SIgnificant reduction in performance, regular issues debugging code in VSC2022, all since upgrading to latest Windows.

Hi RyanMurgatroyd,   Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Good day, Ryan. Thank you for posting your inquiry regarding Windows performance issues.

I can sense the frustration and concern in your message, especially when your system's performance directly impacts your ability to meet work targets. It's clear that you've been meticulous in maintaining your device and have already taken thoughtful steps to address the issues.

The freezing of Visual Studio Community 2022 during debugging, particularly at rudimentary code steps, suggests a potential conflict between the software and system resources. Visual Studio is known to be resource-intensive, and even minor changes in system configurations or driver compatibility can exacerbate such issues. Elevated RAM usage, as you mentioned, could indicate background processes or services consuming more resources than usual. It might be worth investigating whether any recent changes in security protocols or background services are impacting resource allocation.

The sluggish behavior of system windows and the delayed response when connecting Bluetooth headphones point towards broader system-level inefficiencies. These could stem from driver conflicts, particularly with display and Bluetooth drivers.

The occasional lags in basic operations, such as starting apps or switching windows could be influenced by changes in the system's power management settings or even the prioritization of processes. It's also worth considering whether any third-party software or utilities might be contributing to these delays, especially if they interact with system-level functions.

Safe Mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services, making it easier to identify and resolve problems caused by third-party software or settings changes.

• When you restart your PC, press and hold the Shiftkey while you select Power> Restart.
• The device will boot into Windows Recovery Environment.
• Once in Windows RE, select Troubleshoot> Advanced options> Startup Settings> Restart.
• Select Restart, once the device reboots, in the Startup Settings screen pick one of the available options, or press Enter to boot Windows normally.

Clean Boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It can be used to determine whether a background service or program is interfering or causing 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.
• Please be careful not to disable any services that may be related to security credentials or security authentication, such as TPM, Security, Credential.
• Disabling services incorrectly will result in inaccessibility to the Windows desktop environment, for example, PIN cannot be verified.

The power state policy may unexpectedly cause incomplete driver initialization, resulting in strange problems.

In the system, fast startup is an option that may be related to the power state.

If you want to disable the S4 state(fast startup) in Windows, follow these steps.

• In search box, type powercfg.cpl and press Enter.
• Select the Choose what the power buttons do link.
• (Optionally) Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
• Clear the Turn on fast startup (recommended) check box.
• Select Save Settings.

USB Selective Suspend is another similar option involving power state changes to the hardware.

If you want to check it:

• In search box, type powercfg.cpl and press Enter.
• When the Power Options window opens, click the Change plan settings link to the right of your current power plan.
• Click the “Change advanced power settings” link.
• Check for the “USB settings” and then expand “USB Selective suspend setting“.

Some devices might provide an Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power option.

To check the option:

• Open Device Manager: Press Win + X and select Device Manager.
• Find the Device: Expand the category, then right-click on the device you want to check.
• Open Properties: Select Properties from the right click context menu.
• Go to Power Management: Switch to the Power Management tab and check/uncheck the option Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

For some hardwares, the driver may contain several different types and versions of files at the same time.

In some cases, you can try to check and switch drivers. To check if the computer has different types of drivers listed. 

• Press Win + X and select Device Manager from the menu, or type "Device Manager" in the search bar and select it from the results.
• In Device Manager, locate the category that includes the device you want to update or check, and expand it by clicking the arrow next to it.
• Right-click on the device you want to update or check and select Update driver.
• In the Update Drivers window, select Browse my computer for drivers.
• Next, choose Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
• You will see a list of compatible drivers for your device.
• If you see multiple options, you might choose the most recent or appropriate one for your needs, and click Next.
• Then follow the instructions to install it.

If you wish, you can try to perform a "clean uninstall process" of the driver and test an earlier version of the driver to check if the problem persists with an "older version" or "older combination". After the driver "package" is removed from the device, the driver cannot be installed by scanning for hardware changes. Please be careful to back up the driver installation files in advance.

To perform a clean uninstall of a driver using Device Manager:

• Open Device Manager: Press the Windows key, type "Device Manager," and press Enter.
• Locate the Device: In Device Manager, find the device whose driver you want to uninstall. Expand the category if needed.
• Uninstall the Device: Right-click on the device and select "Uninstall device".
• Delete the Driver Software: In the uninstallation window, check the box that says "Delete the driver software for this device" (if available).
• Confirm and Restart: Click "Uninstall" and then restart your computer.
• This process ensures that the driver is completely removed from your system.
• For older versions of the driver, you can visit the device manufacturer's product support site.
• The drivers for some specific models of Bluetooth modules and Wi-Fi network adapter modules may affect each other. If you are using a Bluetooth-based device, you can perform similar operations for both at the same time.
• For some specific hardware, such as MT7921 products, some community members may install specific versions of drivers. [DRIVERS] AMD|MediaTek WiFi/Bluetooth - Page 2 - Republic of Gamers Forum - 857576 (asus.com)

Many devices may have product similar to Armoury Crate, Lenovo Vantage, MSI Center, Dragon Center enabled and installed by default, they are dedicated hardware management tools provided by device manufacturers.

• We can't say arbitrarily that they are the direct cause of the problem, but according to some similar posts, such dedicated hardware management/optimization tools provided by device manufacturers may conflict with the system and cause strange problems.
• If you wish, you can try to check and temporarily disable the options inside these applications before performing further system-level actions or perform a clean uninstall process for similar components.

As a general support person rather than a product developer, for symptoms like this that involve multiple different aspects, we would probably prefer to recommend macro-level options, such as restoring the device to a relatively early state.

To uninstall an update,

• In the Settings app on your Windows device, select Windows Update> Update history> Uninstall updates.
• On the list that appears, select update you want to remove, and then select Uninstall.
• **Note:**Some updates cannot be uninstalled.

If restoring the device to a relatively early state improves the situation, you can try to check whether the options related to Windows Update behavior described in the following thread are applicable to your device.

• Windows 24H2 Help - Microsoft Community

A local account provides an independent user environment on your device.  Observing under a different user profile helps to understand if the problem is specific to a corrupted user profile. Using Command Prompt ensures you can bypass user interface issues. To create a new local account via Command Prompt: 

• Press Win or Win + S, type Command Prompt, right-click it, and choose Run as administrator.
• Execute the command to create a new account, replace Username with the desired username, and Password with the desired password.

  	net user "Username" "Password" /add​

• Execute the command to promote the account to admin level, replace Username with the desired username

  	net localgroup Administrators "Username" /add

• The corruption of user profiles is usually difficult to trace and irreversible. If the problem does not occur under the new user profile, you can try to refer to the last entry in this link to transfer important data. Troubleshoot Problems Signing In to Windows - Microsoft Support

Thanks for your patience and understanding.Best Regards,Kyo.Y - MSFT | Microsoft Community Technical Support