Help, my computer is so SLOW!

I constantly hear users complaining that their computer is too slow. Whether it’s waiting for Windows to boot, or waiting on a program that won’t open, its a frustrating thing to just sit there and wait. Thankfully there are a number of easy “do-it-yourself” procedures that you can follow to make your life easier though!

The first thing I check on a slow computer is the number of programs that are running. You can determine what is running by looking at the icons in the bottom right corner of your desktop next to the time. Most of the programs are set to automatically start up when the computer is booted, but there is a way to prevent this. Click on “start” then go to “run”. A dialog box will appear then, and you will type “msconfig” in the field thats prompting you. This will then bring up the System Configuration Utility. Look for the tab that says “startup”. Under that tab you will see a list of programs. The ones with a check mark to the left are the programs that are set to load when the computer is booted up. Simply scan through this list and find programs that you do not use every day, or do not want loaded at startup, and uncheck them. Some examples may be iTunes, Windows Messenger, or web browser task bars. Be very careful that you do not choose important Windows executables that are needed to load the operating system. You probably want to double check before you decide on these. Your computer will need to be rebooted in order for the changes to take effect.

Next you will want to find programs that you have forgotten about or simply do not use any longer. These can take up valuable disk space on your hard drive and prevent your computer from performing well. Click on “start” and go to the “control panel”. In the control panel, you will see an “add or remove programs” option. Click it to bring up a list of all programs installed on your hard drive. Find anything that you have not used for a while or don’t need anymore. You must also be very careful here, because you may not be able to get any of these back in the future. You may want to reboot your computer again when this is completed.

Lastly the disk defragmenter is a useful tool used for ensuring top performance in your hard drive. Over time your computer slows down due to files being scattered in pieces on your hard drive. This tool gathers those pieces and arranges them in “chunks”. To do this click on “start”, go to “all programs” and then find “accessories” and click “system tools”. There you will find the disk defragmenter. First you will have to select which drive and click analyze. When that is finished analyzing, you click “defragment”. This can take a while so it may be a good idea to run it at night. It is possible to have the defragmenter run automatically once a week at a pre-determined time as well if you so choose. This way you won’t have to worry about it in the future.

Completing all of the above is a great way to jumpstart your computer to work more efficiently, but the best way to improve your computer’s performance is to buy additional sticks of RAM. Memory (ie: RAM) is very inexpensive now and will really be a good long term investment. The installation process is simple, and can make all the difference in the speed of your computer!

Written By: “Clang” @ Halski Systems in Gainesville, GA