Let’s face it; anyone who owns a computer ends up becoming annoyed and frustrated at times, especially when the computer slows down to a snail’s pace. While this can sometimes be painfully obvious whenever you try to load a program, it can also mean that your computer takes forever to boot up.
Irrespective of what’s causing it, slow computers are something which millions of users have to deal with daily. Even though there is no guaranteed cure for a slow computer, there are however four things you can do to speed it up.
#1. Reboot your computer
You’d be amazed at just how many people never bother rebooting their computers, considering that this in itself is one of the biggest culprits in terms of slowing down a computer. After all, so many people now use 24 hour Internet access, with their computers being a part of their daily life, but what they don’t realize is, all computers need to be rebooted frequently in order for them to function as they should.
You need to bear in mind that there are several programs which don’t shut down completely even when you close them. Furthermore, many software programs tend to have memory leakage, and over a period of time this can have an adverse effect on your computer’s available memory. Obviously, when your computer is short on available memory it inevitably begins slowing down until it reaches a snail’s pace. By rebooting your computer you’ll be allowing it to reset its memory and you’d be surprised how this alone can result in your computer speeding up.
#2. Upgrading memory
A computers available memory can be likened, albeit loosely, to the muscles of the computer. If you have weak, or low, memory, that is likely one of the biggest issues that you have concerning your slow PC. Anymore, 512MB RAM should be the bare minimum, and that’s only if you are running Windows XP or an earlier operating system; if you are using Windows 7, you need at least 1GB, and Windows Vista requires at least 1.5GB of memory. Ideally, though, you should consider having at least 2GB of memory in your PC if you have a 64-bit system, you play games, or you like to run more than a few applications simultaneously.
#3. Defragment your computer
The bottom line is; a hard drive which is never defragmented will always be inefficient. You can be rest assured that if you have not run a defragment tool, you’ll be sacrificing a considerable amount of speed. This is because when the files on your computer become fragmented, your machine has to work much harder in order for you to be able to access those files.
Bear in mind that Microsoft has included a defragmenting tool with all the operating systems for a very good reason, in that it should be used at least once every 30 days in order to ensure that your hard drive does not become overly fragmented. If you have not used in the tool for an extended period of time, you’ll notice to a substantial difference in speed once you do.
#4. Using a registry cleaner
Just as a defragmenting tool helps to organize your hard drive, a registry cleaner helps to remove unnecessary clutter from the windows registry, bearing in mind that the registry can be compared to being a computer’s brain. Whenever you choose to install new programs, or remove old programs or drivers, a significant amount of data is either added or removed from your computer’s registry. Unfortunately however, the vast majority of programs fail to uninstall properly, and this often results in a certain amount of data remaining in the registry which should’ve in fact been removed. Of course, these pockets of data do nothing other than clutter up your registry and cause conflicts between programs and drivers. This in turn results in your system becoming increasingly slow, not to mention the fact that you’ll also begin experiencing frequent error messages. By running an effective registry cleaning utility regularly, you’ll be doing much in terms of improving the overall speed of your computer.
In the vast majority of cases the speed of a computer can be improved simply by applying the tips which have been mentioned above. Even though so many people experience their computer slowing down, that doesn’t mean it’s any easier to cope with, particularly if it gets to the stage where the computer will need to go in for repairs. Providing you put the above mentioned tips to use, you’ll at least be able to enjoy having an efficient computer rather than becoming frustrated with a sluggish machine.
