Slow games after reset

Question

Slow games after reset

Jordan 20

Hi!

I recently reset my computer. I’ve had it for about a week and a half and noticed some issues and decided to reset it to have a clean start. And since, genshin impact and some other games have taken forever to load up. I have all the newest drivers installed and I can’t understand why it’s suddenly taking longer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you

Answer accepted by question author

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Answer 1

Ivan B 101K Independent Advisor

Hi ,

If it is a laptop or desktop, if possible, could you provide the laptop model or your desktop configuration?

Access Msinfo32.exe from the Start menu search bar, take a screenshot and post it here.

Thanks

Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T15:58:06.8966667+00:00

hi, thanks so much for your response. i’ve attached a screenshot of the system summary
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T16:10:12.0766667+00:00

Hi ,

What is the GPU model?

Thanks
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T16:11:12.05+00:00

Hi,

Did you make any changes to the BIOS settings?

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T16:19:28.1233333+00:00

Gpu is rtx 3050 8gb. I haven’t made any changes to my BIOS
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T16:23:56.36+00:00

Hi,

Does accessing the device manager and going to the graphics adapters tab take a screenshot?

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T16:29:56.2566667+00:00

Hi, I can’t seem to find the graphics adapter tab. I have a display adapter tab with my graphics card under it but no graphics adapter tab.

Thank you
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T16:31:43.9533333+00:00

Hi,

This screen adapter

Thanks
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T16:53:47.2233333+00:00
Hi ,

You will use DDU to remove the Nvidia driver and reinstall the chipset and video drivers.

DDU: https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/games/PC/guru3d/ddu/[Guru3D.com]-DDU.zip

Note: DDU is a third-party application to completely delete and reinstall the GPU driver.

After downloading, extract ddu to a folder.

Run the driver screen uninstaller.exe application, select Model tab, put GPU. After uninstalling the GPU Driver, uninstall it for AMD and Nvidia.

Click on the First option clean and reboot and wait for the process to finish.

After running DDU and install driver :

https://drivers.amd.com/drivers/AMD_Chipset_Software_7.11.26.2142.exe

https://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/591.86/591.86-desktop-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch-whql.exe

Open the command prompt (admin) and run the commands: sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, wait for the process to finish and restart the computer.

Then perform a clean boot and if you want to uninstall applications that you do not use.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-execute-a-simple-boot-start-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

You will access the Nvidia control panel > adjust the image settings, use my preference emphasizing, change it to performance and apply.

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T17:08:28.7766667+00:00

Here’s my monitor adaptor dropdown tab. I’ll give what you’ve suggested a try and let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help!
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T17:51:22.6266667+00:00

Hiya, I’ve done all of the thing you’ve suggested and still see very slow loading times.

Thanks
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T19:07:06.7866667+00:00

Hi,

Go to Task Manager > in the details tab, take a screenshot.

It's just taking a long time to start, just to be sure?

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T20:50:04.54+00:00

This is without the game running. I decided to reinstall to see if it helps at all.

And it is just slow loading, as well as some stutters that weren’t there before.

Thank you for your patience 🥲
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-01T02:34:56.1266667+00:00

Hi,

The game is open Hoyoplay. Go to the performance tab, take a screenshot, and post it here.

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-01T09:30:18.7733333+00:00

This is with genshin impact open which is the game I’m having trouble with.

Thank you
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-01T16:45:55.0233333+00:00

Hi,

The game is on the HDD. Would that explain the slowness?

The game responds very slowly on the HDD. Could you try reinstalling the game on the SSD and see if it responds faster.

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-01T19:57:56.0766667+00:00

I tried to move it over to my SSD, I didn’t notice any differences.

Thank you
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-01T20:03:07.16+00:00

Hi,

I'm only playing Genshin Impact. Can you check if the hard drive is in constant use?

Did you put your user data on the D drive?

Thanks
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-01T20:04:33.17+00:00

Hi,

Have you tested the problem with more than one game? Is it just a delay in starting the game or FPS lag?

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-01T23:54:57.1833333+00:00

Hi, My user data is on the HDD. I’ll move that over and see how it goes.

