When you reboot, do NOT click on any icon.
Ctrl-alt-delete used to be the universal reboot command, but it doesn't do anything that would address your problem.
Instead, try Ctrl-shift-ESC (escape button on the far upper left of your keyboard, next to the F1 button). This will bring up your task manager. It might take a minute to load up, if one of your applications is causing the hang-up.
You'll see a tabbed menu on top: Processes, Performance, App history, Startup, Users, Details, Services.
The first thing you need to do there is simply observe the first screen that shows up, which will be Processes. Watch it, and notice the CPU% and Memory%. If you use Google Chrome, it'll probably have some insane amount like 400MB in Memory. That's okay. It will also appear to use up between 2% and 6% Memory. That's okay too.
Your VPN should be using no CPU, and a very minimal amount of memory - maybe 5mb, give or take.
The next largest memory hog other than your browser should be your security software. It might show up as a few different lines, each with its own memory and CPU use.
These are "true things" that you should be observing. If you see some other insanely large memory hog, write down whatever it is, and move on to the tab called STARTUP.
Startup will display all the applications that are intended to automatically load when you - start up your computer. For me, that list is somewhat small: CCleaner, Google Drive, HP Message Service, HPAudioSwitchLC.vbs, Microsoft Edge, Phone Link, Realtek HD Audio Manager, VPN by Google One, and Windows Security notification center.
However when I look to the "Status" column of that window I'll see only CCleaner, HP Audio, Realtek HD Audio, VPN, and Windows Security are "enabled." The rest is disabled. That was intentional on my part, because I don't want or need those other things to automatically load up.
If your golf program is the program you wrote down, AND it is showing up on Startup, then first - DISABLE it there. Do that by right-clicking on that line, and clicking "disable" in the drop-down menu that shows up.
THEN - reboot your computer.
THEN - uninstall that program.
|