Since Windows 11 24H2 update everything runs slow and takes longer to load

Ever since this update, my system takes a long time before it's fully up to speed. I'm talking 10 minutes or more. Even the opening screen where I enter my PIN takes longer to come up. After entering the pin, it takes a while for the app icons to show on the desktop and even then the taskbar arrives later. I can't get Outlook or Chrome to launch right away. It can take minutes for them to load and be responsive.

Even after the system is functioning more normally, it is still slower than before the update. Emails take a few seconds longer to open up. Files take longer to open. Chrome tabs take longer to show.

I've checked Task Manager. My CPU is at less than 10% and my RAM at 59% with apps open. Hard disk doesn't show a lot of activity. I've looked at processes and don't see anything that's consuming a lot of resources. Nothing obvious is showing up. I've made sure to turn off a lot of apps at start up that were unnecessary.

I've also turned off sys.main. Before that, everything was even slower and more annoying than what I have already described. Two other annoying things I've discovered. Microsoft turned off Malwarebytes and turned on Defender anti-virus without my permission. It also turned on Edge. None of these things should have been activated without asking my permission. The update should keep every app the way it was either turned on or off.

24H2 has changed something in my computer that affects all activity and load times. It is not hardware related.

I have a fairly fast cpu, ram and SSD disk access speed. This is a gaming computer. It worked fast before the update. I've made a few adjustments to speed things up but those were not necessary before 24H2.

Don