there’s some hardware issue preventing your laptop from cooling properly.

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You can try cleaning the ventilation holes in case they’re clogged. Another option for the more tech savvy is to open up the laptop and inspect the interior to check the cooling system. We would NOT recommend this unless you’re very familiar and comfortable with the insides of your PC. If you’re not a tech savvy user, we’d strongly recommend sending the laptop in for servicing.

Several other issues could also be causing your laptop to overheat, but they’re simply too numerous to discuss in a single article. However, most of the fixes we’ve suggested here should be fine for most issues that will pop up. We’d also recommend talking to experts whenever you feel that there’s an issue with the system, be it online or in person at stores like Croma that offer on-demand repair services.