Computer Running Really Slow

“Why is the computer running really slow?” is a question that is heard in households around the world. With the computer being, most likely, the machine that gets used the most, is it any wonder that people start to panic when its performance starts to decline? After all, when we first turn them on, our computers are masters of speed and we are amazed and just how quickly each program opens up and how easy it is to click around to the different windows and screens in our system. Of course, over time this slows down because, as with any machine, age can provide a great deal of wear and tear on the computer’s processor and little mechanical parts. So some slowing down is natural. However, if you notice that your computer is taking longer to perform simple tasks than it takes you to, say, cook a meal, and then it is time to check things out.

There is any number of reasons for the computer running really slow.

Perhaps your hard drive is simply too full. The more information you store in your hard drive, the more reason there is for your computer running really slow. Just because you have two hundred gigabytes does not mean that your goal should be to use all of those two hundred gigabytes. Look through your documents folder and see if there might be some files that you can get rid of. Burn your pictures to disk, CD, or upload them to a photo sharing website like Flickr or Photobucket. Pictures take up a lot of room and by taking them off of your hard drive you will be both freeing up that room and ensuring that, should your computer crash, your pictures will not be lost. Of course, this logic works for just about any file in your computer.

Look through the programs you have installed. Chances are there are at least a few that you don’t use anymore (or even that you haven’t ever used). Make sure you know what each one does and uninstall any of the programs you haven’t used in the last six months or so, provided that the program is not essential to the functioning of your computer. If you don’t know what a program is for, simply look it up online! There are a great deal of websites designed to tell you what programs you actually need on your computer and where you can find web-based versions of the rest.

Run an anti-virus check on your computer. Viruses are pesky little problems and often you won’t know that you’ve downloaded one until you do a virus check. Of course there is a ton of information available on how to avoid them and a simple web search will yield many websites devoted to just that. Viruses are a top reason for a computer running really slow.

Your computer could be running slowly for any number of reasons, but before you panic and buy a whole new system, run a few simple checks and maintenance routines.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #1

Check your internet cache. Not only does every single page you look at on the internet get stored into a history folder in the depths of your computer, but every single part of those pages gets saved as a separate file in what is known as the cache folder. Yes, every single tiny graphic gets stored in its own file. That green dot that repeats twelve times as an illustration of bullet points? Twelve separate gif files in your cache. Make sure you clean out the cache often.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #2

Ad ware is the devil. Ad ware can be attached to your computer by any number of sites (though it is most famously used by sites of an "adult" nature). This ad ware keeps track of where you go online like a cookie does, but ad ware is typically a covert program that slows down the computer to make it easier to track where you go. Run a spy ware or ad aware program on a regular basis to keep these programs and files at bay.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #3

Defragment your hard drive regularly. Sometimes parts of your files get corrupted. The more files that are corrupted or "fragmented," the more slowly your computer will run. A defragmentation of your hard drive should be done on a regular basis. It is a long process, so the defragmenting program is best run overnight.