Why Is My Computer Running Slow?
Asking “why is my computer running slow?” can be answered by focusing in on what is causing the biggest drain on your computer’s resources. This article takes a look into the principal causes of performance issues and how these problems can be reduced.
Free Disk Space: Once a computer’s hard drive goes over 90% full then the operating systems will struggle to even run regular applications. Over 95% and your computer will start freezing or crashing repeatedly. Empty the recycle bin to make some initial space gains then start removing unused software (via the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs).
Run A Virus Check: Trojan viruses are especially good at using up CPU and your internet bandwidth for completing their various hacks (mass emails, etc.). Run a full system scan on all drives, external drives and memory/thumb drives for issues using an updated anti-virus application.
Disk Drives: If you have not defragmented your disk drives before then it is time to do so. Use the standard Windows defragmentation tool every few weeks to reduce the number of data segments on the hard drive (less fragments reduces data access times and RAM requirements).
Running Applications: Close down as many applications and services as possible. If you are not using them then shut them down. You can also manually choose the services that run at startup using MSConfig or tools like the Reimage PC Repair tool. Reducing the number of services can speed up boot times even from hibernation mode.
Performance Options: Since Windows 98, the new operating systems have included configurable performance options (Control Panel – System – Advanced) that allow you to pick and choose how CPU and RAM are allocated. Reducing the number of visual effects is especially useful on computers with poor graphics cards. In addition, tweak the virtual memory minimum and maximum settings to allow a larger paging file size. Setting it to 1.5 to 3 times the quantity of RAM that your computer has is a good starting point.
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