Pro Tools 12.3 not responding way too often! Please help

[SVRecords801]

Hi,
I recently purchased and installed pro tools 12 perpetual license and am having problems where Pro tools runs very slow and pretty much anytime I click anywhere on the screen or do anything at all, it freezes up and says not responding in the top of the screen for a few minutes.

Note: There is not a cd or dvd in my drive

Please help. Thank you

pro tools 12.3
asus laptop
intel i7 2.6ghz
8gb ram
64bit windows 8.1
1tb internal hd
5tb external hd (Lacie D2 Usb 3.0 7200 Rpm)
focusrite scarlett 2i4