'New' laptop w/ Windows 11 and 16GB of ram...sloooowwwwww

Well, I put 64GB in it and it's noticeably faster. The little delays when you do something are gone.

Pre upgrade, with one app (a small one) running it was using more than 16GB of ram according to task manager. It would have little 'stutters' when I did something, no graphic anomalies or anything, just slow ish to respond.

Now with the memory upgrade, it's still using the same amount of ram, but there's a ton of headroom now, it's fast and responsive. Snappy!

I believe that win11 NEEDS at least 32GB of ram just to be not paging to 'disk'. And I think I've proven it.

I know it's been reported that win11 is faster than win10, but it clearly needs a lot of RAM to do so. Not that this is a huge deal with modern hardware, but companies like Dell should take notice of this and have their minimum configurations such that the system doesn't encounter slow response times.

Hope this helps someone.

Hi

Welcome to Microsoft community.

Windows 11 should run smoothly even with 16GB of RAM, as the recommended system requirement for RAM is only 4GB for 64-bit systems. Therefore, it's less likely that the delay you're experiencing is solely due to the 16GB of RAM.

It seems like there might be other underlying issues causing the slowness. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot:

1. Check Startup Programs: Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and go to the 'Startup' tab. Disable unnecessary programs that start up with your computer.
2. Check for Malware: Run a full system scan using Windows Defender or any other reliable antivirus software.
3. Check Disk Usage: High disk usage can slow down your system. In the Task Manager, check the 'Processes' tab to see if any process is using an excessive amount of disk resources.
4. Power Settings: Make sure your power plan is set to 'High Performance'. You can check this by going to Settings > System > Power & battery > Power mode.
5. Clean Boot: Perform a clean boot to start Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This can help you identify if any third-party application is causing the issue. Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem. These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by-step so that it will help you get you back on track.

Finally, when you receive the additional RAM, install it and see if the performance improves. If not, there might be a hardware issue with the laptop, considering it's reconditioned. In such a case, you might want to consider getting it checked by a professional.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.

Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I am glad that your problem has been solved.

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Best regards

Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist