Top Ten Ways On How To Fix A Slow Running Computer

When you add a file or a new program to a new computer, the hard drive is relatively empty so new data is saved to the hard drive in one whole block. When you need to use that information, the computer can quickly access it because it is all in one place.

As you use your computer adding files and applications, the hard drive begins to fill up. Deleting files or removing programs creates small empty gaps among the other data that the computer will reuse. After awhile, the computer is no longer saving information in large blocks. Instead, it stores information in the many little empty nooks and crannies of your hard drive. The result is that one program or file is broken up, or fragmented, into little pieces and stored in many different areas of the hard disk. The computer ingeniously keeps track of the addresses of each piece of data and puts it all together when it is needed. Yet, obviously, the more broken up the information is, the longer it takes to access the data and the slower the computer becomes. To fix a slow running computer we need to defrag it, read below to find out step by step how to do this!

1.From the start menu point to "all programs"



2.Point to "Accessories"



3.Point to "System Tools"



4. Click on "Disk Defragmenter



5. The disk defragmenter will display the hard drives on your computer. Just select and click Defragment.

If you have multiple hard drives here, defrag each drive.

Every Microsoft Windows operating system has a registry. Your system registry holds a wealth of information about your computer, which is why we constantly hear from users that after using their PC for a short length of time, it no longer works the way it used to. This is due in part to invalid entries that exist in your system registry, that might exist because of software you are no longer using or software that was not properly removed. By removing these invalid entries, you can significantly increase the performance of your PC.

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If you want to speed up a computer you have to free up disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer quite a bit by doing this. Windows comes with a disk cleanup tool that helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete without messing anything up, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files. This is a necessary step when looking to fix a slow running computer

Use Disk Cleanup to:

Remove temporary Internet files.

Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).

Empty the Recycle Bin.

Remove Windows temporary files.

Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.

Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.

2.
In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list. (If you have multiple hard drives you will have to select which one to scan.)

Choose the files that you want to delete.

3.
Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.

4.
When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click OK.

Look below for more info on freeing up disk space.

Offline Files

Users with slower dial up connections and those using laptops frequently make websites they use often available offline. Depending on how many levels deep you save the sites, they can eat up gigabytes of hard drive space very quickly. Worse than taking up space, the sites often contain outdated information. A good candidate for deletion.

Compress Old Files

Unlike the other categories, Compress Old Files doesn't delete any files from the drive. It compresses files that Windows hasn't accessed for a specified period of time. The files are still available, but there will be a slight increase in access times because the files will be decompressed the next time they are accessed. Note that when Compress Old Files is highlighted an Options button appears. Clicking it will allow you to set the number of days to wait before an unaccessed file is compressed.

There may be other categories that appear in your Disk Cleanup window, but in all cases, highlighting the item will display an explanation of the category in the Description area.

Post Disk Cleanup Procedures
Using Disk Cleanup will almost certainly rid your system of a substantial amount of unneeded files. You could stop here and not suffer any ill consequences, but there are a lot of gaps and empty spaces on the hard drive where the files were removed. This would be an excellent time to run Disk Defragmenter to organize the hard drive into contiguous sections. The hard drive heads will spend less time seeking all the pieces of a file and you'll see another performance boost.

File Categories in Disk Cleanup Utility

There are a few different types of file categories that Disk Cleanup targets when it performs the initial disk analysis. Depending on the your system, you may or may not have all the categories listed in my example. An excellent example of this would be Backup Files from a Previous Operating System. If a clean install of XP was performed then this category will not exist. It pays to click on each of the categories and note that the [View Files] button can change depending on the category selected. Here is a rundown of each category.

Downloaded Program Files

These are ActiveX controls and Java applets downloaded from Web sites that are temporarily stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder. It's not program files or zip files that you have downloaded from other locations.

Temporary Internet Files

This refers to Internet Explorer's cache of Web pages that are stored on the hard drive for quicker viewing. None of your personal web settings are affected by selecting this category, nor does it delete any cookie files.

Recycle Bin

The main thing to be aware of in this category is that it only refers to the Recycle Bin for the selected hard drive or partition. This is important since XP uses an individual Recycle Bin for each drive and partition, not just one as is the case in some Windows versions.

Temporary Remote Desktop Files

These files are the result of using the Remote Desktop utility. If you repeatedly use Remote Desktop with the same computer or group of computers, leaving these files intact will maintain the speed of future connections. Deleting them will necessitate downloading the remote systems icons and wallpaper the next time a connection is established.

Setup Log Files

These are really pretty useless unless you have a specific reason to go back and see what occurred during XP setup.

