6 Free Windows Tools to Find Out What's Slowing Down Your Computer

Over the years, people have discovered a collection of free Windows tools that can help diagnose what's causing their system to slow down. These tools can save you a ton of time and help you avoid costly computer repairs from certified technicians.

6. Windows Device Performance & Health

Let's start with the simplest way to check the overall health of your computer. The Windows Device Performance & Health feature is a common first check. Whenever you feel like something isn't working properly, open this tool and quickly look for yellow warning icons. It lets you review your storage capacity, battery health, potential application issues, and whether your system time is properly synchronized.

To access it, press the Windows key , type "Windows Security," and press Enter . When Windows Security opens, click Device performance & health . The interface shows a simple dashboard with green checkmarks when everything is working properly, or yellow warning icons when there are issues that need attention.

5. Windows Resource Monitor

Windows Resource Monitor is a go-to tool when you need to diagnose a family member's slow computer. It's free and comes pre-installed in the operating system, making it easy to use. It allows you to get real-time data on everything that's consuming system resources.

To access Resource Monitor, press the Windows key , type "resmon" and press Enter . You can also access it through Task Manager  ( Ctrl + Shift + Esc ) by clicking on the Performance tab and then selecting Open Resource Monitor  at the bottom.

The Overview tab gives you a complete picture of your system's health. With this tool, you can see which processes are consuming your system's CPU, memory, disk, and network resources in one place. This allows you to quickly identify the cause of the problem.

4. Windows Memory Diagnostic

RAM problems can cause your computer to behave erratically. Systems may randomly freeze, experience blue screens, or run extremely slowly due to memory errors. Windows Memory Diagnostic helps you test your RAM without any third-party software.

Open this tool by pressing Win + R , then type "mdsched.exe" and press Enter . The Windows Memory Diagnostic window appears with two options. People often choose Restart now and check for problems because they want immediate results.

3. HWiNFO

While Windows has great built-in tools, sometimes you need more detailed information about your hardware. HWiNFO gives you incredibly detailed information about every component in your computer, along with the ability to monitor temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds in real time.

First, download HWiNFO using the Installer option . Unzip the contents of the file and run the standard 64-bit installer. You can then launch HWiNFO by searching for it like any other application; click Run to open both the Summary and Sensors windows .

The program also tracks long-term statistics and can log data to a file, which helps you identify patterns and diagnose intermittent problems. You can customize which sensors are displayed and hide unnecessary ones.

2. Wintoys

For everyday system diagnostics without the technical complexity, Wintoys consolidates a lot of scattered Windows settings and tools into one neat interface. It's so well designed that it's one of those apps that should be pre-installed on every Windows computer. After downloading Wintoys from the Microsoft Store, it became my first choice when I needed a quick system check instead of in-depth hardware monitoring.

There are a number of ways you can use Wintoys to optimize your computer's performance; for diagnostics, the main dashboard shows live graphs of CPU, GPU, and memory usage. This means you can immediately see if something is consuming too many resources. Then, go to the Health section in the sidebar, and select Repair .

1. CrystalDiskInfo

Storage drive health deserves special attention, and that's where CrystalDiskInfo comes in. While both HWiNFO and Wintoys can display basic drive information, neither software focuses specifically on predicting drive failures like CrystalDiskInfo.

You can download CystalDiskInfo on SourceForge; the CystalDiskInfo website has anime-themed versions that you may not want. Once downloaded, unzip the file and open DiskInfo64.exe to open the 64-bit version of the application. Once opened, CrystalDiskInfo will immediately scan all of your storage devices and display their health status.

The main window displays the overall health status of each drive in simple terms like Good , Caution , or Bad with color coding. Green means good, yellow means caution , and red means a problem has been detected. You can see the current temperature, total power-on hours, and power cycle count for each drive.

Pay special attention to the Reallocated Sectors Count in the detailed SMART data. As the hard drive begins to develop bad sectors, it moves data to spare areas. Some reallocated sectors are normal over time, but a rapidly increasing number of sectors indicates that the hard drive is starting to fail.

Micah Soto

Update 13 August 2025