What can you do if your computer is running slow?

Answer 1

Are you using xp?

Xp has very cool features, however it demands lot of memory from your PC...try disabling some features to use less memory...like using the classic desktop instead of the colorful one...you can do that on PC settings and task bar menu...

Also go to the settings and hit on System...there go to the advance tab and click on performance settings, there uncheck all option you think won't affect your computer and that will help faster up a little...

Change internet explorer for firefox and you'll see.

Learn how to make your PC run faster, clean old files and make it work better, I'll share with you this articles I wrote that would help you and also give it some maintenance. If it worked for you, please vote. Have a nice day!

http://www.informativepost.com/2008/07/06/Make-your-desktop-run-faster-1247.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/856201/make_your_pc_run_faster_than_ever.HTML?cat=15

To speed up your computer and free up space and memory for free:

Go to the Start Menu> Run

Type in "appwiz.cpl"

Uninstall whatever you don't need.

Next, go to Start> Run and type in "msconfig".

Go to the Startup Tab and uncheck everything you don't want to startup. If you want, you can uncheck everything, and your anti-virus will still restart itself when you log on.

Now go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Documents and Settings> [USER NAME]> Local Settings> and delete everything inside the Temp Folder. (This is a hidden folder so you will need to have "show hidden files and folders" checked in Folder Options) All the files in this folder are just temporary files that your Internet stored that for certain websites.

Then go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Windows> Prefetch and delete everything inside it. This folder is like an cache for programs and should be emptied about once a month.

Next, you should install CCleaner, it will get rid of a lot of temporary files on your computer. It also has a registry repair system, which is easily the best free one available on the Internet:

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

Another option is to try defragmenting your computer.

Go to the Start Menu and go to All Programs

Go to Accessories and System Tools.

Choose Disk Defragmenter and when it loads click defragment.

Next, go to Device Manger (Start> Right Click My Computer> Properties> Hardware Tab> Device Manager) and update all drivers.

Another thing I would say is to compress your files if you already haven't.

Open My Computer and right click on your hard drive

Check the Compress Drive button and let it do its thing.

Finally, make sure your Hard Drive doesn't have any bad sectors. Go to My Computer> Right Click Hard Drive> Properties> Tools Tab> Check Now> Check both boxes and Start. It will ask you to reboot, so reboot. This will clear out any bad sectors on your Hard Drive.

These are short-term solutions however. The easiest way is to just upgrade the RAM on your system, but at least the ways above are free.

Answer 2

Are you using xp? Xp has very cool features, however it demands lot of memory from your PC...try disabling some features to use less memory...like using the classic desktop instead of the colorful one...you can do that on PC settings and task bar menu...

Also go to the settings and hit on System...there go to the advance tab and click on performance settings, there uncheck all option you think won't affect your computer and that will help faster up a little...

Change internet explorer for firefox and you'll see. Learn how to make your PC run faster, clean old files and make it work better,

To speed up your computer and free up space and memory for free:

Go to the Start Menu> Run

Type in "appwiz.cpl"

Uninstall whatever you don't need.

Next, go to Start> Run and type in "msconfig".

Go to the Startup Tab and uncheck everything you don't want to startup. If you want, you can uncheck everything, and your anti-virus will still restart itself when you log on.

Now go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Documents and Settings> [USER NAME]> Local Settings> and delete everything inside the Temp Folder. (This is a hidden folder so you will need to have "show hidden files and folders" checked in Folder Options) All the files in this folder are just temporary files that your Internet stored that for certain websites.

Then go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Windows> Prefetch and delete everything inside it. This folder is like an cache for programs and should be emptied about once a month.

Next, you should install CCleaner, it will get rid of a lot of temporary files on your computer. It also has a registry repair system, which is easily the best free one available on the Internet.

Another option is to try defragmenting your computer.

Go to the Start Menu and go to All Programs

Go to Accessories and System Tools.

