In an age when speed is more of a necessity than a desire, we all want our computers to be running at their full speed potential. It is a fact that the older your computer is and the slower the CPU is in your computer, is directly conducive to the speed of your system as a whole. Some may find themselves upgrading their computer systems to the point where there is nothing left for them to upgrade. You may find yourself stuck with a computer that takes several seconds to open a program and one that takes several minutes to turn off or on.
There are many solutions to the slow computer system problem. Some range from no cost (but require your time) and some require a small investment and your speed is increased exponesially. Below are some options that you may look over and consider to speed up your slow P.C. It becomes a matter how much time or money one wants to sink into their present system and how much desire one has to maintain it.
- Try the defrag tool listed under accessories and system tools. Sometimes computers get bogged down with files that are out of order. Fragmented (part on one sector part on another) files are hard for your system to locate and to bring up hence the slowness of operation. I have heard it said (as a technician) that it takes hours to defragment a hard drive. My advice to this is having patience and letting your system go through the process. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the results of the defragmentation process.
- Try using registry fix application software. The software can be downloaded on a trial basis from numerous sites on the Internet. I will say in advance that some downloaded trial software will only make one aware of the problems and not correct them until the user registers (or purchases) the software. That being said it is a small investment for a tool that can make a great deal of difference in the slow computer dilemma. A decent registry fix program can be purchased for under $30 from a site or a computer store's software department. Fixing your registry can make a world of difference in regards to speed.
- Take programs out of the start menu of the computer. If you have over five icons in your taskbar that need to be loaded each time you start up, you may be in for some waiting. To do this use the “Run” option near your start button on your toolbar. In the run box, type “configsys”. You will see a box appear that shows you all of the programs in the start menu. Chose “selective start” and uncheck all of the programs that you do not need running when you first start your computer. DO NOT uncheck a program from the list if you do not now what it is or does. This could cause your computer to become more of a problem than the slow starts and slow shut downs.
- Take the time to use your add/remove programs tool in your control panel. Some programs are constantly running in the background and you may come across a program or two that you or no one else uses anymore. Removing unused programs not only makes the computer's hard drive less of a mess of allocations, but it frees up hard drive space as well.
- Consider upgrading your CPU (central processing unit) chip. This will be an investment of $100 or a bit more but the speed difference will be well worth it. The CPU handles all the information that you input into the computer and is a conduit for the hard drive. The faster the CPU, the faster your system. (After a costly upgrade like this, one must follow the above recommendations so that the investment is not in vain)
- Consider purchasing more RAM (random access memory) for your computer. Ram is not cheap but the upgrade allows your computer to multitask a faster rate and will make a very noticeable speed difference.
- Virus scan you computer on a regular basis. I have found that some of the major, more popular scanners allow “Backdoor Trogans” to enter you system. Go with a download of one of the free virus scanners (AVG or Avast) and thoroughly scan your computer for trogans and viruses. Don't forget to update the scanner before you begin this process.
- Remove the adware from your computer system. Adware is an insurmountable problem with the Internet these days. There are free adware removers online and you are at liberty to download them. Bare in mind that if you have ad-supported programs (such as some file sharing programs) they will not run properly with the ads removed. Run your adware removers and put the programs that you want left alone in the “exempt” list. .
These tips will have you running a quicker smother system if followed correctly. Be sure that you read the users guided to any programs that you may download to fix a slow computer very carefully before you implement them.
