Slow Computer?

April 24, 2009 porkchop 2 comments

fix-computer

One of the most frustrating things there is with a computer is when it starts to run slow. I do a little bit a of computer tech repair on the side and this is one of the most common service calls I get when people call me. Usually the slow computer, happens to people who are running outdated systems and people who have there computer infested with spy-ware and viruses. The biggest problem is the spy-ware, people don’t run or update there spy-ware scanners enough. Another problem is downloading a lot of programs and not uninstalling them correctly or programs that did not uninstall correctly. Another thing is you have to know your computer limitations, your computer that was new 3 years ago could probably run a lot of programs on your task bar and a lot of programs open at once, or many web browsers open, but as time goes on the computer cannot, because of the new software that does more now and requires more computing power. There is also a lot of unneeded services that load up during startup, that can be disabled safety and will improve your computer speed, which I will talk about more later on this article. One major problem, which still happens, is if you buy a computer from manufactures, such as Dell, Compac, is that they come pre-loaded with unnecessary trial software and applications which are needed but just slow down the computer. Another evil thing they do is they make there computer parts and boxes small, and also have custom parts built for that computer, which means that in the future when you want to upgrade, you find that motherboard is custom fit, and that the power supply cannot handle more than what you got, or if they included outdated parts and maxed them out with the fastest processor that won’t allow you to upgrade to a newer one, they also lock the BIOS so you cannot overclock. So I suggest that you always build a custom Computer, or get someone you know to build one for you, or a local small computer shop that specialises in it. A good custom built computer costing around $1000 can outlast a pre-built computer from the big manufactures that cost $2000. And it’s not difficult to build a computer, and there is a lot of support online where they sell the parts, one of the big major computer parts store in the US, is NewEgg, www.newegg.com But I won’t go in detail in this article, that is for another day.

Registry cleaner/Cleaning up Temporary files
When a program is installed on the computer, it installs files and registry entries into the computer, as more programs are installed more items are added. When you are done using the program or find no use for it, you uninstall it, usually the uninstaller leaves traces behind in the registry, or the program does not uninstall correctly. What happens is that as time goes on, the computer registry gets full of entries, and the registry is where a program goes into to grab the details. The more program’s in the registry that are not there anymore, the slower it is for the computer to locate the programs that you have installed. Also browsing websites overtime you collect temporary internet files, cookies and other things, which slows down the browser. There are severial ways of solving this, in your browser, for example Firefox, under tools, menu it has an option to clear private data, that will delete the temporary Internet files and cookies, in Internet Explorer, it is under tools, and first on the list delete browser history. One program that I like to use and is free, is called CCleaner, http://http://www.ccleaner.com/ CCleaner (crap cleaner), is a great program because it does that all for both browsers and it also deletes System files that are not needed anymore, it basically gets rid of the “crap” that your PC does not need safely. Another good thing that CCleaner has is it’s registry scanner, the registry scanner will scan the registry for invalid registry entries and delete them, don’t worry about deleting them, it has a backup option before deleting them, in case there is any errors after the registry clean. Also want to note that Windows has a built in disk cleanup tool, under start, accessories, tools, that will also cleanup old windows files. There are other registry cleaners on the market, but I don’t believe in paying for them, because registry scanning is very basic, they all follow the same rules, scan for registry entries that a program does not exist anymore, just remmeber to clean the system up once in awhile. An interesting new thing CCleaner has now, is Wipe free space, option, you must enable it, what it does is it makes sure that files are permanently deleted, when a file is deleted in recycle bin the file is actually not deleted, it is recoverable, of course this wipe free space, will not be completely wiped, the most secure way of deleting data from a hard drive is to destroy it.

