What are some simple troubleshooting tips for a slow computer?

Answer 1

The answer depends -- I am guessing we are talking Windows PCs and if this is a NEW computer (less than 3 months old) I would have a complete virus and malware check done to make sure it hasn't become infected.

If, on the other hand, this is a recent system less than 1 year old - then defragmenting the hard drive; relocating the paging file to another hard drive; performing general housekeeping on the system should provide a noticeable performance increase.

If the system is older than 1 year and/or has less than 2GB of RAM; you might want to consider purchasing a newer systemor at least getting more memory -- PCs are getting better and cheaper all the time.

Answer 2

The main problem with this question is that there is no definition of what the "basic" steps are.

You might try defragmenting the computer-in Windows that's Run->Defrag, for Mac I believe you need to run Disk Utility-Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility.

Try removing excess programs on the disk, especially those that you might have noticed a slowdown after adding.

Use outside programs such as bootable CD's that are specific to cleaning out your PC.

Add ram, processor speed, graphics cards (if you game or use media); use programs that require less committed FLOPS (Google Chrome uses 50 megs of memory while Firefox has been known to use 800); try new, faster hard drives like SSD's.

Try reinstalling your operating system and starting fresh. It may be annoying but it always helps.

Also, Do Not Forget to turn your computer all the way off every couple days. That helps a lot.

Answer 3

Some simple things you can do to troubleshoot a slow computer are to close all open programs, ensure no downloads are occurring, and even restarting the computer. If all this fails, a disk defragmentation could remedy the issue also.