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Speeding Up Computers

Solutions for speeding up computers seems to be frequently sought after. Many of the jobs that we do also have to do with increasing the speed of computers. This article is a summary of what you can do and what you better avoid when looking for getting your machine sped up.

The most important things to understand is what slowing the computer down. Based on our experience the following factors are responsible for most cases of slowness:

1. Too many things running in the background. it’s usually due to installed programs adding their own startup items.
2. Insufficient amount of RAM (memory) to run programs. It forces the system to use the hard drive a lot more.
3. Inefficient antivirus, or multiple antiviruses running at the same time.
4. Failing hard drive
5. Viruses and other unwanted/unnecessary programs
6. Faulty programs that eat up computer resources (eg stuck in an endless loop that consumes processing power)
7. Excessive fragmentation on the hard drive
8. Incorrect system settings

Contrary to the much advertised “fact”, registry errors have little to no effect on computer speed or operation. You can still do it, just don’t pay a dime for a software that cleans registry. CCleaner is free and does a good job (ie: doesn’t delete more than it’s safe).

Now, there are a large number of software out there that claims that it will speed your computer up. Some of them are even advertised on TV or radio. I’ve checked up on many of these and I’ve worked on machine that had one or more of these. In a few cases a minor speeding up was reported but in most cases either no measurable change or even slowing down of the machine was the result.

There are definitely software tools though that facilitates speeding a computer up, but so far I have not encountered one that would reliably handle the factors responsible for slowing a computer down. In every case it actually involves assessing which software is needed and which one is not. That cannot really be done without human intelligence.

For regular upkeep of computer operation I recommend a trio of the following small programs:
- CCleaner: to clean out temporary files, cookies; and to check on the startup items.
- CrystalDiskInfo: to check on the health of the hard drive
- MyDefrag: to thoroughly handle fragmentation on the hard drive
The full procedure of how to use this is detailed in this article: Computer Maintenance Schedule

In cases where these don’t handle the slowness it’s better to turn to someone who is knowledgeable on checking for and handling all factors that can slow computers down. If you live in our service area you can bring your computer in to us, but in many cases we can also handle slowness issues remotely.

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