Is Your Computer Running Slowly?
As you use your computer over the span of a year or more you may start to notice it running slower than it used to run when you first got it. It might take longer to boot up, load programs, or load web pages. These can be normal things that happen naturally as your computer gets older, or it could be due to viruses or programs called spyware that run in the background and use your computer's resources. This article provides some tips for helping your computer to run most efficiently.
Remove malicious programs or viruses
Spyware and viruses can significantly degrade the performance of your computer. To make sure you are properly protected from threats of these malicious programs, visit our Security Center page.
If you think that you have spyware, or would like to learn how to prevent security threats on your system, see our Spyware page for more information and removal instructions.
Defragment your computer monthly
As you use your computer over its lifetime you are bound to install new programs or upgrade your current programs to their latest versions. This is normal computer operation, but after time it may also cause your system to slow down. The more you install programs and move files around on your computer, the more your hard drive becomes "fragmented." From time to time it is helpful to run a "defragmenting" utility, which is built into most operating systems. The ITS Help Desk recommends defragmenting your computer as often as once a month and provides the following steps for Defragmenting Windows XP computers. For more information on the process of fragmenting and defragmenting, see this article from Wikipedia.
Remove unnecessary programs
If you have several programs running at once on your computer you may also experience reduced performance. The Help Desk recommends uninstalling programs that you no longer use to increase the speed and performance of your computer. This will also increase the amount of storage space you have on your computer. Go to Start | Control Panel or Start | Settings - Control Panel and double-click on the Add/Remove Programs icon to see a list of all the program that are installed on your computer. Go through the list and un-install programs that you no longer use. Important: Make sure you know what the program is and that you are positive you no longer need it before removing it! Otherwise you may accidentally remove pieces of other programs you need. However, if you don't recognize a program in your Add/Remove programs list, it could be spyware. If you are not sure what the program is, you can do a Internet search for the program by name and find information about the program before removing it.
Disable auto-startup for some applications
There are also some programs you might want to keep, but start up automatically and cause your computer to boot up slowly. Examples of a programs like this are QuickTime and instant messenger programs, which run in the background and can be viewed on the taskbar, near the clock. If you review through the preferences of these programs, you can usually disable auto-startup, which may increase the operating performance of your computer.
Add more RAM
Finally, a physical remedy for decreased speeds is adding more RAM to your computer. You can imagine the RAM in your computer as the workspace on your desk. The more you workspace you have, the more you can spread it out on your desk, and the more productive you can be. Likewise the more RAM you have, the more processes you can have running at one time. RAM can be purchased online or at many hardware retailers in town. You should check with the manufacturer of your computer to find out what type of RAM you need to purchase, as there are many different types.
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Last Updated: 04/24/2008