Laptop Issue
 

I bought an HP laptop 2 years ago. I use Windows 10 Home edition as the operating system. I use both Chrome and Firefox for web browsers. Over the last few months, when I wake up the laptop out of sleep mode, many times it lags when I try to surf the net. Other days, it is normal and extremely fast. On the days it lags, I get the circle icon telling me that it is thinking about opening up the web browser/refreshing the page (it happens with both browsers). I usually end up just shutting down the computer and rebooting the computer. What would be the cause for the lagging? I only have 3-4 tabs open on each browser. When the system is restarted, it back to being extremely fast. I have cleared the caches/cookies in both browsers. Any advice would be appreciated.

When I launch it, nothing seems to be using all the memory. Though sometimes, it wont even let me launch the task manager tab.

Some stuff doesn't wake up nicely.

Just show down and restart the computer. I've found that in the past year, (a current-ish version of) Win 10 will reopen the stuff (browser pages/tabs and all) you had open at the time you shut down.

It's likely the caching algorithms for the browsers. When you put the laptop to sleep, it saves as much as possible to the HD (SSD). This can cause havoc with the memory management of the browsers which have their own internal processes. Rebooting clears all of that by flushing the memory so you're starting fresh again. Or surf normally and it should eventually balance itself out. My suggestion is if you are going to be away for a long period of time, either close the browsers before stepping away or shut down the laptop. It might be inconvenient for some of your pages, but a two year old laptop is quite quick.

I might have solved the issue. I was talking to a friend who is a network IT guy and he said to ditch Chrome. So I transferred all my favorites to Microsoft Edge and closed down both Chrome and Firefox. It has been 3 days and not a single issue at all. Time will tell but it looks promising. I am so used to Google. It will take me a bit to get used to Edge.

Not sure if that is true. The current/new Edge is reportedly based on Chromium.

Might it be worth it to delete uninstall both Chrome and Firefox from the computer? Then re-install a "clean" version to help clear out some of that old stuff?

You also don't mention if you've installed extensions and how many. Although extensions to browsers can be useful, some can be resource hogs or incompatible with other operations. In my experience, both with my own browsers and those of friends/coworkers who ask me to look at similar issues, it's amazing how many extensions can get added and then forgotten when they don't prove as useful as originally thought. Although the extension isn't being used anymore, it may still be creating problems.

You may not have extensions added, but if you did with Chrome and Firefox (and eventually will with Edge), this is a problem I would consider.

Good point. I had 3 extensions on Chrome (a flash control/blocker, and ad blocker and ghostery). I did not have any extensions on Firefox that I know of. (Edited: I found a Facebook extension that I probably used at one time; I removed it). I don't plan on putting any on Edge.

It is day 5 and everything is still running smoothly. I will look into the extensions and delete them from Chrome and Firefox and see if that improves the performance.

Someone mentioned that before - shutting down the computer will be the ultimate solution.

It is a Windows issue of caching. When you place the laptop into sleep mode, Windows cache everything before the sleep mode is activated. When the computer is activated again, Windows needs to load the cache again. Generally, it is not an issue when the laptop is properly maintained (defragment). But it does not sound like the case here. Hence, the slow down.

Keep in mind - the sleep mode does not really put the computer to sleep. Instead, it places the computer to a mode that conserve your previous work while using extremely low electricity. It will still cost the computer normal wear and tear. So if you don't really need the computer, shut it down.

While I am sympathetic about OP's computer as it is a HP, i.e. there will be a lot of crap load up unless OP takes actions to eliminate them, depending on the computer, it should not take more than 2-3 minutes to boot up.

Just a couple additional points...

1) For most current browser versions, flash is already disabled by default or not even installed.
2) I'm assuming your extensions/addons are based on privacy concerns? Everyone will have their own combinations.... mine are uBlock Origin, WebRTC Leak Shield and Privacy Badger. I also have a checklist of (privacy) tasks that I go through to disable various "features" in the OS as well as the browser. when I set up a new personal computer.

That said, I still recommend a regular reboot to keep memory fresh. Various friends complain it is a hassle to always have to re-open all the tabs (this can be mitigated to a point) but then when their computer invariably slows down or things start going wrong, they start complaining... often because they haven't saved their work and often their work becomes corrupted.