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Tips on How to Fix a Slow Computer

Everyone expects his or her computer to give them the best processing speed and performance when carrying out tasks. The sad thing is that this is not sometimes the case as we most time experience the phenomenon of a slow computer, which could be a quite frustrating experience. Highlighted in this post are some of the ways to deal with a slow computer just in case you have such a problem when running a Windows PC or laptop. This post is to a degree a spin on the computer maintenance tips published a couple of weeks ago.

Desktop Computer

Close Background Applications

Sometimes when you are making use of your computer, there are certain applications which may not be opened by you, but which may be running in the background. The working of these applications in the background contributes to the slow computer problem because they reduce computer resources (processing capability and memory). A look at the system tray of your computer, at the bottom right of the screen, will give you a slight idea of the programs running in the background making your computer run slow. To make your computer faster, you can end some of the processes via the Task Manager by right clicking on the Task Bar, select Task Manager, click on Process tab and end all unneeded processes. But make sure you understand what each process does before ending them because some of the processes may be very important for the efficient functioning of your computer.

Check Your Hard Drive

Another cause of a slow computer has to do with the hard drive. If you have a clogged hard drive, slow computer is a possible consequence. It is ideal to have more than 15 percent of your hard drive space free, as this will be needed for the important processes on your PC or laptop. Make sure that all redundant programs on your hard drive, especially on the C: drive, are regularly deleted to free space for other things. And to guard against the problem of disk fragmentation, which could make huge demand on your system’s resources, you need to defrag your computer regularly, say, every other month using a utility meant for that purpose such as the one integrated in Windows. If you can afford one, a solid-state drive (SSD) will give you the best computer speed.

Ensure Adequate RAM

It is important that your computer have sufficient free system memory to avoid any problem. Slow computer may result if you have less than 256 MB of RAM available at a time. The RAM needs of the types of desktop computers and notebooks coming out these days, it is essential that you have a minimum of 1 GB in-built system memory, preferably 2 GB.

Laptop

Check for Errors and Clean Disk

Errors on the system could also cause slow computer problem as well. You can check for errors that could be causing problem on your computer by right clicking on a drive and selecting “Properties.” Click on “Tools” and select “Error Checking” to scan for damaged files that are capable of slowing the performance of your computer. These days, it appears like newer Windows has inbuilt capability to do this during maintenance. You should also consider using the Disk Cleanup utility in Windows or a more effective third-party tool to remove unwanted files.

Take Care of Malware and Viruses

Viruses, Trojan horses, spyware and adware can all combine to make your computer to run slow because they literally take over the running of your computer, so you need to get yourself programs that could help you remove them, such as antivirus and malware removal programs.

Work on Your Drivers and Clean Registry

You also need to update your drivers regularly and make sure they are not conflicting to avoid a slow computer. All conflicting drivers can be detected by starting your computer in Safe Mode (holding F8 key during start-up) and going to the Control Panel > System > Devices. Conflicting drivers are indicated by yellow or red marks so that you can fix them appropriately. You can also use a registry cleaner to remove all unnecessary keys left by uninstalled programs, as this may slow down the performance of your computer. But you really need to be cautious about this.

There you have it. Hope all these help in fix your slow computer.

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