Backup Files For Previous Operating System

I mentioned this category earlier as one you may not have, but if you did upgrade from a previous Windows version and selected the option to be able to uninstall XP, it may well exist. It takes some major hard drive space to copy all the files necessary to back up a previous system's core files, drivers, etc. This entry can range anywhere from a few hundred megabytes up to a gigabyte, so unless you are still considering dumping XP this is a good category to select.

Detect and Repair Disk Errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss. It will also aid in your attempt to speed up your computer.

To run the Error Checking utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility. It can also make a computer run faster!

1.
Click Start, and then click My Computer.


2.
In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.


3.
In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.


4.
Click the Check Now button.


5.
In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.

In most circumstances, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

6.
If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

Definition

Spyware is software with malicious intent - by design; it does something bad to your PC. Usually, it gets installed without your knowledge. It sometimes takes advantage of the fact that most people click "I Agree" to software licenses without reading them.

Facts about spyware.

1.Use up your computer's system resources, memory, & Internet bandwidth, making your computer and/or Internet connection slow.

2.Delete, modify, or disable files, folders, programs, and essential Windows components and services.

3.Use worms, trojans, and "back doors" to open your computer to further invasions and these programs may also install software to enable your PC to be a "Host" or commonly known now as a "bot". Bots are everyday normal PC's that send, collect and analyze information all over the world.

4.Use your computer to send spam - yes, really! It's estimated that 80% of the world's spam is sent by "zombie" home computers infected with "spam trojans" which were installed by spyware or worms.

5.Conflict with other programs, causing your computer to crash or freeze up.

6.Hide the presence of other parasites, and protect them when you try to remove them.

7.Install "keyloggers" which record your keystrokes, that is, they record everything you type.

8.Steal your passwords, credit card information, & other personal data to be used for identity theft.

9.Monitor your web surfing habits and record the web pages you visit.

10.Relay any of this collected data back to its makers & sell it to other companies or bad guys.

11.Collect your e-mail address & make you the target of spam (junk e-mail).

12.Pester you with pop-up ads, even if you have pop-ups disabled in your web browser.

13.Hijack your web browser and change your home page, add favorites/bookmarks, or redirect you to other sites without your permission (more on browser hijacking later).

Pretty scary stuff huh? Having spyware on your computer is a serious threat to you and your family. Many have become the victims of identity theft and other various crimes through spyware. There is a solution though, see the next section on how you get spyware on your computer and how to get it off.

Here are some ways you may have obtained spyware on your computer.

1.It may hide inside of another program's installer: Many free programs, especially file/music sharing programs like Kazaa, but also screensavers, games, etc. install some form of spyware. They may or may not tell you that they're doing this; if they do tell you, they will do so in the license agreement. They of course count on the fact that no one actually reads those license agreements! You should read to the end of all EULAs (End User Licensing Agreements).

2.It may be installed by a "drive-by download": installed behind your back when you visit a web site or click a link, especially advertising links or those that say you won something. In these cases, you don't even have to do anything other than visit a web site or click a link!
An e-mail or web site may make you think that you need to download something: For example, an e-mail may say that someone sent you an electronic greeting card but that you need to download a special viewer to see it, or a web site may say that you need to download a special "media player" to view their site.

3.It may pretend to be something essential, helpful, or desirable: Spyware may masquerade as some type of security warning, a "free virus scan," or even a spyware removal program to get you to click on it.

4.A web site may keep pestering you to download something until you say yes: Normally, your web browser should ask you for permission if a web site you visit tries to install anything. Unfortunately, when you say No, your "No" is only good until you go to the next web page, where you'll be asked again. After being asked several times, some people will just give in and say yes. (Don't!)

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Using MSCONFIG will allow you to shut down all programs that are starting up when you boot up your computer. A lot of programs take it upon themselves to think that they need to be running in the background even when they are not being used. Some we want to stay running such as our anti viruses, but a lot of them we really don't need. A great example is MSN Messenger. When you download and use this messenger, it will automatically load up when you boot your computer, you don't need that.. I will teach you now how to turn off unwanted applications at start up time to fix a slow running computer

1.
Go to your start button, click it and go to "Run". It should be directly right of "all programs".



2.
A box should appear labeled "Open:" Type MSCONFIG in the box and hit enter or select OK.


3.
You should now see the System Configuration Utility. Click the "start up" tab all the way to the right.


4.
You will now be taken to a list of all the "start up" items.


In Windows XP, all of Windows' essential programs are loaded through something called "Windows Services." This means that most of the start up items you see in XP are completely optional and can be turned off. However, a good rule of thumb is to disable only those programs that you recognize and don't need to have running all the time. When in doubt, leave it on. There is a great resource on what applications you can turn off and what you should leave on. Check out the website below, it has over 13000 different applications. If its on your computer its probably on this site. Just use the search function, with all those applications your specific application will be very hard to find without it.

