Computer Running Slow?
Posted on January 31, 2008
Filed Under Slow Performance |
Is your computer running slow? This is the number one complaint from people with home computers.
There are many reasons while a computer may be performing poorly. Here are some of them.
- Virus infection
- Adware
- Spyware
- Programs running on startup
- Operating system is “bloated”
- Fragmented hard drive
- Low on system memory
- System is overheating
How do we fix these?
Virus Infections - Antivirus protection is a must for any computer. All anti-virus programs are pretty effective in stopping and removing virus infections. However you must keep them updated. I recommend you turn on the auto-update feature. This will notify you or update the anti-virus program automatically. Trend Micro, McAfee, Symantec and AVG are all very good. AVG is free and very effective. Trend Micro has an online house call virus scan for those of you that do not have a anti-virus program. Run virus scans weekly. If you can schedule scans when you are not using the computer, the scan will not interfere with your computer time. Viruses will slow your computer down and harm the operating system. Get rid of them!
Adware/Spyware -This is the most common computer problem. Adware and Spyware have become an epidemic on the Internet. They are found everywhere. I have seen computers infected so badly with adware and spyware that they were rendered useless. You could not even launch an application or move the mouse. With manifestations of this magnitude I recommend formating the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system and applications. If your computer has a factory system restore, by all means run it. There are a few Adware/Spyware removing programs available that will do a pretty good job removing any malware. Ad Aware, Windows Defender and Spybot work pretty well and will remove most if not all of the adware/spyware on your computer. Some of the anti-virus software will also remove adware and spyware.
Programs running on startup - When some programs are installed, they add a shortcut to startup. This tells Windows to run this program every time it starts up. The program will run in the background and consume CPU time and system memory. This will slow your computer down. How do you stop this?
- Click on the Start button
- Select Programs
- Select Startup
- Remove unnecessary shortcuts
Operating System is “bloated” - This is typical Microsoft Windows phenomenon that occurs over time or when too many applications have been installed. The operating system registry gets larger and larger as time goes by and when you install applications. The operating system starts to slow down and run less efficiently. You can uninstall any applications that you do not use and see if that helps. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. The best remedy for this situation is to reinstall the operating system or do a factory system restore. The system will run as if it were just taken out of the box. Just like new!
Fragmented Hard Drive - When an operating system writes and deletes files, the files may become fragmented. Fragmentation occurs when a file is broken in pieces and written to disk. When this occurs it slows down system performance because the hard drive heads must read two or more pieces of data for one file. You can use the Windows Defragment utility to remedy this situation. You can find the defragment utility by:
- Right click on My Computer
- Select Manage
- Click on Disk Defragmenter
- Select the partition you wish to defragment
- Click on Analyze
- After the Analysis is complete, click on Defragment
It may take a while to defragment a large hard drive so set it aside and let it go.
Low System Memory - Inadequate system memory will cause a computer to perform poorly. If your system has less than 512 MB of RAM, then you may benefit from increasing the amount of system memory or RAM. If your computer is running low on system memory and you increase it, you will see a huge difference in performance. It’s amazing how much of a difference it will make. I would recommend 1 GB of RAM for most systems and 2 GB for Vista systems. Always buy quality components for your computer. Viking is one of the best brands of system memory (RAM). Be sure to purchase the correct type of memory for your computer. I can help you with that. Just post a comment and I’ll help you.
System is Over-heating - If you experience system freezing or locking up then your system may be over-heating. Over-heating occurs when the motherboard or CPU do not get adequate ventilation and heat transfer cannot occur. Make sure that all fans are working especially the heat sink fan. Take a good look at the heat sink. It should not be full of dirt and lint. Blow it out with a can of compressed air to remove all obstructions. Air must flow easily through the fins of the heat sink. Make sure the heat sink fan is in good working order. I also recommend that you do not keep your computer enclosed in a cabinet. It should be out in the open where there is good air circulation.