Speed Up a Slow PC

Speed up a Slow Computer

There are many causes of PC "slowness". Generally if your computer is more than 5 years old, it's going to be showing it's age more every day. In our experience, most computers have a realistic "useful life expectancy" of 5 to 10 years. After 10 years, if your machine is still running well then you've got a trooper! Common causes of a computer getting slower over time are:

Lack of adequate memory

Today's desktop operating systems (Windows XP and Vista) require a minimum of 512MB of memory and a recommended 1GB to 2GBs of memory. Memory is the single most cost effective way to dramatically increase the speed of your computer - especially if you are using multiple programs at once.

The quickest way to see how much memory your computer is using is to press the Control and Alt keys at the same time and then press the Delete key on your keyboard. Next, choose Start Task Manager (or click the Task Manager button) and finally click the Performance tab. In the Memory area (or PF Usage in XP) of the window you should see a little bar graph with a number at the bottom. This number is an approximation of the amount of memory your computer is requiring at the moment to run. If this number is greater than the amount of memory your computer contains, it's time for an upgrade.

Malware on your computer

Malware (adware, spyware or viruses) can cause a computer to slow to a crawl. These invasive applications are designed to cause advertisements to pop-up on your screen or to transmit information from your computer to another computer (or computers) somewhere on the Internet. They can also damage your computer or personal files, stop programs from running correctly and generally make your computing experience very frustrating. Basically, these types of applications can cause your CPU (the brain of your computer) to work so hard that it doesn't have any resources left for anything else.

Many times these applications aren't harmful per se (like a virus) but can wreak havoc on your productivity and your computer's stability. Removal of these applications using a malware removal tool is the most effective way to solve this problem. Many times though, the process requires a more complex solution like modifying your Windows Registry or removing files from your hard drive with a boot disk.

Beta Software or Driver Problems

With so much software being released as beta (i.e. "you test it for us") these days, many users are discovering that their computers have gotten slower or are crashing more frequently after installing a beta software program. Use beta software with caution as many times it will run fine with occasional issues, other times the effect on your computer can require a complete reinstall of Windows to correct.

Old or incorrectly installed video card drivers can make your computer appear to be running slowly because the screen takes so long to refresh or "draw". This problem can present itself after a motherboard replacement or when a new video card is installed but the applicable driver isn't installed afterward.

As you can see, there are many issues that can cause a computer to run slowly. We can identify most sources of speed related computer issues and resolve them quickly for you.

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