Are you experiencing lag on your computer? Is your internet connection lagging? If so, there is a possibility that a process is consuming resources or downloading in the background without your knowledge.
If you are facing such a situation, this guide will help you determine if a download is taking place in the background against your will on a Windows PC.
And how does a process download in the background? Computers are always connected to the internet. So the developers make sure that they are constantly updated and especially services such as email, updates of the installed browser, Windows updates etc. connect at regular intervals and download data.
There is always something in the background that maintains the constant exchange of data between the application on your computer and the central server on the Internet. Sometimes, one of them can make the computer work slowly. So follow these methods to understand what is going on in the background:
Check Task Manager
- Press Ctrl + Shift + ESC keys at the same time to launch Task Manager
- Go to the 1st tab named “Processes” and there press the column “Network". Double-click the network column to sort in descending order to determine which process is currently consuming the most bandwidth.
- Select the process and tap on “End task” option to stop the download process from running in the background.
Ending the download task from Task Manager is a temporary fix. You can restart the program on your device to see how much bandwidth it is using and if there is a setting available in that particular application that allows you to control the download.
Check Resource Monitoring
- Launch the “Run” command on your computer by pressing the Win and R keys at the same time.
- Enter “resmon” box to open Resource Monitor on your computer.
- In the Resource Monitor window, click on the tab Network.
- The next thing you need to do is expand the tab “Network activity".
- Check the process consuming the highest network data to enable further processing.
If it's a background process, you can choose to end it or open the app to see what you can do next.
It is not wise to terminate a process if an important download is in progress. So always make informed decisions.
Note: You can click the checkbox next to any running process (in the top panel), revealing the application's subprocess. It helps to identify which application component is consuming more data.
Check your Data Usage Overview
Windows offers a data usage monitor for each application. It's especially useful if you're on limited data usage and need to ensure that certain apps don't consume too much.
- Go to Windows Settings (Win + I)
- Windows 10: Go to Network and Internet > Network Status > Data Usage
Windows 11: Go to Network and Internet > Advanced network settings > Data usage
- Look for any unusual shots
Apps like browsers, systems and streaming apps like Netflix will definitely have high data usage. Ignore them and check if something else is consuming more data than you think.
Check Windows Update
Most users opt for automatic updates to keep their operating system up to date.
This option is quite useful and helps you keep your Windows up to date. But these downloads sometimes slow down your computer speed and make it difficult for users to perform their various tasks efficiently.
Go to Windows Settings > Windows Update. Check if a download is in progress. As much as you can, we recommend that you don't stop it and wait until it finishes.
Later, you can configure the Active download times in “Change active usage hours” so that the download starts during non-business hours.
However, if the update is stuck for a long time and still consuming bandwidth, it is best to restart your computer.
Check the main browser
You may have started a download of a large file in the browser and forgotten about it.
Open the download section of your browser and check if there is a download in progress. If you want to skip the download, cancel it and everything will be fine.
Briefly:
Checking for background downloads on a Windows PC is not difficult.
It's a simple and easy task that takes just seconds to complete. This process helps users to find out the various lag issues that are occurring on their computer.
