As good as computers have gotten, that doesn’t make them immune from problems. Whether it’s because of hardware age or user error, countless things can go wrong and cause computers not to work correctly.
The question is, do you want to spend a ton of money on repairs or learn how to handle computer problems yourself?
If you want to learn how to fix a slow computer instead of paying for a pro to fix it, this post will help. Below are several things you can do when facing computer issues that lead to a slow machine.
Reduce Your Startup Programs
Sometimes your computers run just fine, except for the startup process. Your startup time shouldn’t take too long. After all, there shouldn’t be too many programs starting simultaneously and slowing things down.
Unfortunately, that’s what will happen when you start installing many applications. These programs want to start as soon as possible, adding themselves to the startup list.
This is a problem when your list gets too large. Look through your list of startup programs and remove anything that shouldn’t be there. Every program you remove will improve your computer startup speed.
Restart Your Browser
Browsers aren’t the best at managing memory. Every tab you open creates a new process on the computer that takes up space. When you close a tab, you expect the browser to remove that process.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Even if you close your tabs when you finish browsing a website, your web browser will keep that process open for some time.
If you use a lot of tabs, then this will end up using a lot of computer memory. Completely closing your browser will remove these processes and speed up your computer.
Remove Unused Programs
You need a certain amount of free space on your computer for it to run optimally. It uses a swap file to create an on-disc memory section for your most commonly used programs. That space takes up hard drive space.
If you have too many programs, your computer can’t use this space. That means it has to look for files from scratch every time.
By freeing up space, you’re giving your computer the room it needs to make things faster. Look through your software and files for things you don’t need and remove them.
Delete Temporary Files
The programs you use won’t do everything from scratch every time you use them. They create temporary files on your computer that contain configuration settings and history. Not all of these files are necessary.
Programs put these files in your temporary files folder. As time goes on, this folder can grow large and end up slowing down your computer.
You can use a third-party program to delete temporary files and speed things up again. Make this a regular maintenance task, and you’ll keep your computer running smoothly.
Install Updates
As good as software developers are these days, they aren’t perfect. Programs are complex and take a lot to get right. The chances are good that an application won’t be completely optimized for your machine and will have things that cause it to run slow.
Because of that, software developers release updates for their apps over time that add features and improve performance. While some operating systems will automatically download these updates, not all will.
Look through your software list for programs you often use and check for updates. Make it a habit to regularly perform these checks to keep all your programs up to date.
Buy More RAM
If you run an older computer, the chances are good that you don’t have much RAM. Your RAM is what holds your program data as it runs. While not having much RAM won’t be an issue if you don’t do complex computing tasks, that won’t always be the case.
If you need more performance from your computer, buying more RAM is a great way to go about this. Upgrading your RAM will help you run programs that demand high-performance hardware.
On top of that, you’ll be able to do more things at once when you add more RAM. If you need to multitask to get things done, a lot of RAM is required.
Scan for Malware
Unfortunately, internet security is a big issue these days. There are many online threats today, and more get introduced to the world every day. If you don’t have protection in place, your computer and files are at risk.
While anti-malware programs can provide a lot of protection, they aren’t foolproof. There’s always the chance that a new threat will slip through before companies update their malware databases.
You need to regularly scan for malware on your machine to look for these threats. Many malware programs cause a strain on your system resources and will slow everything down. Finding and removing these threats will help your computer perform normally again.
Clean Out the Dust
Your computer needs to run at a stable temperature to operate efficiently. Typically, this isn’t a problem. Your fans do a great job of pushing hot air out of your computer vents.
However, it’s hard for your fans to do their jobs when there is a lot of dust. Excess dust will stop hot air from leaving your vents.
When extra heat is in your computer case, it causes extra strain on your computer components, and this strain makes your system work harder and ends up providing a slow experience for you. Open up your computer case and use a can of compressed air to blow away any dust.
Now You Know How to Fix a Slow Computer
You don’t have to spend a ton of money on computer repair when you have computer programs that slow your system down. Now that you know how to fix a slow computer, you’re ready to take on tech troubleshooting yourself. Use the guide above to speed your computer up and get the performance you’re looking for.
Are you looking for more tech tips that will help get you the most out of your gear? Head back to the blog to learn how to get better at using technology.
