I suppose you often say “why is my computer running slowly” when you try to open a program or run several programs at once. Surely most people will tell you – just get a new one! This is a bad proposal. Before you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new computer, you should make some speed adjustments to run your system at a higher speed.
System Registry Errors
This is the most common factor that causes your system to run so slowly over time. Many system users do not know how to maintain their computer registry and are not aware of its importance. The computer registry contains registry files that provide your programs with the commands they need to run. Sooner or later, most entries will become messy and corrupt, and your system will take a while to find the appropriate entries. In more complex situations, the system freezes if the entries are completely missing.
To repair your system registry, you can download and install a registry cleaner software to scan your registry for errors. Once the errors are found, you can run the registry cleanup program to remove the errors. The whole process takes only about 10 minutes. After you use a registry cleaner, you will find that your computer works just like a newly purchased one. Listed below are some of the best registry cleaners:
Insufficient Memory
Insufficient memory can also be a reason why your PC is so slow. There are two types of system memory that directly affect the performance of your system: RAM memory and graphics memory.
RAM plays an important role in the performance rate of your computer. The higher the RAM memory of your system, the better it will work. Windows 7, for example, will perform poorly if it only has 512 MB of RAM memory.
Graphics memory doesn’t have much of an impact on the performance of your system unless you’re playing 3D games, editing photos or using video editing software. If you are a designer, advertiser or gamer, you need high-end graphics and RAM memory.
Adware and Spyware
This is another factor that causes your computer to run slowly. It is found that almost all systems connected to the Internet access are affected by adware and spyware. These files remain on your system to collect information about the websites you visit and return the data to its source. One or two pieces of spyware won’t cause a serious problem, but if your system is affected by hundreds of spyware, it will certainly run slowly.
To remove spyware, download and install an anti-spyware cleaner program to find and remove all spyware programs that are present on your computer. Below you will find some of the best anti-spyware software available on the market:
Remove Unused Programs
This is one of the main reasons your computer runs slowly. When you buy a new computer, it’s likely to have a vast number of programs and applications pre-installed on it. Old computers can easily collect them over time. Most of them you will never use, and some of them often run in the background invisibly, which slows down the performance of your computer.
To remove these programs, go to “Start” -> “Control Panel” -> “Uninstall a program” and scroll through the list and uninstall/remove the programs you think you won’t need.
If you’re not sure which ones to keep and which ones to remove, use PC Decrapifier – a freeware that helps you to figure out what to keep and what not to keep.
Remove Temporary Files
Whenever you use a web browser (e.g. Mozilla Firefox), your entire surfing history remains in the RAM memory of your PC. The same happens when you download and install a program file. It’s like carrying the package of your newly purchased television with you, clogging up the space on your computer. To remove all of this junk, click the Windows key + R combination to open the Run utility, type “%temp%” in the Run dialog box, and then delete all of the files that appear in that window. Then go to the trash and empty it.
Fragmented Hard Disk
A fragmented hard disk is also a major reason why your computer may be running slowly. It is necessary to defragment your hard drive to help the system get better organized and to improve performance. Think of your hard drive as someone who actually wants to be organized but is always in a hurry. Because time is running out on your hard drive, it may store parts of a file here and parts of it there, instead of having them all together. This works well for a while, but everything gets scattered over time and it takes your hard drive longer to find the right material and keep going. Defragmentation is like a literally huge cleanup. Your hard disk will set everything back up in the right place and can, therefore, work faster.
Virus or Malware Infection
Slow computer performance and a slowdown of the Internet can be a sign of a malware attack. To find out if you have a virus problem, use anti-spyware and anti-virus software such as Avast, Avira, AVG, Microsoft Security Essentials, etc.
Restart Your System
From time to time it is a nice idea to reboot the system. A system can only finish a few of its major updates by restarting it. Restarting your system can also clean up memory resources tied up by crazy applications and programs.
