How to Troubleshoot Slow Computers
Computers tend to slow down over time as the hard drive becomes more populated with files and more programs are installed taking up valuable virtual memory. There are also a variety of other factors that make computers slow down, such as a cluttered desktop. Fortunately there are a number of things that you can do to your computer to make it run faster without spending money to update it with more RAM.
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Instructions
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Go to "My Computer" and right click on your hard drive and select "properties" to see how much free disk space you have. At the very least your computer requires 200 to 500 megabytes of free hard disk space to operate.
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Clear up space by running disk cleanup by selecting "Run" from the "Start" menu and entering "cleanmgr." This will delete temporary Internet files, empty the recycle bin and remove a variety of other useless files. You can also uninstall programs which you no longer use by selecting "Add or Remove Programs" from Start > Control Panel in Windows XP, or Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features in Windows 7 and Vista. Manually delete large music or video files which you no longer use, or transfer them to a USB drive or data CD if you don't wish to delete them.
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Clear your computer desktop of all files and programs except for the Recycle Bin. This will help your computer to load up faster at startup.
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Check your computer for viruses or spyware by using a free virus scanners such as Spybot Search and Destroy and SUPERAntiSpyare. Viruses may be draining your computer's resources so removing them will benefit the health of your computer.
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Limit the number of programs that you have running when the computer starts up. Go to Start > Run and type in "msconfig" and select the "Startup" tab. This will display all the programs that Windows has to launch when the computer gets turned on. Uncheck any program that you recognize to be unimportant to the running of your computer. Some examples include Nero Check, Real Player and various Adobe programs.
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Avoid running lots of programs or having lots of windows open at the same time as this will drain the computer's memory and central processing unit.
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Defragment the hard drive after you have done all of these steps. This will ensure that your computer runs more efficiently. To run the Defragmenter right click on your hard drive, select "Properties" and click the "Tools" tab. Select "Defragment Now" to launch the Disk Defragmenter and click "Defragment." This can take between 30 minutes and a few hours so take a break and come back to your computer later.
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Restart your computer to notice some of the changes that these steps will have made.
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