Click Here!

5.
Click the Ok button. You will get a message that asks you to restart your computer before any changes go into effect. Click restart and your computer will automatically reboot and your changes should have taken effect. You should now have a much faster boot up time and your computer should move faster without all those programs running in the background.

Up to a point, adding RAM (random access memory) will normally cause your computer to feel faster on certain types of programs. RAM is important because of an operating system component called the virtual memory manager (VMM).

When you run a program such as a word processor or an Internet browser, the microprocessor in your computer pulls the executable file off the hard disk and loads it into RAM. In the case of a big program like Microsoft Word or Excel, the EXE consumes about 5 megabytes. The microprocessor also pulls in a number of shared DLLs (dynamic link libraries) -- shared pieces of code used by multiple applications. The DLLs might total 20 or 30 megabytes. Then the microprocessor loads in the data files you want to look at, which might total several megabytes if you are looking at several documents or browsing a page with a lot of graphics. So a normal application needs between 10 and 30 megabytes of RAM space to run. On my machine, at any given time I might have the following applications running:

* A word processor
* A spreadsheet
* A DOS prompt
* An e-mail program
* A drawing program
* Three or four browser windows
* A fax program
* A Telnet session

Besides all of those applications, the operating system itself is taking up a good bit of space. Those programs together might need 100 to 150 megabytes of RAM, but my computer only has 64 megabytes of RAM installed.

For some of you that is a lot of technical jargon and may not mean a whole lot. I will put it a little bit easier to understand.

Basically every program you open up, is using RAM. If you have 128MB of RAM on your computer but your using 200MB your gonna run very slow. Upgrading RAM is a fairly inexpensive way to fix a slow running computer

To check your RAM...
1. Go to start and click, then right click my computer and select properties.


2.Select the General Tab and you will get a screen that looks like this.


This screen will tell you how much RAM you have.

Tip) To view how much RAM you are using right now hit Control ALT Delete to bring up task manager and click the processes tab. This will tell you how many processes you are using and how much memory each is using.

Adding an External Hard Drive to your computer will allow you to clear out a lot of the things you don't need to be storing on your normal hard drive.

A great example would be your music or pictures. All those songs and pictures are sitting on your computer making it go slower. You will see a decline in your computers performance as soon as you use over half of your hard drive space.

Moving all your songs or pictures to your external hard drive will free up a lot of space on your main hard drive. You can even move applications such as photoshop or games.

An external hard drive is also handy because it is portable. You can unplug it from your computer and take it to a friends house and plug it in there, sharing photos and pictures very easily.

Most external hard drives connect using USB, so its very easy and practical and doesn't require any installation or technical knowledge. I have listed some very dependable and affordable hard drives that you can purchase from Amazon below.

I will now show you how to check how big your hard drive is and how much you have used of it.

1. Click your start button and click my computer.


2. Right click your hard drive and select properties.


3. Select the General Tab. This page will give you a pie chart of your hard drive. It will show you how much you have used and how much you still have available. If you are anywhere over half you may want to consider an external hard drive. This will do wonders for your computer. This is one of the best ways to speed up your computer.


As you can see I am actually in need of a new external hard drive myself. I will be picking one up tomorrow! This is a very important technique to fix a slow running PC

Here are a couple of tweaks for windows that can help fix the speed of your computer!

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To
optimize:

1.Click the start button, and select the control panel.


2.Switch your control panel to classic view.


3.It will now look like this, go ahead and double click system.


4.Click on the advanced tab up top, then select settings in the performance section.


5.Leave only the following ticked:


X Show shadows under menus
X Show shadows under mouse pointer
X Show translucent selection rectangle
X Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
X Use visual styles on windows and buttons

You can also set your desktop background to none. It uses some memory that can slow your computer down. Turn off the background to fix a slow running PC

I think most people know how to do this, but just in case here are the steps. I am not going to include screen shots with this one.

1. Right click your desktop anywhere and select properties.

2. Select the Desktop tab up top and you will see a list of backgrounds. Just scroll all the way to the top and select none. Hit apply and your golden, your background should just be all black now.

Now that we optimized Windows you should see a little increase in performance. These are some pretty easy steps to fix a slow running computer and errors

This one seems a little obvious but believe it or not some people are still running around on the internet unprotected. This is probably the most known thing to do to protect and speed up your computer but I thought I would put it on here anyway.

An anti-virus will not only scan and remove viruses from your computer, but it will also block them from ever coming on board. If you have a good anti-virus you shouldn't have to worry about any pesky or potentially serious viruses infecting your computer. I have included a list of the best anti-virus programs to date. Having a great anti-virus program is no secret, but is a way to fix a slow running computer Norton is still at the top of my list, but you can make that choice for yourself!