Posts Tagged ‘Programs’

Slow computers can really put a dent in your productivity and your sanity. Here’s a list of questions and actions to help you put some zing in your tired PC:

1. Did your computer just begin to slow down? If so, uninstall any recently installed program and see if your computer speeds up. It may be a compatibility problem with the new software. This is the first step in troubleshooting a computer problem, too. Always ask yourself: “What changed?” since the last time your computer worked well.
2. Has the computer been slow for a while, and just seems to keep getting slower, even though nothing has changed? Reboot your computer. Go to Start, Shutdown, and Restart your computer. Software doesn’t do a good job of releasing the computer memory it uses, and rebooting will reset the memory, resulting in a faster running PC.
3. Clean up your computer, and eliminate unneeded start-up programs. There are lots of ways to clean up your computer and remove old debris, but I’ve found the easiest is to use CCleaner to clean up old and useless files on your computer, stop unused programs from starting, and fix corrupted Windows registry errors. If you are not an experienced Windows user, please read the online tutorial before you use the program.
4. Check for viruses, spyware, and other malware. Hidden viruses, spyware and other malware often load at system start-up, slowing down the process. Get rid of them by scanning for viruses and malware on a regular basis.
5. Disable Windows XP sounds. Sounds are great, but it slows Windows down to load and play them. To disable all Windows XP task sounds, go to: Start, Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices, click the Sounds tab, under Sound Scheme, click “No Sounds”.
6. Defragment your hard drive. In Windows XP, click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Select your C: drive, and click Analyze. Windows will analyze your drive for you and tell you if it needs to be defragmented. If it does, then click Defragment. Note: Let this run while you go do something else; it won’t finish if you work on the computer at the same time. For Vista, it’s a little different. Go to Start, All Programs, and click on Accessories. Find Systems Tools, Disk Defragmenter and click on it. Vista will ask you for permission to continue. Click Continue. Vista doesn’t give you the ability to choose to defragment, it just assumes you want to and presents a schedule to do so. You can stick with the suggested schedule, or modify it. If you want to kick off the defrag process immediately, click the Defragement now button. It will then ask you which drive you want to defrag. Uncheck the drives you don’t want to defrag, and then click OK.
7. Remove Fonts You Don’t Need. I love cool fonts, and I tend to install a lot of them on my machine. But I have to check every once in a while, because if the number gets over 500, it can really slow down Windows. I found this great program called The Font Thing which helps you easily uninstall fonts you don’t need. You can get it
8. Add RAM to Your Computer. To check to see how much RAM you have installed on your computer, do this: Left click on the Start menu, and then left click on Control Panel. Then double click on the System icon. (Or hold down the flying Windows key and press the Pause/Break key). On the General tab, in the bottom right hand corner, look for the amount of RAM. If it says less than 1GB (gigabyte), (i.e. if it says 512KB) you should really consider upgrading it. I’d go to 2GB if possible.