Your computer works perfectly well until you join a video call.
Outlook is open, a dozen browser tabs are running and OneDrive is quietly synchronising in the background.
Then you click Join meeting.
Everything slows down. Teams or Zoom freezes. Your camera disappears. The audio starts breaking up and the fan sounds like it’s preparing for take off.
Sometimes a restart fixes it. Sometimes it doesn’t.
We’ve helped with several issues like this recently and, although the causes haven’t always been the same, there’s a common theme:
Modern working puts far more pressure on a business computer than most people realise.
And while we often see this with laptops, desktop computers can struggle too.
Why Do Video Calls Make My Computer Slow?
Writing an email doesn’t ask much of a computer.
A video call is different.
Whether you’re using Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or another platform, your computer suddenly has to process live video and audio while continuing to run everything else in the background.
That might include Outlook, numerous browser tabs, OneDrive and SharePoint synchronisation, security software and perhaps a couple of external monitors connected through a dock.
Add screen sharing, background effects or a PowerPoint presentation and you’re asking even more of it.
That’s often when a computer that seemed perfectly adequate five minutes earlier starts showing its limitations.
But It Isn’t Always the Computer
We sometimes hear:
“It can’t be the laptop. It’s only a couple of years old.”
And that could be absolutely right.
Age alone doesn’t tell us what’s causing the problem.
In recent support cases, we’ve seen cameras intermittently disappear, USB C issues affecting docks and monitors, problems linked to software and updates, and one camera with a genuine hardware fault that needed repairing by the manufacturer.
Sometimes it isn’t the computer at all.
Poor WiFi or an unstable internet connection can cause frozen video, distorted audio and dropped calls on a perfectly healthy computer.
And sometimes the problem is related to the video conferencing software, a driver or another application running in the background.
That’s why we wouldn’t recommend replacing a computer simply because Teams or Zoom is struggling.
First, work out why.
A few questions can help:
Does it happen on Teams, Zoom and other platforms, or only one?
Does it happen on every call or only occasionally?
Is the computer generally slow or only during video calls?
Does it get worse when you turn on your camera or share your screen?
Does it happen when a dock or external monitors are connected?
Are Windows, your video conferencing software and device drivers up to date?
Do colleagues using similar computers experience the same problem?
Has anything changed recently?
The answers can start to narrow things down.
Sometimes the solution is relatively simple.
Sometimes there’s a hardware or network problem.
And sometimes the computer genuinely isn’t powerful enough for the way it’s now being used.
What Is a Slow Computer Actually Costing Your Business?
Thirty seconds here and there sounds trivial.
Ten minutes lost before an important customer meeting because the camera won’t work feels rather different.
Then there’s the video freezing halfway through a presentation, restarting the computer several times a week or losing time trying to reconnect monitors and docks.
Across one person, perhaps it doesn’t sound significant.
Across a team and an entire year, those small interruptions add up.
Then there’s the cost that’s much harder to measure.
Frustration.
Technology is supposed to help people do their jobs, not become another thing they have to fight with.
There’s also the impression it creates outside your business.
If someone regularly joins customer or supplier meetings late because they’re trying to get their camera, sound or computer working, what experience does that create for the person waiting on the other end?
Windows 11 Minimum Requirements Aren’t the Whole Story
Microsoft’s minimum Windows 11 requirements tell you whether a computer can run Windows 11.
They don’t necessarily tell you whether it will give somebody a good working experience for the next few years.
A computer can meet the minimum specification and still struggle once a Teams or Zoom call, Outlook, numerous browser tabs, security software, OneDrive and two external screens are all running together.
That’s why buying to the minimum can be a false economy.
The computer might be adequate today and increasingly frustrating a year or two down the line.
Instead of starting with:
“What’s the cheapest computer that meets the specification?”
Start with:
“What does this person actually need their computer to do?”
Someone mainly using email and a browser has very different requirements from someone who spends much of their day on video calls, works across several Microsoft 365 applications, has numerous browser tabs open and regularly uses multiple screens.
Then consider how long you expect the computer to last.
The cheapest computer to buy isn’t necessarily the cheapest computer to own.
Choosing New Computers for Your Business?
If you are replacing PCs or laptops, our How to Choose the Right Business PC for Windows 11 in 2026 guide explains the practical specifications we recommend considering for real world business use, rather than simply looking at Microsoft’s minimum requirements.
“It Still Works” Isn’t the Same as “It’s Still Right for the Job”
A computer doesn’t have to stop working completely before it starts becoming a problem.
If your team is regularly reporting slow computers, freezing Teams or Zoom calls, disappearing cameras or problems with docks and external screens, don’t automatically assume you need to replace everything.
Some problems can be fixed relatively simply.
Some computers may have plenty of useful life left.
Others genuinely may no longer be right for the way your team works today.
The important thing is understanding which situation you have before spending money trying to solve it.
Not Sure What’s Causing the Problem?
We’re happy to help you work out whether it’s the computer, network, software, hardware or something else.
Then you can make an informed decision about what, if anything, actually needs fixing, upgrading or replacing.
Talk it through with the Trusted Computing team
