Friday, March 28, 2008

Why is my computer so slow?

Why is your computer running slow? It could be due to a number of issues, but in the end it's either a software or hardware related issue. The big culprits are file fragmentation, spyware, and not enough RAM in your computer.

Hardware issues

  • Computers running with less than 1GB of RAM are generally going to be slow
    Using a computer with less than 1GB RAM on Windows XP, and especially Vista can slow your programs to a crawl. Upgrading your RAM is the best and most cost-effective way to improve the speed of your computer. RAM memory upgrades are also cheap--typically less than $200, and should be closer to $100 for a decent upgrade.

    Mac users should not run OS X with less than 1GB of RAM, especially if they're planning on doing anything with music, movies, or photos.

  • Your computer does not have a dual-core processor
    Dual-core processors are not a necessity, however, you'll notice a significant speed improvement with a dual-core processor.

  • Your hard drive is overfilled
    If your hard drive has less than 20% of it's free space remaining, you could be noticing slowdowns because the computer has to look longer for files before opening them. With the size of today's hard drives, typically 320-500GB for a desktop computer, users should not have a problem with this. However, if you're running an older desktop, or an older laptop with less than an 60GB hard drive, you may have less free space than you think.

Software (operating system issues)

  • Windows XP has a half life
    As a computer is used frequently, the Windows operating system degrades over time. File fragmentation across the hard drive slows down an otherwise OK machine. Every computer user should know this and be defragmenting on a regular basis, especially if the machine is used regularly. Another solution, which will make your computer seem brand new is to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows. Reinstalling Windows will be like starting with a new computer--no fragmentation, no spyware, no viruses, no trial software.

  • Malware (Spyware, Viruses, Trojans)
    Most Windows users, unless savvy with their browsing habits, are likely to have spyware crawling on their machine slowing it down. Most computer users that complain that their machine is slow
I'd love to hear your comments and questions. . . .

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Most users give attention to spyware and RAM but never take fragmentation seriously. I think drive maintenance and fragmentation must be treated regularly as it helps to avoid stability problems and this saves on tech help costs and premature hardware replacements.

Anonymous said...

Laptop users, CLEAN YOUR FANS. Your computer clocks everything down when it gets too warm... it's ridiculous how much better your computer will seem to run with fresh air moving through there.

Anonymous said...

Also, using a good registry cleaner. I urge you to use this powerfull tool with caution. Most commercial antivirus software ships with a built in registry cleaner but you need to run it carefully or you can end up screwing things up. The fact of the matter is that XP or Vista is a big target for what I call ignoredware. What I mean is a lot of near-harmless spyware etc that is never detected or removed from the even the best scanners. This junk will accumulate over time and degrade your computer. In the windows world if you rely on performance then reinstalling your operating system every 4-6 months is a necessary evil.

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