Disk Defragment
When a bunch of programs and files are installed with time, the disk becomes cluttered with files on the hard drive, files end up in the wrong places, the computer has to work harder to load up the program because of finding the program files. Also this is due to file fragmentation, what you have to do is run a Disk Defrag weekly to solve this, Windows has a built in disk dragmenter, the Windows Vista one works well, but if you are still on Windows XP and earlier Windows, it does not, and can take hours to complete. One of the best programs I have found is Diskeeper http://www.diskeeper.com/ Diskeeper is an amazing program, the difference between Diskeeper and the built in Disk Defragmenter in Windows is that it is constantly watching your hard drive, it detects when you are not using your computer and automatically starts working, also the Defrag time is quick. I actually heard that Diskeeper’s basic defragment was added to Windows Vista, but I am not sure. Unforuantly Diskeeper is not free, but it does have a free trial so you can try it out, you might think that since its running all the time it will slow down your PC, but it does not, try it for yourself. There are a few things I suggest, many people do not know the correct way of running a Disk Defragment, the correct way is to first of all, is Run CCleaner, and clean up registry, and delete temporary files, schedule a disk check on your hard drive, then reboot into safe mode, and run the defragment, you might ask why reboot in safe mod, the reason why is because in safe mode, only the core system files are loaded, and also because the defragment requirement is to move files around, it has the ability to move those files that would be normally in use in regular Windows. Also while in Safe Mode, I suggest to run your Virus/Spy-ware scanners, safe mode is the best mode to find and repair that stubborn spy-ware or virus that does not want to get deleted.

Remove Startup Programs and programs hidden in the background
Does your computer take awhile to load up Windows? Well you might have too many programs loading when Windows Starts up, they usually end up on the right hand corner of the bottom of the screen, or end up invisible on your running processes. This requires some knowledge of what you are disabling from starting up or what is running in the background, you cannot disable something that is required for a program you need and installed, or a core Windows component that has to run. Every computer is different so I will give you some resources on how to tell, this will require some investigation your part. The old way of removing startup programs is by going into run and typing MSCONFIG, in vista type it right in the search bar in Start menu. Click on Startup tab, you will see a lot of programs in there with check marks, Remove the check mark and it will not start when Windows Starts. Another way is by using CCleaner, open up CCleaner go to tools, then Startup. Most of the programs have names you might recognize, you don’t have to worry about breaking a program by disabling it from starting up when Windows does, the program will always be there, and you can manually run it anytime. The ones you do not know what they are, you can use Google or any search engine to put in the name of the program and startup file next to it, and you will see various topics on the file, and find out what it is. Programs in the background are programs that are hidden you cannot see them, they just sit there and use up valuable RAM, and CPU power without you even knowing it. This is a hassle but once done it can really make your PC faster, click on taskbar or CNTRL ALT DELETE, select task manager, then processes, and then you will see a bunch of files loaded in the background and how much memory they are using. You have to be more careful here than in startup, some of these files are required by Windows to operate, or Anti-Virus scanners that are always monitoring your computer. One way to see if you can disable a item in the process, is to put the name in google and you will instantly see if it’s a required process, and information if you can delete it, for example, when I search explorer.exe in google I get http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/explorer/ Tells me its a normal Windows operating system file, not to end process.

Upgrading
Sometimes doing all those things above, does not cut it, and you want to hold off on a new PC, well the next thing is upgrade. This is for the simple user who does not play games, but for someone who uses there computer for applications and other tasks. If you game you will need a new graphics card and ram at least, but if your PC is too old, forget it, and buy a new PC. But for the simple user who does basic tasks, the best way of upgrading the PC is simple. The only thing that you should consider to upgrade is the RAM, Random Access Memory, it is usually cheap, and will greatly increase the speed of your computer, such symptoms of slow startup of programs, and not being able to run many programs at a time. RAM is also very easy to install, it is basically plug it in, but make sure you get the right type. Some people might say replace the CPU, but I don’t think that is good idea, usually the CPU you want to replace it with will not work on your old computer anyway, and if its an old CPU it supports it will probably be very hard to find one, or get one at a good price.

Other things, Spy-ware, Virus Scans
Be sure to run spy-ware, virus scans that is one of the biggest slowdowns you can have on a computer, refer to my article on Computer Security below to find more details on that, if your computer is infested it will defiantly be slow and more RAM and all those things I said above will not work, spy-ware and viruses can slow down even the newest and best computer out there, so make sure you run those scans!