Community Newsletter: Q&A: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer?
- 8/15/08 9:58 AM
Startup
by Joe M. Winters - 8/9/08 9:17 AM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are any number of ways to speed things up a bit when you start the computer look at the number of programs that start along with the boot process. Programs have a me first attitude when they aren't needed. One of the greatest space hogs are graphics, and instead of storing them in My documents or My pictures keep an open CD or DVD to store those items you want to keep. You can check all of those by using MSCONFIG by typing into the RUN line and it will show you what is running at start up. Periodically run a defrag on your hard drive so that everything is in order for Windows file system. These are just things that are built into Windows. There are many stand alone programs that can be installed to keep track of what's going on with the computer, and they are not expensive. Use a good backup program, in case you do something wrong. In case something happens when you install a program you can always use system restore to go back to a time when things were all working.
Anti-virus
by Themisive - 8/9/08 10:22 AM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A lot of people have posted that they have had slow or even sluggish computers, it turned out they were using machines with Norton anti-virus fitted. For the most part, when this was removed and a different anti-virus system put in place, the machine ran faster - usually because the new programme did not use too much in the way of resources.
If you want to check out the Spyware, Viruses & Security forun http://forums.cnet.com/5204-6132_102-0.html?forumID=32&tag=forum.fd on this link, you'll see what I mean; though I will agree with the other members that there is no "quick fix" - you'll only need to look in your computer manual to see why.
RAM
by gates_michael - 8/9/08 12:20 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A very easy way to see how much RAM your PC has and what is recommended and a price is to go to crucial.com and let them ananlze your system. Shop for your best price on RAM at the local Best Buy or Circuit City, You will have in hand exactly what your particular machine requires as to type speed and how much your PC will accept.
speedin up computer
by rosiemyrosie - 8/9/08 12:37 PM In reply to: RAM by gates_michaelgates_michael, is right on with his recommendations. I used exactly the procedure at crucial.com, and bought a GB of RAM from Best Buys. I researched the net and these two were the best for the task and best on the price. Good advice for all.
Would suggest installing the most RAM your computer will utilize.
Oberfeldwebel
Dell's simple solution
by alw75 - 8/9/08 12:26 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Gail,
The quickest and easiest thing you can do is have the hard drive replaced and reloaded.
It's just that simple. If the computer is 2 years old or more replacing the hard drive is the best solution. The drives slow down with time and all the junk that gets put on them. I recommind the western digital hard drives. They last the longest. And the nice thing is you will still have all your data on the old drive. Good luck.
Aaron.
I've always found this helpful
by LizzyRock - 8/9/08 12:33 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Whenever my computer begins to run slow I goto <b><i>Run</b></i> type in <b><i>MSCONFIG</b></i> to open <b><i>System Configuration</b></i>, select the <b><i>Start Up</b></i> tab. I then go to a great site called <b><i>Answers That Work</i></b> here http://www.answersthatwork.com/.
Click the <b><i>green Task List</b></i> button. From there slowly work through the list of Start Up items in the <b><i>System Configuration</b></i>, which is the best way to do it I've found. Clicking on the <b><i>blue 0-9 A-Z buttons</b></i> brings up a list with three headings, <b><i>Task List Name, Program & Manufacturer, What It Is And What You Can Do.</b></i>
The last column is where you will find if this particular item is needed at Start Up or not. If not just simply untick it in the <b><i>System Configuration</b></i>.
Once you've finished, restart and things should be quicker to start.
Slow Dell
by DocPC18 - 8/9/08 1:11 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Gail - Please let me know some information to better help you speed up your PC. The information needed can be acquired by doing the following. Click Start / and right Click My Computer. Then left click Properties. When the Window opens up Make Sure your in the General Tab. Good....Now at the bottom you should see the word Computer. Under that you should see two pieces of information. The speed of your computer CPU and the amount of Ram (this is the amount of memory). This will help determine if you have enough memory and the speed of your computer would help as well.
Now - The best way to speed up your computer is to reload the operating system. This insures that you get rid of all the junk that you thought you deleted but parts still remain. Maxing out the memory helps alittle as does upgrading the video card or moving to a faster hard drive. The BUT here is that this all costs Money. Why spend money when you can have your original PC run like it did when you first bought it and that is to reload the operating system. Sure, you could go out and BUY more programs like the other s recommend as this will just add more JUNK to your original problem. Reload the Operating System which will be like sending yourself to the spa for a week. Your PC will breath new life and it will be as fast as it was when you first bought it. A cheaper fix than that you can't get...
Defragmentation
by sakidrifter - 8/9/08 1:22 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Gail,
I didn't count but I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least two dozen recommendations that you include a defrag. I'm a gamer, so not only do I need to defrag, I also want my games to be the priority files. And I want everything else pushed away from my game files.