Also it is in multiple games I get FPS drops and slow loads. I don’t expect it to be perfect of course based on my specs, but before the reset it wasn’t as bad.

Thanks so much for your patience, I appreciate it.
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-02T08:22:40.4433333+00:00

I moved the file over and no changes. I noticed a file called “Windows apps” that needs administrator permissions to move, that’s inside of my HDD. Could that be taking it up? If so, how can I move it? When I try to it gets stuck.
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-02T14:14:37.93+00:00

Hi,

In this case, I recommend doing a clean reinstall using the USB method, keeping user data on the SSD and installing games on the HDD, depending on the game.

I can instruct you on how to perform the procedure using a USB flash drive.

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-02T17:40:08.41+00:00

Hi there, I'll give that a try with the instructions you give.

Thank you
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-03T01:12:40.7433333+00:00

Hi,

Okay, do you know how to do a clean reinstall using the USB method?

You need an 8GB USB flash drive and the Media Creation Tool.

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2156295

Thanks
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-04T06:38:29.3833333+00:00

Hi ,

Were you able to follow the procedure?

Thanks
Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-03-05T19:39:26.1966667+00:00

Hi, sorry for my delayed response.

I’ve had a go at it and can’t see any difference. My HDD still runs at 100% while games are open, I’ve looked through my task manager and can’t find anything taking up so much of the resources.

Im wondering if it may be a issue with the HDD itself rather than a system issue.

Thank you so much for your help,

Jordan
Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-05T19:44:36.5533333+00:00

Hi,

If you're experiencing the 100% disk usage bug, it's not a hard drive failure but a Windows issue. This bug is old and causes the hard drive to remain under high usage, resulting in slowdowns in the operating system. This usually happens with games installed on it.

You can search online, but unfortunately there's no definitive solution for the 100% disk usage bug. The best option would be to replace the hard drive with an SSD and check the hardware conditions with Windows.

It's also possible it's a mechanical failure in the hard drive, but I believe the 100% usage bug is random; it could happen now or later. You can search for this bug and you'll see other users having this issue. That's why I suggest reinstalling Windows, but keeping the base system on the SSD and not using the hard drive, depending on the game.

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Thanks

Answer 2

After a reset, Windows and games often need some optimization before performance returns to normal. The following built‑in steps can help improve game load times:

Install all Windows updates and drivers

Select Start > Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.
Install everything offered and restart if required.
Then go to Advanced options > Optional updates and install any available driver/firmware updates.

Scan for malware Even on a fresh setup, scanning is useful if any software was installed from outside trusted stores.

Select Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
Select Quick scan and let it complete.

Free up disk space If the system drive is nearly full, games can load very slowly.

Select Start > Settings > System > Storage.
Turn on Storage Sense, then choose Run Storage Sense now or Clean now.
Still in Storage, open Temporary files, select unneeded items, and choose Remove files.

Remove unused apps

Select Start > Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
Uninstall apps not needed to free space and reduce background activity.

Disable startup and background apps

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Go to Startup apps, right‑click non‑essential items, and select Disable.
For background apps: Start > Settings > Apps > Installed apps > … > Advanced options for specific apps, then set Let this app run in the background to Never.

Set Windows for best performance

Select Start, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows, and open it.
On Visual Effects, select Adjust for best performance.

Use Best performance power mode On a plugged‑in PC this can help CPU/GPU boost properly.

Select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery.
Set Power mode to Best performance.

Optimize the drive On HDDs this can noticeably affect load times; on SSDs it runs TRIM.

Select Start, type Defragment and Optimize Drives, open it.
Select the game drive and choose Optimize.

Monitor resource usage while launching a game

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
On Processes and Performance, check if CPU, memory, or disk are at 100% when starting Genshin or other games. Close any heavy apps not needed.

If performance is still poor after these steps, using the Microsoft PC Manager app from the article can automate cleanup and startup optimization.

References:

Jordan 20 Reputation points

2026-02-28T17:06:43.9766667+00:00

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Ivan B 101K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-28T17:09:42.2933333+00:00

Hi,

I posted the answer in the other post, you can check it.

Thanks

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Slow games after reset

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