Computer go-slow

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Computer go-slow

Is your computer running slow?

Before you attempt any diagnosis, save all running programs.

Some simple things to check:

Your hard drive could be too full to function efficiently.

Your system needs free disk space to allow for housekeeping. It uses the disk as a memory overspill and if it has to hunt around it is going to slow you down.

Your computer could have a fragmented hard drive.

As a hard disk fills up, files are deleted and new software added, the disk becomes fragmented and the data on the drive is scattered rather than being organized into discrete areas. This causes the PC to slow down because it has to gather the data. Defragmenting might be the answer. This is just like sorting out paper in your office.

Empty your Recycle Bin. (Right click on the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop and select Empty before doing any defragmenting.)

For a PC, run the Windows hard drive defragmenter (normally found under programs/accessories/system tools) and it will advise you if you need to ‘defrag’ your disk but it will need doing a couple of times a year. The benefit is not only a marginal increase in speed but, because it reduces the work the disk drive has to do, it should last longer.

If you run a Mac, they do not have a defragmenter although there are 3rd party products. Instead Mac advocate initializing the hard drive about once a year.

If you play games or do a lot of graphics you may not have enough system memory to run your software efficiently.

Low virtual memory: When a PC gets low on memory, pages of memory not currently being used are moved from physical RAM to a swap file on disk called virtual memory. The page is moved back to the RAM when it is needed.
Think about upgrading but make sure you get the right sort of memory. On older computers you need to go into the BIOS to tell the computer to use the memory, so this should be left to people who are prepared to read the manual.

Is your computer infected with a virus?

This might happen if your computer is connected to broadband and some malicious virus is using your machine to propagate itself while covering its tracks.

Install and run a virus checker. Follow any installation instructions carefully as some viruses can hide behind a newly installed checker.

If you are feeling confident with the technology you could investigate these:

Background activity

It's possible that your computer may have programs running in the background. This limits the memory available and the processor might be doing unnecessary work. Programs will often set the Load on start-up feature automatically when installing so deselect this option during the installation to take control.

Check the icons in your computer's ‘system tray’ (normally bottom right hand corner of the screen on a PC) to see background programs. You will find that your printer, audio software and numerous other bits are sitting waiting to spring into action. This is fine if you have a powerful machine but annoying on an old machine or a laptop. If you can reduce a few programs running in the background.

A quick fix is to hover over the button and right-click to select the Close option.

To see and close background programs on a PC:

Press the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time but only do it once. If you do it before it has responded it will reset the computer.

After a few moments it will list all the programs running on your computer.

Click to highlight any program you don’t want (but leave ones like Systray running)

Click End Task.

If you don't want background programs to start next time you boot:

Find the program and

either configure it not to run – You will have to select the programme to run it when you want it

or remove it from Programs/Start-up so it won’t automatically start. This should significantly speed Windows start times and overall efficiency.

If it is completely redundant delete it from your system, but be careful before exercising this option.

Microsoft Office

You will find that there is a built-in part of this suite called FindFast running all the time in the background. You will see an icon in the Control Panel for FindFast if your system is running it. This is a resource-hungry but can disabled by following the instructions in this Microsoft Knowledge Base.

Old software

If you have had your computer for more than about 4 years it could have old or conflicting device drivers.

To diagnose this problem, boot the computer in Safe Mode by pressing and holding the F8 key during start-up (Sometime you have to select Safe Mode). When the boot is complete select Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Devices.

Click on all the devices and see if any drivers have a yellow or red exclamation marks beside them which indicates a driver conflict.

You can also see if there are any duplicate drivers for the same device that can be eliminated.

This needs to be done with care and is not recommended unless you actually encountered a problem.

You may need to reload a driver. If you plan to do this, visit the websites of the equipment concerned and get the latest driver for your operating system.

As each program is installed and uninstalled, it leaves behind parts of itself which can slow down or even crash your computer.

There are some dll files that are shared between programs. Over time these change and old software might not work with the modern version of the file, so take care with mixing software of different ‘generations’.
Some utilities offer to find and fix these conflicts. The cure can liberate extensive hard disk space and improve performance dramatically, but be warned - the cure might involve removing some vestigial bits of old and much loved software so the cure might be worse then the disease! Just make sure you have all the old disks so you can reinstall any software that stops working.

If you are getting crashes and software conflicts, think about a re-build of you computer hard disk. Consult an expert before attempting this. You might have to abandon some old software to prevent the problem recurring.

Overheating

It has been known for hot processors to cut their operating speed. If you think this might be a problem, give your machine a spring clean inside. An overheating process will age and fail faster than one that is operating inside its operating parameters.

There is a full, technical glossary to check any words you don't understand or need clarifying.