I did a fresh install of Windows 11 pro on a new 1TB SSD, everything was super fast as you would expect. For the last month the PC has started to slow down, I log in to my settings, it takes longer than it should, the taskbar at the bottom remains black for about two minutes before drawing the icons. Saved bookmarks or links take forever to open, but if you search for the site manually it open straight away. My gut reaction it that it is a virus or malware. I have AVG pro, it cannot find anything, I have also run Superantispyware, whilst it finds tracking cookies, it does not find anything nasty. Ccleaner and System mechanic do not speed anything up. I have tried the F-secure and Trendsmicro free online scanners and they find nothing. At a bit of a loss on where to go from here, any suggestions would be welcome.This doesn't sound like Malware. I'm moving this thread to another forum to see if they can help there.Well I contacted AVG and they remotely looked at the computer, removed superantispyware, restarted the computer and then did nothing, so I ended the session. I have since downloaded another anitvirus program and that also found nothing. So something is wrong with Windows, I have had a pop up window stating Smartscreen can't be reached right now, which is part of Windows defender. So I am thinking of running "scannow" to check for errors. The process I used before does not seem to work for Windows 11. so how do I run scannow?To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command in Windows 10
Click All Apps, select Windows Systems and select Command Prompt

2. To Scan and Repair System FILES
NOTE: Scans the integrity of all protected system files and repairs the system files if needed.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /scannow and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This may take some time to finish.



If it finds corrupted files it will ask for the Windows 10 Media. Insert your USB stick

B) Go to step 4.

3. To Only Verify if the System Files are Corrupted
NOTE: Scans and only verifies the integrity of all proteced system files only.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /verifyonly and press Enter.

4. When the scan is complete, hopefully you will see all is ok like the screenshot below.
NOTE: If not, then you can attempt to run a System Restore using a restore point dated before the bad file occured to fix it. You may need to repeat doing a System Restore until you find a older restore point that may work.



5. When DONE, close the elevated command prompt.Just to add a note, Jokerman; even though SUPERDAVE made a REFERENCE to only Windows 10, that is the same for your Windows 11. Just adding that in case you had doubts. Actually, I think I remember it is the same for 7 through 11.Hi guys,
Ran scannow and it did find some corrupted files and replaced them, but it did not help with speeding up the PC.Boot to safe mode. Is the system fast or slow in safe mode?Please check Windows Event Viewer System and Application logs for any repeated Warning or Error level events.

It would also be worth opening Task Manager and reviewing the computers performance e.g. CPU usage.

Faulting drivers and applications can causes sustained resource drains and/or timeouts.Hi HoraceC, booted into safe mode and it booted up and switched off very quickly, the taskbar was there when I logged on, couldn't check internet links as my internet was DISABLED.