The product I use, which really helps speed up my rig is UltimateDefrag 2008. You choose which files are priority and which are for archive and UltimateDefrag sorts them bringing the priority files to the outer tracks and the archive files to the inner tracks. As you know the outer tracks are read faster than the inner tracks. Further it's very good keeping file contiguity. Putting all files of a program in one spot on an outer track will greatly speed up that program. My Flight Simulator; opens quicker, runs much smoother, scenery files aren't bumpy or blurry any more. The only place I know were can be purchaced is PCAviator.com;
http://pcaviator.com/shop/viewAProduct.php?pid=920.
Right now it's $29.96, normally it's $39.95, I strongly recommend this Defrag.
Jeffrey
In Plain English
by Garfield50 - 8/9/08 2:15 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I find what would do the best is just plainly clear out all the unnecessary programs and file that you never or have not used in the last two months of use or if you want it in plain English is clean out all the crap that is never used
Speeding up your computer
by papasmurf_37886 - 8/9/08 2:23 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have only high school,no electronics schooling,and i build and program over 60 computers a year and service many more than that,the best advise i would give any one is to put your computer thru the test,that is PC PITSTOP or pcpitstop.com,as i do, you can be a complet idot and come away with some well learned lessons.I have found problems that tecs have missed,as Mikey sayes "tryit" you like it..........Jim
these posts are not "plain English" soo
by m047375 - 8/9/08 2:49 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
All these responses are from the typical consumer that found 1 2 or another task that helped them and they really never understood why and so as a result offer negligible misleading advice about speeding up a computer. reminds me of the blind philosophers story. And the OS can be providing these troubles for a particular install, indeed. But, really, Process Restriction is the only plausible and fundamental strategy to improve this performance short of changes of hardware. As far as determining which processes to restrict and still attain programmatic functionality to any particular user is a question solved by a Microsoft / USER dialog. The reason for this is the absence of a full explanation of all processese that provide efficient functionality. And the same concept applies for unneeded and unnecesary resident processes that run in the background never to be used but still run on the system whether it is a pentium 4, quad XEON, core2, or pentium MMX CPU with arbitrary amount of RAM.
Which, itself can be controlled to administer resources by the OS.
Most advice inadvertantly accomplishes this. But, not in a 100% foolproof and reasonable way given all the variables.
This is why it is a complex question that apparently is not easily answered: [[ Looking at the posts 
]]
Plain English
by Rick75230 - 8/9/08 4:53 PM In reply to: these posts are not "plain English" soo by m047375Gail,
As you can see, this started a huge debate. Here's what you really need to know:
1) There is no "magic bullet". Various things can cause a slowdown.
2) ALL PC's slow down over time. This is because of how Microsoft designed Windows. Only starting from scratch reloading EVERYTHING will get the computer up to "like new" speed. That is time-consuming and risky. Period.
3) Every new version of Windows and most programs requires more memory and more disk space, slowing down performance. If your computer is more than 2 years old it probably doesn't have the maximum memory it could have. Adding memory WILL increase speed. Adding disk space MIGHT help, depending on how much is still available.
4) DEFINITELY defragment.
5) On email programs, "Compact Folders", usually an option on the File menu.
6) Use a registry cleaner program.
7) HOW MUCH IS *YOUR* *PERSONAL* TIME WORTH TO YOU? $10 per hour? $20? This past week I bought a wireless router I really don't need, "for the future". I spent FIVE HOURS replacing a perfectly working NON-wireless router. It's still not *totally* set up. It's SUPPOSED to be one of those "ten minute install" deals. (For the techies -- I was trying to keep using the old router as a hub ...)
8) Even if you KNOW what you are doing things STILL screw up now and then.
9) If YOU "broke" it, YOU get to FIX it! If it turns out ALL THREE of your backups won't load, THEN WHAT DO YOU DO??? YEAH, IT HAPPENS!
10) "Well, yes, it took me 5 hours to do the 'ten minute' install. But you know what, AT LEAST NEXT TIME I'LL KNOW HOW TO DO IT!"
**IF**
. . . a) You didn't luck into getting it to work, you figured out how to do it.
. . . b) You remember NOW how you did what you did.
. . . c) You remember A YEAR FROM NOW what the problem was and what you did.
. . . d) NEXT TIME it REALLY IS the SAME problem. It's not a different hardware model, a different software driver, a different service pack, etc.
11) Do you REALLY want to become UNOFFICIAL TECH SUPPORT among your friends and coworkers? "Ask Gail--she knows all about computers!" Like it or not, that is what happens to "power users".
12) If you become "a computer genius" (which means you know how to download and install programs) and you can't figure out something like the computer locks up at odd times because the vendor gave you the wrong FAN for the CPU (took me TWO YEARS to figure out that one!) suddenly YOU'RE an uncooperative *INCOMPETENT* JERK.
