Freezing, crashing, shut downs, if you are tired of dealing with a slow computer, now is the time to speed it up. As you use a computer, you will add files to it, delete and add programs, and install a number of cookies on it when you browse the Internet. Without a regular clean-up of your system, your computer will start to crash, freeze, or simply become incredibly slow.
Teens are known for loading a number of programs at the same time, which is why it causes the computer to go slowly. When they have chat rooms, social networking sites, and a handful of other programs open, it is easy for the computer to run slowly.
Instead of buying a new computer, you can do a few simple things to speed up your computer. Start with your control panel. This is the easiest way to clean out your system to make it run quickly again. While you are in the control panel, sort through all the non-essential programs to get rid of all the unused programs. If you have another hard drive, move over some of the programs that take up a lot of space like your tax programs, QuickBooks, or Quicken. Moving them over to a new hard drive is a great way to free up the main hard drive so the computer can keep all of the programs you use often organized. The recycle bin starts to get overloaded quickly so make an effort to clean it out at least once a week or so.
Sometimes your disk needs to have a defrag. To run a defrag, click on My Computer and then search for defrag. The help section will take you through the process of how to defrag your system. It will help to link programs together, making the system run much faster.
A registry clean is another way to help your computer run much faster. Many times the computer runs slowly because the registry has problems. When the registry has a problem, the system has to work through programs that have breaks, causing the system to “think” twice as hard to find the information you need. A simple registry clean-up will boost the performance of your computer. You can download a registry clean for free or you can buy some software at your local retailer or office supply store.
Many computers are running slowly because they have viruses and tracking cookies that are causing it to run slowly. Having a good anti-virus program is one of the simplest things you can install to protect your computer and make it run faster. Be sure to install an anti-virus program that comes with malware and spyware protection. This will keep your computer safe from harmful threats and it will keep some of the tracking cookies off your computer.
Do you have wi-fi? If you have wireless service and you do not protect it with a password, you can get some of your neighbors and others that decide to piggyback on it. When this happens, your Internet will run slowly. The best thing to do is to protect it with a password and even consider turning off your modem when you are not using the Internet. The location of your wi-fi might also be the problem. If you have it hooked up in the basement and you are on the top floor, it may be hard for your computer to detect and keep a signal.
Adding additional memory to your computer is a wise idea if you see yourself adding more programs to the computer in the future. Additional memory isn’t always the solution though so it is important to perform some routine maintenance first.