Why Is my Windows Computer So Slow?

“Why is my Windows computer so slow?” This is actually a big question that I unfortunately will not be able to answer with a simple one liner. However when I am done you should have enough information you can speed up your PC. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

The first thing to do is to hold off on buying more memory for your system. I know that your brother’s best friend’s uncle’s wife’s sister’s husband says you need more memory, but hold off for a little bit. Let me cover a few other options first. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

MSCONFIG\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nMSCONFIG is the command for the System Configuration Utility. There are several things that you can manipulate to change how windows starts, but you should only touch the things on the startup tab. This tab is the list of programs your computer loads in the background when it starts. Most of these programs don’t need to load and can be turned off.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nWhen you are looking at the startup tab you will see a bunch of check marked boxes proceeded with commands and locations. Some of these programs are essential for Windows to run, but than other programs are not.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nManaging Windows Startup\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Virtual Memory \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nYour hard drive can only save and retrieve data not process it. The memory in your computer is where your programs and data are while you are working with them. Your memory is transporting your programs and data back and forth to the processor. As the processor does the calculations it sends the information back to the memory. After you are done you save to the hard drive. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nIn order for your Windows PC to multitask you need a lot of free memory. The more programs and data you have open the more memory that is used. As you open new programs and data the items you had open start moving to the hard drive to what is called the Swap File AKA Virtual Memory. This frees up actual memory on your system swaps programs back and forth\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThe following is a good simple breakdown of how it works. Say you have seven programs open, and currently you are toggling between program 5 and 7. Programs 1, 2, and 3 have not been touched for over a half hour. Finally program 4, and 6 you were just using a few minutes ago. Now you can’t see it happen but Windows has put programs 1, 2, and 3 in the swap file. That way there is more free memory to multi task. Thanks to the large hard drives in today’s PC’s you can set the virtual memory higher than the Windows recommended. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nManaging Virtual Memory\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

How is Certain Software Effecting the Performance of My PC\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nWhat software you load on your system plays a big part on the speed. Look at Norton’s Antivirus, it is an essential program to have running, but it uses a lot of your systems resources. When you bought it there should be a minimum requirement of memory. The minimum requirement is usually rounded up to the next highest stick of memory (learn about memory size). \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nMost software will be at 128 for a minimum requirement (it won’t necessarily be using that amount). That means when that program is running it is using between 1 – 128 MB of memory. If you only have 128 MB of memory there may not much left to run other programs. The solution is easy; ensure you have an appropriate amount of memory.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Malware\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThanks to a lack of PC and Internet laws, modern day vandals, con-artists, and aggressive futuristic marketers your PC is open to certain death. Having a PC is truly survival of the fittest. What you need to do is stand up, look at the bully that is kicking sand in your face and say, “I’m mad as heck and I’m not taking it anymore. There are four basic things you need to combat these bad things (Malware). \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

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• Virus Protection

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• Anti Spyware Software

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• Anti Adware Software

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• Firewall

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Formatting My System\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nAfter months and months of viruses, spyware, adware, installing programs, uninstalling programs, bad configurations, and all kids of other crud your Windows PC gets bogged down. It is not a bad thing to format your PC once in a while. Just Insure you you’re your data, follow your OEM’s instructions on restoring your system, and go to town. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Scan Disk (Error-Checking) and Defrag\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nBoth of these tools can be found by double clicking on “My Computer” right clicking on the C: drive going to properties and then going to the “Tools” tab. Always run Scan Disk (Error-Checking) before Defrag. Helpful information on \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nScan Disk (Error-Checking) and Defrag\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Memory\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nAfter you have looked at all the other things that can bog down your Windows system you now might want to think about actual memory. Before visiting a PC store you can check out Kingston to get an idea of what type of memory you may need for your system. Right on the front page there is “Memory Search” to help you find the memory you need. You do not have to purchase Kinston Brand Memory, it is just my preferred brand of memory. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n

Maintaining My Windows PC\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThat about wraps it up for speeding up your PC. Just remember that it is up to you to protect yourself from PC disaster. Having a PC is fun, educational, helpful, and much more. Just remember it takes a little work to insure you can use the PC for what you bought it for. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n