 Computers
are supposed to speed up our productivity…to help us do more in less time.
But what
do you do when your computer is running so slow that it’s keeping you from
getting your work done?
Before you
kick it to the curb, try these easy, do-it-yourself suggestions to help your
system run & perform better.
Why do
computers get slow in the first place? There are lots of reasons. When you first
setup a new system, it’s usually fast and responsive. Applications open quickly,
websites load instantly and startup and shut down take no time at all. But after
a few months of serious use (installing and removing programs, downloading files
from the Internet and general wear & tear) it’s normal for things to slow down a
bit. This is where computer maintenance comes in…your disks and your file system
need to be maintained for them to continue operating at peak performance.
According
to Microsoft (see link at the end of this article), there are 4 key things you
can do to increase the performance of your PC:
1) Free Up
Some Disk Space
You can
speed things up by deleting the unneeded files from your hard drive. Most recent
versions of Windows include a nice utility called “Disk Cleanup” that does just
what the name suggests…it cleans up your disks! It will scan your whole drive
and return a list of files you can safely delete, which will free up storage
space and also make your system more responsive. Temporary Internet files, temp
files from documents, downloaded program files, and even items in your recycle
bin can all be found and deleted using this tool. I would also recommend
uninstalling any programs you no longer need, and any Windows components you
don’t use. Once this is done, you can move on to the next step.
2) Speed
Up System Access To Your Data
The more
you use your hard drive, the more “fragmented” it gets. Simply put, after a
while you start getting large gaps on your hard drive. Windows has to work
around these gaps, and it does so by putting pieces of your data on various
areas of your hard drive. The farther apart the pieces of your data are on the
drive, the longer it takes Windows to put them back together again, which
results in very slow performance. To fix this problem, you should run the
Windows “Disk Defragmenter” regularly. This built-in tool will remove most of
the gaps on your hard drive and place all your data in close proximity, which
saves the operating system time…and that means a faster computer for you!
3) Find
and Repair Any Errors On Your Disks
Sometimes
sectors of your hard drive can go bad. There are lots of causes for this issue,
but the bottom line is that bad sectors can slow down your hard drive
performance and even cause you to lose data. Fortunately, Windows includes a
utility to deal with this: it’s called “Check Disk”. When you run Check Disk, it
will scan your whole hard drive and find and fix errors, including bad sectors.
Once you run this utility and fix any problems it finds, you’re ready for the
final step.
4) Deal
With Any Spyware Installed On Your Computer
I hate
spyware! As a technician, nothing frustrates me more than a system infested with
adware, spyware and downloaded Internet junk. Some of this stuff is really hard
to remove, and the privacy issues surrounding spyware are also serious concerns.
Show me a computer full of spyware and I’ll show you a computer that’s running
way slower than it should be. Microsoft has released a free product called
“Windows
Defender”, and it works great for not only cleaning up existing
spyware, but also for blocking it from getting installed in the first place. If
you protect your system from spyware, it will reward you by performing better
and lasting longer before requiring expensive repairs.
A better
commercial solution is also available, called
Spyware IT.
Once all
the spyware is gone and your disks are working optimally, your system should be
much faster and more responsive. If you need instructions about how to find and
use the various maintenance utilities mentioned here, this article from
Microsoft (as mentioned before) will help:
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx
* * *
Donnie
Schexnayder is a ministry technology expert. He holds industry certifications
from Microsoft and CompTIA and has over 10 years experience in supporting
churches and Christian ministries with technology. With a mixture of passion and
expertise, Donnie helps ministries advance their mission of bringing the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth by using cutting-edge technology.
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Four
Ways to
Speed Up
a
Sluggish
PC
