If your laptop or PC has started to run more slowly than usual, you might start thinking the worst and panicking that a virus is present or the hard drive is starting to fail. While these reasons could be behind the problem, it could just easily be something less worrying.
In fact, there are myriad reasons why your computer could be running slowly, many of which are pretty simple to fix. Read on to find out what’s ailing your laptop or PC and how you can quickly and easily improve its performance.
If you are a MAC user, you may also want to check out this article about speeding up MAC OSX computers.
Background Programs
Quite often, even if you think you’ve shut a program down, it’s still running in the background. There’s a simple way to check and that’s by opening the task manager on your Windows computer or equivalent program on a Mac operating system. Then, click the CPU tab and sort by size.
It’ll be easy to see what’s taking up the most or your RAM and also, to shut down/end task of those programs you’re no longer using or thought you’d already closed. This simple process should have the desired effect and get your computer running more quickly again.
Also, it might be because service Host apps become corrupt and begin consuming more processing power than they should, so your computer struggles to keep up. Refer to this service host in case you encounter the said issue.
Too Many Internet Browsers
This is something that most of us do on a pretty regular basis; we keep the tabs we’re interested in opening, so we don’t lose them. However, if you’re at the stage where 20 or more pages are open, this is likely to affect the performance of your PC or laptop.
Remember, your computer has limited memory, or RAM, to open and run programs and when a lot of that RAM is being used at once, things will move more slowly. Bookmark the pages you want to return to, or make an easily accessible list of links, then shut the pages down. That way, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for while letting your computer run at its usual capacity.
Unnecessary Startup Programs
In the process of using your computer, you’ll undoubtedly download new software and programs. Many of them will want to assert their authority by opening up when you boot up your computer – even though you don’t want or need them to.
To avoid this problem, whenever you’re downloading or using something new, make sure you uncheck the box next to the question: open on startup. This simple action will ensure your computer only opens the required programs at startup, that won’t overly slow it down.
Full Hard Drive
Another potential reason behind your slow running computer is that your hard drive is nearing capacity. If it’s over 90% full, there’s less room available to open and run programs you might want to use when you’re logged on.
The answer to this problem is to ensure you’re not storing programs, files and data you don’t need. If it’s still around the 90% mark once you’ve cleaned up, you might need to invest in additional RAM.
Luckily, RAM is pretty well priced and also a fairly simple process to undertake yourself or with a technically minded friend. Once you’ve increased your RAM – the computer’s memory size – you should find the performance is back to where you want it to be, or even faster!
Virus or Malware
Of course, it could be that your computer is infected by a virus, or some form of malware is running on there. You can check by running a reliable anti-virus or computer security scan. If problems are detected that you’re unsure how to rectify, give your local, friendly computer experts a call.
You can discuss your findings and we’ll advise you on how best to proceed. Sometimes it can be handled by you from home. But, if it seems a real problem, then we will fix the issue ourselves – where ever possible.
How To Speed Up Your Slow Computer?
Below is a list of YouTube videos that shares some useful tips to speed up your computer.
Bio- Justin Szaferstein is a computer and IT support Engineer at SuperGeek Australia. As SuperGeeks we know our stuff when it comes to technical computer issues. Visit SuperGeek Official Website- https://supergeek.com.au/