Well that depends on the type of laptop that you have, if you have a laptop that does not have a very reliable system, or very much memory or gb. It could possibly slow down your computer, but only a little bit. If you are having trouble with a slow computer, then you can do what is called a "Defragmenter". A Defragmenter removes all unwanted installed items on your computer. If there is any further questions you can always ask. Hope this answers most of yor questions.
No, games can't slow down your computer if they are not active, in other words they can only slow down your computer when you are playing, it depends on your computer's system specs.