Choose Disk Defragmenter and when it loads click defragment.

Next, go to Device Manger (Start> Right Click My Computer> Properties> Hardware Tab> Device Manager) and update all drivers.

Another thing I would say is to compress your files if you already haven't.

Open My Computer and right click on your hard drive

Check the Compress Drive button and let it do its thing.

Finally, make sure your Hard Drive doesn't have any bad sectors. Go to My Computer> Right Click Hard Drive> Properties> Tools Tab> Check Now> Check both boxes and Start. It will ask you to reboot, so reboot. This will clear out any bad sectors on your Hard Drive.

These are short-term solutions however. The easiest way is to just upgrade the RAM on your system, but at least the ways above are free.

Answer 3

Back up any files you want to save then format the hard drive and reload your opperating system.... that's the cheapest easiest fix. There are many other options, but that is my suggestion.. :)

Answer 4

Slow running computer can easily be fixed by:

-- cleaning system junk

-- optimizing computer services

-- optimizing internet

-- repairing registry

-- defraging registry

-- clearing browsers junk

do these things with some secure tool such as Intel Software Partner Reginout.

Answer 5

I would first attempt to get rid of any programs you don't need or don't use very often. If that doesn't help much, I would recommend re-installing the operating system( Make sure you have a backup of your files first either on a partition or a separate storage device.) If all fails, then I suggest either buying a faster computer or upgrading your computer's hardware. Adding RAM works well, and upgrading the processor works well, only it is a bit of an overkill for most needs(make sure that the processor has the same socket type as your old one). Also Computers crash in most cases for registry problems. PS. This was submitted by a ten year old.

If you need a hardware upgrade: Run a program like SiSoftware Sandra which can tell you where your hardware's weak points are.

If you think it's software: Run an updated anti-virus program (recommend AVG Free), and an updated anti-malware program (recommend Malbytes anti-malware). If you look at the bottom right of the start menu where the clock is you should be able to see all the major background programs running, uninstall any of these which you don't need.

Answer 6

The first thing you should do when your computer slows down is run a thorough virus and malware scan with reliable software like Avira Free and Malwarebytes. They will find and delete most infections.

If the antivirus scan comes clean, you should look into your hardware. Computers can slow down when there is insufficient RAM or your hard drive is malfunctioning. Check if RAM can be increased and run the Chkdsk utility (right-click on the hard drive - go to properties - Service tab - run Check Disk).

Lack of cleanup and maintenance can also make your computer a lot slower. To make it fast again you'll need to remove junk files (like temp files, browser cache, etc.), uninstall software you never use, sort through your startup entries and disable stuff like Windows Live Messenger - you don't need it to load on startup and hog your system! Then clean the registry and defrag your hard drives. All this should speed up your system. There is a really good program called BoostSpeed that can do it all and more, like optimize your Internet connection settings for your hardware, shred files, tweak Windows settings.

Answer 7

Computers can become slow for a number of reasons and it's important to find out what's the cause. One of the most common causes is viruses and malware. So the first thing you should do when your computer slows down is to run a thorough virus and malware scan with reliable software like Avira Free and Malwarebytes. They will find and delete most infections.

If the antivirus scan comes clean, you should look into your hardware. Computers can slow down when there is insufficient RAM or your hard drive is malfunctioning. Check if RAM can be increased and run the Chkdsk utility (right-click on the hard drive - go to properties - Service tab - run Check Disk).

Lack of cleanup and maintenance can also make your computer a lot slower. To make it fast again you'll need to remove junk files (like temp files, browser cache, etc.), uninstall software you never use, sort through your startup entries and disable stuff like Windows Live Messenger - you don't need it to load on startup and hog your system! Then clean the registry and defrag your hard drives. All this should speed up your system. There is a really good program called BoostSpeed that can do it all and more, like optimize your Internet connection settings for your hardware, shred files, tweak Windows settings.

Answer 8

Your computer is running different programs without you seeing.