... and fixing computers isn't even remotely your job!
13) Time you spend fixing CO-WORKERS' problems is supposed to "magically disappear". If you spend 3 hours fixing some problem, somehow you are supposed to still put in a full day's time on YOUR work.
14) If you help someone (a relative, etc.) you become PERMANENTLY responsible for ANY future problem. Their 8-year old hard disk crashed that they have been running continuously? No doubt it crashed because of that modem you installed a year ago. They can't get MS-Office 2007 to install properly under Windows 98? Obviously it's because *YOU* updated a video card driver 2 years ago. "What's that? It's not your fault? But YOU were the last person to work on it!"
15) Things CONSTANTLY *CHANGE*. Both hardware and software change. Even if you understood EVERYTHING about a PC 6 years ago there would be lots of new things today, e.g., DDR2, DDR3 RAM, PCI-Express, SATA, Blu-Ray, hi-def interfaces, multi-core processors, etc.
16) As someone said early on, a computer is a *system*. All sorts of things interact. If you are not willing to spend YEARS learning the system and THOUSANDS of hours KEEPING CURRENT, **find someone who knows what they are doing and have them do it!** Even if you have to pay them!
17) And even if you ARE willing to spend years and thousands of hours, THAT WON'T HELP YOU *NOW*. If you have a broken leg TODAY, deciding to go to college, then medical school to become a physician and learn how to fix a broken leg won't help you NOW.
over time, windows has the tendency to slow down...
by jomar the great - 8/10/08 9:00 AM In reply to: Plain English by Rick75230okay, any OS, not necessarily windows, tends to slow down as time goes by.
why?
first, using it alone would make your "system restore" fat and bulky. (a function of windows XP that collects day to day information about your computer so it could restore your computer to its previous state should any sh!it happens) and making the computer fat means making it slow to move. just like people. (though this is not so big deal)
2nd point, think about your computer as a library. a library needs a record of books/in's and out's and a librarian.
library=computer
librarian=registry
if there are more books, common sense, it would take more time to sort out each and every books. the less books, the less time a librarian would consume to sort things out.
a registry is our computer's librarian. it records all of the characteristics, settings, programs and history (in and out)of our computer. it records:
what you have installed...
where you installed everything..
when did you install..
have you registered the programs you installed?...
even traces of viral/spyware infections are recorded
and almost unbelievable, even the exact place where you have drag and drop your desktop icons.
(try this, move any desktop icon from one place to another. now shut the computer. you would see the message saying: windows is shutting down... saving settings.
then restart your computer. you would see the "moved" icon on exactly the same spot where you moved it.
try moving it again to another spot but this time don't shut your computer down. just put the power out and restart it. upon restart, you would see the desktop icon you "moved" was never moved. it sits to where it was before. why? because the registry never had the chance to save its "new" location before you pull the plug off)
the registry saves any, as in "ANY" things you do to your computer. so the more things you install and alter, the more things it has to memorize for input and output purposes.
so over time it lags.
3rd, viruses and spywares, malware, etc..
for these, we have:
AVG
AVAST
SnD
SPYWARE BLASTER
AdAware
ZONE ALARM FIREWALL
Some people say registry cleaning would help, but okay, I don't see any visible speed up. it only adds bulk because of the installation.
last, change your hardware. you may need to upgrade some pieces of it. but again, over time, it will slow down.
that's the bitter reality. straight from the cup. everyone suffers from it.
good day to you.
No quick, easy answer
by ethyrdude - 8/10/08 10:17 AM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Gail
If you are like many other people, you've done all the right things, been careful about downloads, have an antivirus installed and kept up with Windows updates. I really don't know anything about your computer and neither does anyone else except that it is a Dell Computer and that's about it but as far as that is concerned, doesn't really matter what brand of computer it is.
First of all, of all the advice given, keeping a back up copy of your data is the most important, regardless of how fast or slow things are running, keeping a copy of important passwords (write them down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere safe works for me) and usernames if you have them for things like your email program or internet access, photos, documents, downloaded music, whatever. If you have a CD or DVD burner, buy some blank disks, learn how to save data on them and make a copy on a weekly or monthly basis of your My Documents folder. Most companies will or should do this for their important data on a daily basis, but for most people once a week or once a month is good enough. Note: You do not need to keep back ups of your programs, if these are on a disk already, you just need to reinstall, should a hard disk crisis occur.
OK, now to deal with your computer. First off, if you have already cleaned up the trash and defragged your computer, you are already part way there. Unless you have an error message stating that you are running low on disk space or out of memory (both are different) I wouldn't worry too much about deleting things on your hard drive.
