Computer Fix Slow Downs
If you have a running slow computer, you’re living with anxiety. What’s the next step? Frozen screens, error messages, and a trip to the computer shop – no fun! We’ve all been there.
I’ve actually gotten tired of the computer techs saying “ka-ching” every time I walk through the door.
So I started poking around and here’s what I found: Computers need maintenance. I suppose this should be no surprise since every thing you own takes some energy to maintain, right? Computers are no different.
If you have a running slow computer, then maybe you haven’t taken care of it quite enough.
Explore a superior collection of maintenance utilities here.
To speed up a running slow computer, you need to learn:
- The possible causes of a running slow computer
- The tools that already exist on your pc
- Adjustments you can make to your operating system (OS) for better speed
- The tools that you need to acquire for your computer maintenance
Some Causes of Your Running Slow Computer
- Too many programs hogging up the available memory
- Too many programs running in the background from start up routine
- Malware – viruses, worms, adware, spyware, etc gumming up the works
- Registry errors – empty keys, invalid entries, corrupt paths
Tools And Solutions Available on Most Windows Operating Systems (OS)
Disc clean up
It may be under your TOOLs menu, or the “Performance and Maintenance” tab, or contained in Windows Live OneCare, but Disc Clean Up is a helpful tool Windows provides on all platforms. Disc clean up will analyze the files on your hard drive and tell you where you’ve got junk you can dump.
I just ran mine, and freed up over 138000 KB of memory by losing temporary files and trash that’s collected on my pc since the last clean up. (It’s been awhile.)
Your pc actually stores impressions of web pages you visit to make the webpages load faster – including those monster graphics everyone has now. Yuck! It’s called a web cache and it’s like glue inside your OS when you are dealing with a running slow computer. Dump the cache and get better speed if you want to fix computer slow downs.
Defrag
Look for a choice like “Rearrange items on your hard disk to make programs run faster” in the Control Panel. It’s in there somewhere, but at different locations on different Windows platforms. This is a defragging program that basically resets the dominos that are your programs,instructions, and files inside your hard drive so that your computer can access everything more quickly and efficiently.
Over time and with everyday use, your computer files slide around and scatter all over the hard drive. So your computer has to work harder to find what it needs. That makes a sad, running slow computer. A defrag puts things back in tidy rows that will agree with your pc. A happy pc is a speedy pc. Defrag is one of the main ways to fix computer slow downs.
Changes to OS Settings on Your Computer Fix Slow Downs
Remove Junk Programs
Get to the “Add or Remove Programs” tab in the Control Panel. You will see that many programs are used “rarely” or “never” by you. (Don’t delete programs or upgrades of programs you are actively using!) You will likely find plenty of stuff you don’t need and will never need.
Computers come from the factory choked with trial programs because software companies hope you’ll get hooked on their program and buy the upgrade. But you often don’t and those programs are hogging up space. Lose them! Because this will fix computer slow startups.
Remove Optional Windows Components
First, check and make sure you’ve got your Windows installation disc still. If you’ve still got it, it does no harm to experiment with dropping optional Windows Components – the laundry list of accessories and do-dads that Windows offers is exhaustive and exhausting. You probably don’t use them all. And the extras are slowing down your pc. To ensure a computer fix slow down, toss the extras. If you want to reinstall them later, you can use the installation disc to reload.
Reduce the Number of Programs Running
If you are looking to computer fix slow startups, you should begin here. When you have a slow start up it is often caused by too many programs that are set to come on every time you boot. These programs run in the background while your pc is on, sucking up valuable memory and slowing your computer – fix slow downs by dropping unneccesary programs from the start up routine.
If you only have a couple programs set to initialize with startup and you’ve got a slow computer start up, then you probably have a registry problem.
Adjust visual effect settings
Windows OS comes set to give you an elaborate visual effect environment. It’s real pretty. And it’s a real memory hog.
So, you can customize what effects you want. For example, I don’t care about the drop shadows under my mouse arrow (I mean seriously!) so I uncheck that and other fancy stuff. You can skip customization and go right for complete speed optimization that will do the most to computer fix slow downs. Look for visual effect tab or menu in the control panel to make changes to the pretty, pretty graphics.
Disable indexing
Windows systems come set to index your files. It’s convenient, I suppose. But it’s a memory user. Disable it to get better speed.
Switch to NTFS
This is a file system that is best for speed, especially on Windows Vista.
Go to MY COMPUTER and right click on C: Go to PROPERTIES. If it says something other than NTFS (like FAT32 or HPFS), backup your pc before you make the following change.
Go to START -> RUN and type “CMD” and click on OK. Type in “CONVERT C: /FS: NTFS” and then enter. This will switch you to NTFS and you’ll have better hard disk optimization and some other performance enhancements.
Delete Old Restore Snapshots
If you’re pc is now running great, you can free up some more memory by deleting the old backups of your whole system. These are called restore points. Windows automatically makes these backups, so that if you encounter a virus or other major threat, you can return your pc to pre-virus condition with the restore snapshot.
You shouldn’t delete the old restore points unless you are confident that your most recent restore snapshot is a snapshot of a healthy system!
You can find this option under the “other” or “more” tab in the Disc Clean Up scan results.
Tools Every PC User Should Have
Once you’ve implemented your chosen speed optimization methods from the preceding list, you probably want to preserve your pc in this happy, speedy condition, right? What can you do? You don’t want to have computer fix slow downs again.
Good malware protection
Nothing will cripple your pc speed like malware. It’s software you can’t do without. Most of the free stuff is just not going to get the job done. Or, ironically, it may carry a trojan itself – lots of free software does. Invest in good anti-virus programs to keep your pc healthy and fast.
Firewall
If you are on the Internet without a firewall, you are asking for it. You will get a ton of malware dumped on your pc. So, get a good firewall. Lots of good anti-virus programs include one.
Registry cleaner
The registry is the command center for your Windows OS. It holds all the instructions that tell your pc how to respond to and interact with different programs and hardware. Over time and with everyday use, your registry gets loaded up with empty keys, invalid instructions, conflicting pathways, and even rootkit (malware hiding invisible in the registry). A corrupt registry results in slow downs, freezes, and errors. Everyone needs a registry cleaner software.
If Anti-Virus software is the hammer, Registry Cleaner is the needle-nose pliers in your pc maintenance toolbox.
Consider Upgrades
If you want to computer fix slow downs, there is no doubt that adding RAM, or a larger hard disk, or buying a new pc are solutions. But they are expensive solutions. Use them as a last resort.
You’re computer is probably just needing some maintenance.
Try the suggestions here first!