Why is my computer so slow?
How long does it take to start your desktop or laptop?
The answer depends on many factors but hopefully it’s not taking you 10 minutes just to see your wallpaper. I’m a fanatic when it comes to a computer’s performance. I love to get the most out of a machine using already existing hardware and free software to optimize performance and stability.
This is a quick guide to help you understand how today’s latest technology can get so bogged down.
Here are some common causes:
- Hard drive fragmentation
- Physical hard drive failure
- No free space available
- More than one anti-virus
- Malware
Hard drive fragmentation
Think of your hard drive as your office. If your office looked like the one below:
It would take a long time to find the right files you need to work with. If your hard drive is fragmented, the same truth applies. When in this condition, Windows is frantically searching your drive for the files it needs to run. If out of order and misplaced, this can cause slowness.
There are a few utilities out there that will clean up this state of your drive and be the maid when it comes to putting your files where they need to be.
My personal favorite is Defraggler.
Head on over there and grab a free copy. Below is a screenshot of the installation.
I want you to pay attention to this screen. Many will fly past this screen without noticing what it’s asking you. And this goes with any program you install. Always check to see what additional applications or add-ons it’s wanting to install. So, do you really want the Yahoo! Toolbar? If so, that’s fine and keep going. But if not you need to uncheck that here.
Once you have Defraggler installed, let it analyze your drive. This is to give you an idea of how fragmented your hard drive is.
If you see a lot of red blocks like in the image above, it’s time to run Defraggler.
Do this at least once every few months. It depends on how often you use your computer, but don’t over do it. Running a defragmenter is heavy ware and tear for your hard drive so don’t run it every day.
Physical hard drive failure
Speaking of ware and tear, think of your hard drive as a tire on your car. The more you drive on it, the faster it’s going to ware down and need replacement. Hard drives have CD like platters stacked on top one another that spin at a very fast rate. So it’s a moving part, and all electrical and mechanical devices with moving parts are prone to failing eventually.
Even before failing, the platters in the drives can become unreadable much like audio CDs with smudges on the bottom of the discs. When you play a CD in this condition, your music skips right? Much like your computer will when asked to do certain tasks. This can cause your OS to freeze up with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) error (example shown below), or extreme slowness.
To test this theory, you need software that can detect reading or writing errors. Most of the professional grade applications are a little pricey but worth their cost.
No free space available
Again, using the office analogy, how effective would your work be on the same desk cluttered with papers and supplies? You need elbow room. Room to write on paper and room for your keyboard. A computer needs elbow room. At least 10% of your hard drive should be free for your operating system (i.g. Windows) and software to shuffle files around.
You can start cleaning up unneeded files right now. For Windows users, run it’s built in program called Disk Cleanup:
Typically this is found under the Start menu; All Programs; Accessories; System Tools; Disk Cleanup. Or on Vista / Windows 7 just click Start and search for Disk Cleanup.
Also run CCleaner which is from the same folks that brought you Defraggler. It is an excellent cleanup utility that can clean up some of the clutter that Windows generates it’s self. Including logs, browser history and other miscellaneous items that I promise you will not miss.
The only item I suggest you consider is your browser form and saved passwords history. Many will want to keep this. See an example below:
More than one anti-virus
Two is better than one, right? Not always. Not when it comes to two anti-virus applications dedicated to protecting your computer from viruses, from… the same viruses.
Most anti-virus products provide some sort of “on access scanning”. Meaning, once you open a file, plug in a USB thumb drive, or download something from the internet the anti-virus will automatically scan it in the background. This is a needed and important service, but if you have two products installed scanning the same files, it will slow your computer down quickly.
Malware
This cause of slowness definitely deserves it’s own guide. But for now, let’s talk about how a little basic malware can slow down your day to day tasks on your computer.
Malware is short for malicious software and is the umbrella term for when talking about viruses, worms, spyware, and other malicious and unwanted software. Malware can be downloaded and installed on your computer with a single click of a button. In some cases it is hidden deep under the innocent appearance of a game’s interface and it can be installed right in front of you. At other times malware can dress up as a friendly anti-virus asking you to purchase it’s full version so you can get ripped off even more.
As I said, this topic requires a separate guide of it’s own as this can get very detailed and complex. Your machine could possibly be infected with popular malware object that are easily picked up simply by clicking on a banner ad on a website. To make sure you are clean, run one or both of these two scanners:
Both are great scanners and they will find the sneakiest of viruses and spyware. And they are free!
Thank you!
I hope this was a helpful quick start with clues on how computers can become slow and unstable.
Just to summarize, here are the list of tools I mentioned above:
- Defraggler – www.defraggler.com
- CCleaner – www.ccleaner.com
- Spybot Search and Destroy – www.safer-networking.org
- Malwarebytes Anti-Malware – www.malwarebytes.org
If you need any additional help with any of the topics discussed in this guide, or if you would like to suggest other topics please email me at: support@techbarn.org
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Great article! Do you think certain OS’s perform slower than others? I have Vista and I hate it! It seems slow to me…
What OS do you recommend?
This is what most Vista users are experiencing. Even with brand new machines, Vista can start to slow down just after a month or two of using.
I highly recommend upgrading to Windows 7. If you are a student with a valid .edu email address, you can obtain a copy of Windows 7 for $30. Also, check to see if your school is part of the MSDNAA (MSDN Academic Alliance) program for a free download of the OS.
Thanks for this post – it actually helped me a lot to speed up my PC.
Before defragmenting disk, you should do something in advance.
1. You should clean up the junk files and information.
Since your system work for a long time, the junk files may cram many unconscious operations may result in junk files. They are temporary files when installing the programs, cache files after browsing, DLL files left by deleting software and error files produced by shutting down the computer forcedly.
It is common that most users are inclined to use the disk cleaning up programs in the Windows, at the same time, you can also turn to certain more powerful defragmenter to help you.
2. You should check and restore any mistake in the hard disk.
Of course, you can have a try of the Disk Scan Program of Windows firstly. Although it really takes a lot of time to repair it, as long as you are patient enough, the most errors and mistakes can be restored after complete and detailed scanning.
Hi, great tips on there. I bookmarked this website.
Thanks for this cool post. Anyway i found your blog on google and find it very useful. I’ll be sure to come back again for more!
Ah, the land of the free!
You have the right to free speech as long as you speak English.
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Thank you! I really appreciate your article, in fact I think you deserve a thumbs up.