179 Gb free is the free space on your drive. NO consumer computer have that much RAM, or memory. You probably have something in the 8 to 16 Gb range.
Maybe you try to have to many thing running in the background.
How many icons are in the notification area next to the clock? If you have over 12, it may be the cause of your slowdown.
You must have at least those : Network, Sound, Maintenance center and a single anti-virus. If you have any USB device connected, you also have a "Securely remove..." icon. Don't touch those.
Right-click on each other icon and see if there is a Properties item. Click it if present.
Look around for "Start with Windows" or some other wording that imply that it load automatically. You may need to look into several tabs. I can't be specific here as each application have it's own way of organizing/showing things.
DISABLE that option. You can now close or quit that program.
The next time that you start Windows, it should go faster.
In Words, look for any addon. DISABLE any that you don't remember installing or you don't normally use. Do the same for the toolbars. If disabling a given addon breaks something, re-enable that addon only. If you can't do it yourself, ask your son to show you how to do it :)
Make sure that Words don't try to open several documents all at once. It should open on a single new, empty, document or only the one that you are currently opening. In some cases, you may want to have 2 or 3 different documents to open automatically, but most users don't.
Save (ctrl+S) and close all other documents.
Try uninstalling some old, obsolete, or no longer used applications. Remove/uninstall most toolbars. Most are of no real use and all make the application where they are used take more time to start and run slower. Many are useless side install from some other application. Only keep the default ones.
Do you have more than a SINGLE anti-virus running ? If you have more than one running, then, they compete to analyze files and make the whole system crawl.
Only keep a single anti-virus running and disable the other. You can always perform a manual virus scan with the others.
Do you ever install downloaded applications?
If yes, then ALWAYS use "Custom", "Personalized" or "Expert" install. Then, carefully read each screen. ALWAYS DECLINE any and all "Recommended" offers. They are never needed ! They are not recommended by the author of whatever you are installing, but by the makers of the recommended offer. Those so called recommended offers are called "foist wares", or "Parasitic installs".
If you have an hard drive (HD), it may be badly fragmented. Try defragmenting it. Windows have a defragmenter that can do a decent job.
If you have a solid state drive (SSD), DON'T defragment it !
Electro, July 2018