What I would concentrate on would be programs that are running in the background, not important ones like your anti-virus, but other programs like Adobe or Real player, things that are running constantly and don't really need to be running all the time. These programs are harmless but they do all take up a valuable resource, memory.
It's likely that your computer came with enough memory to run your applications without any problems but over the course of time, things get installed and these all take up memory. If you have Word, it probably loads up a bunch of stuff as your computer starts also, and slows things down. The best thing to do is take note of all these things that are running and if they don't need to, they should have an option, which allows you to set whether they start when your computer starts or not. If you don't need these programs all the time, set them to off.
Somebody may have suggested upgrading or getting more memory? That may help too but in the end, keeping things from starting that don't need to is probably your best and safest bet.
Just for your own info, you may want to take in your computer for a quick check up, even if only to have the dirt cleaned out. A computer that has lots of dust inside will also run hotter and may not run as quickly as it should.
I've tried to keep this as non-techie as possible, yes there are lots of tech tricks you could do but the best thing to do if you are really interested is to do a little browsing on the internet, read and learn about stuff you don't understand. BTW, a driver is a computer program that helps your computer do it's job. A video driver tells your video card (or internal chip) how to show images on your monitor, a sound card driver tells your sound system inside your computer how to play music or make other noises, nothing more.
One thing to keep in mind is that your computer is not as complex as people may try to make you think it is, it is merely a machine that you can plug in and turn on, more complex than a car? Hardly, think more of a toaster. Good luck and best wishes.
Suggested directions
by glen271 - 8/10/08 11:41 AM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Gail,
Because there are so many factors involved, it is difficult to provide exact steps to speed up a Windows XP PC. There is usually one primary
factor that is causing your pc to slow down, but it could also be a combination of things. Suggested basic steps:
1. Determine how much RAM (physical memory) is installed on your computer. Do this by clicking Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System
Tools -> System Info . Under System Summary, it lists Total Physical Memory in MB. If your pc has only 256mb or 512mb, consider upgrading
the memory to twice this amount, especially if someone uses the pc for games and/or multimedia/graphical applications. 1024mb (=1GB) would be
recommended. Goto the manufacturer's website, visit a local retailer, or simply do a web search for memory for your model number to get an
idea of the cost.
2. The next step is that you need to look at the programs installed and make sure that you don't have more than 1 each of firewall,
anti-virus, and anti-spyware programs. You can open the security center from the control panel, but it won't tell you this. Open up Windows
Explorer by pressing the Windows key + E together simultaneously or by clicking Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Windows Explorer.
Click the + next to expand the C: drive. Goto Programs under C: and expand that. This shows all your programs. If you are uncertain what a
program is, do a web search.
3. Uninstall any unnecessary programs. Goto control panel -> Add/Remove programs. Anything you never use, consider uninstalling it. It is
fairly easy to find programs and reinstall them.
4. Delete junk files on the computer. A great free program for this is ccleaner, but you can run the windows Disk Cleanup utility by going to
Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup.
5. With a good, up-to-date anti-virus program, do thorough scan. My suggested a/v programs: Norton, Kaspersky, Avast. Check the scan
settings to make sure it is set to do a Deep or Full Scan. You might also start your pc in "Safe Mode" and then do a scan. To start in safe
mode, reboot the pc, and immediately start pressing F8 gently. You will come to the boot choices menu. Choose safe mode. An anti-virus
program might possibly find more with a full scan in safe mode.
6. Do a scan with a good, up-to-date anti-spyware program. Recommendations: Spyware doctor and Spysweeper. (Spyware does more than "spy", it
also can slow down you pc.) Again, doing a scan in safe mode might help the program find more.
7. This next step is a biggie, and is probably the most common cause of a slow pc. You will need to investigate what Processes are running
in the background on your pc. Whether you knew it or not, your pc has several programs always running- many programs are set to run when the
computer is started. Usually some of these programs running in the background are non-essential, and having them not run in the background
will speed up your pc. The simplest way to investigate the background processes is to open the task manager by pressing Control+Alt+Delete
together. Click on processes. In the bottom left corner, the number of processes running is listed. Depending on your pc's resources, a
certain number of processes will slow things down significantly. (I recommend not having more than 40-50 processes running in the
background, ideally less than 40.) To find what a process does, and if it is essential or not, do a search at www.processlibrary.com or use
a search engine.
Once you have determined that a process is non-essential, then you will change the pc configuration to have not run at startup. To do
this, you can use a windows utility or another independent utility. (For example, CCleaner and RegCure allow you to control the startup
processes.) To use windows for this, goto Start -> Run, type in "msconfig". Click on Startup. Uncheck the processes you do not want to run
when the pc boots.
for more pc performance, you can also disable services in msconfig. Not all services are essentiall either. But beware- you'll also want
to know for certain whether a service is essential for you or not.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
