If Your Computer Is Running Slowly - Execute These Steps To Repair It
In the building where I work I hear people say “my computer is running slow” all the time. There are perhaps a dozen people in my office & most have more than one PC. Also we are almost exclusively a PC shop very few Macs.
Having dealt with the problem successfully myself I’m now considered the office expert. So now when people say “my computer is running slow,” they look to me to help them deal with the problem. No worries I’m happy to help.
Here is the process I use to help them get their computer running faster or even like new. First I obtain a ‘history,’ kind of like a physician would with a new patient. My first question deals with how old the computer is. If it’s really old say three years or more I suggest they replace it with a newer version. The reason is that as time moves forward fewer & better application software products are offered. These newer products make use of the latest hardware capabilities. As a result if you are trying to run a new software on an old machine you are in essense asking it to do something it was never designed to do.
Next if the computer in question is less than three years old I ask the user if he or she has kids. Granted on the face of it it seems like an odd question at this point in time. But hear me out. If the user has children & the children have access to the computer for example a laptop & they have used it to play games then the computer is likely loaded with all kinds of malware spyware viruses advertisements you name it. Games deliver a huge payload of unwanted digital “junk” that gums up the works. This results in your computer slowing down as it labors under the load of all this additional processing.
The fix here is to first remove the games & stop letting the children play games on the computer.
If the games have been uninstalled & the children are no longer downloading & the PC is still running slow the next thing is to do a virus scan. In order to do a virus scan you need to obtain access to software specifically designed for the job & run it on your computer. The first time you run the software you will be amazed by how many viruses it finds. Computers that have been operating for any amount of time typically will have aquired dozens of viruses or more. Not all viruses are able to do damage to your computer but some do. Most of the time they just gum up your computer & that begins to slow it down.
Okay if you remove the viruses & your computer is still running slowly the next step is to see if there is any spyware on your computer. If so it may be responsible for the slowing performance of your computer. Spyware is designed to steal information from your computer without you knowing. In order for spyware to do its work it needs to take processing capacity form computer. This results in slower performance because the computer processor now has more work to do. The processor has to do its normal work & the tasks assigned to it by the spyware.
If clearing out all of the spyware does not result in your computer picking up some speed the next thing to do is check the registry. The registry is central part of the Windows operating system. It’s kind of like a master file in that it governs many aspects of the operating system & the computer. The registry file can become corrupt as any file can. It can also be hacked by spyware or a virus. You need to run a registry check & repair program to find the issues & repair them.
At this point the only things left to do are to make sure your operating system is fully patched & up to date & to run a hardware diagnostic. Your Windows operating system will tell you when there is patch available that you should run. All you have to do it click to run it & wait for the download to complete. As for the hardware diagnostic you will need to find a software package that is designed to run such a diagnostic for your computer. In all likelihood your computer came with a diagnostic when it was new. It may have come on a CD it my be loaded onto the hard drive & it may be something you can get form manufacturer’s website.
There are lots of good software programs on the market that do some or all of the steps listed above. They can usually be had for well under $100 & they work well. Do a Google search & read some reviews. You don’t need the best repair product just one that will do the job & most of them will do that.
For more information go to my computer is running slow.
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