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4 Easy Ways to Speed Up A Sluggish PC
Computers are supposed to speed up our productivity?to help us do more in less time. What do you do when your computer is running so slow that it's keeping you from getting your work done? Before you kick it to the curb, try these easy, do-it-yourself suggestions to help your system run & perform better. Why do computers get slow in the first place? There are lots of reasons. When you first setup a new system, it's usually fast and responsive. Applications open quickly, websites load instantly and startup and shut down take no time at all. But after a few months of serious use (installing and removing programs, downloading files from the Internet and general wear & tear) it's normal for things to slow down a bit. This is where computer maintenance comes in?your disks and your file system need to be maintained for them to continue operating at peak performance. According to an article from Microsoft.com (see link at the end of this article), there are 4 things you can do to increase the performance of your PC: 1) Free Up Some Disk Space You can speed things up by deleting the unneeded files from your hard drive. Most recent versions of Windows include a nice utility called "Disk Cleanup" that does just what the name suggests?it cleans up your disks! It will scan your whole drive and return a list of files you can safely delete, which will free up storage space and also make your system more responsive. Temporary Internet files, temp files from documents, downloaded program files, and even items in your recycle bin can all be found and deleted using this tool. I would also recommend uninstalling any programs you no longer need, and any Windows components you don't use. Once this is done, you can move on to the next step. 2) Speed Up System Access To Your Data The more you use your hard drive, the more "fragmented" it gets. Simply put, after a while you start getting large gaps on your hard drive. Windows has to work around these gaps, and it does so by putting pieces of your data on various areas of your hard drive. The farther apart the pieces of your data are on the drive, the longer it takes Windows to put them back together again, which results in very slow performance. To fix this problem, you should run the Windows "Disk Defragmenter" regularly. This built-in tool will remove most of the gaps on your hard drive and place all your data in close proximity, which saves the operating system time?and that means a faster computer for you! 3) Find and Repair Any Errors On Your Disks Sometimes sectors of your hard drive can go bad. There are lots of causes for this issue, but the bottom line is that bad sectors can slow down your hard drive performance and even cause you to lose data. Fortunately, Windows includes a utility to deal with this: it's called "Check Disk". When you run Check Disk, it will scan your whole hard drive and find and fix errors, including bad sectors. Once you run this utility and fix any problems it finds, you're ready for the final step. 4) Deal With Any Spyware Installed On Your Computer I hate spyware! As a technician, nothing frustrates me more than a system infested with adware, spyware and downloaded Internet junk. Some of this stuff is really hard to remove, and the privacy issues surrounding spyware are also serious concerns. Show me a computer full of spyware and I'll show you a computer that's running way slower than it should be. Microsoft has released a free product called "Microsoft Anti-Spyware", and it works great for not only cleaning up existing spyware, but also for blocking it from getting installed in the first place. If you protect your system from spyware, it will reward you by performing better and lasting longer before requiring expensive repairs. Once all the spyware is gone and your disks are working optimally, your system should be much faster and more responsive. If you need instructions about how to find and use the various maintenance utilities mentioned here, this article from Microsoft (as mentioned before) will help: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx Donnie Schexnayder is a ministry technology expert. He holds industry certifications from Microsoft and CompTIA and has over 10 years experience in supporting churches and Christian ministries with technology. With a mixture of passion and expertise, Donnie helps ministries advance their mission of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth by using cutting-edge technology. Donnie lives with his wife and 2 children in Colorado Springs, CO. Eternitek: Advancing Christian Ministries Through Technology
MORE RESOURCES: What I Got Wrong in a Decade of Predicting the Future of Tech The Wall Street Journal ‘Data is the new oil’: Virginia Tech professor wants to protect the personal data of marginalized communities WRIC ABC 8News Smartphones Can Now Last 7 Years. Here's How to Keep Them Working. The New York Times iPad Pro vs. MacBook: The Great Apple Laptop Trade-Off The Wall Street Journal Opinion | Technology Hates Me The New York Times In the City, Personal Safety Starts With Your Smartphone The Wall Street Journal Jonathan Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’: Tech, Smartphones Cause Teen Anxiety The Wall Street Journal Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2024, From AI to EV - WSJ The Wall Street Journal Want to Get More Done? That Podcast in the Background Is Holding You Back The Wall Street Journal Apple's New iPad Pro vs. New iPad Air vs. iPad: Why Are There So Many? The Wall Street Journal How TikTok Is Wiring Gen Z's Money Brain The Wall Street Journal OpenAI Made AI Videos for Us. 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The Wall Street Journal 12 Apps We Can't Stop Using, for Better or Worse The Wall Street Journal 100 Cool Tech Gadgets in 2024, According to a Tech Expert BestProducts.com Best Tech Gifts of 2023 to Buy This Holiday Season, an Updated List - WSJ The Wall Street Journal Yun-Hee Kim promoted to Tech Editor, Corporate and Personal Technology The Washington Post The Four Steps to Better Password Security The Wall Street Journal Testing Apple’s Vision Pro The New York Times Turn On Your iPhone's Stolen Device Protection Now to Secure Your Money and Photos in iOS 17.3 Update - WSJ The Wall Street Journal Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Use AI to See, Hear and Speak. What Are They Like? - The New York Times Snapchat's Friend-Ranking Feature Adds to Teen Anxiety The Wall Street Journal A Pain-Free Way to Secure All Your Online Accounts The Wall Street Journal Is the $139 Amazon Prime Subscription Still Worth It? The Wall Street Journal The Apple Video Feature Awkwardly Crashing Your Meetings - WSJ The Wall Street Journal What if You Never Had to Charge Your Gadgets Again? The Wall Street Journal The most personal technology | Jul 22nd 2023 The Economist Quick Tips to Save Time on the Telephone The New York Times Apple’s iOS 17.3 Stolen Device Protection Update Aims to Stop iPhone Thieves The Wall Street Journal Don't rent out that container ship yet: CIOs and biz buyers view AI PCs with some caution The Register Do You Have Painful 'Tech Neck?' This Expert-Approved Gadget Might Help The Wall Street Journal The Most Important Tech Company You've Never Heard of Is a Major Reason Computers Keep Getting Faster The Wall Street Journal Faster, Beefier, Cheaper: The Next-Generation Electric Skateboards Have Arrived The Wall Street Journal Sluggish Wi-Fi? Weird Party Smells? 8 High-Tech Helpers for Harried Holiday Hosts The Wall Street Journal Meta Welcomes Headset War With Apple - WSJ The Wall Street Journal Meta and Google Are Betting on AI Voice Assistants. Will They Take Off? The New York Times Distracted, Forgetful and Hooked on Smartphones: Why More Women Are Being Diagnosed With ADHD The Wall Street Journal Yes, It's Rude to Use Your Laptop During Meetings—and More Tech Etiquette Rules You Might Be Breaking The Wall Street Journal Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia's phone unit – then killed it as a tax write-off - The Register You're Brewing It Wrong: The Coffee-Making Myths That Might Be Holding You Back The Wall Street Journal How to Cut Down Your Screen Time but Still Get Stuff Done The New York Times Why Tech Companies Are Not Your Friends: Lessons From Roku The New York Times EU duties might not hold off flood of China EVs The Register BASICally still alive: Classic language celebrates 60 years with new code and old quirks The Register New Tech That Asks 'Are You Sure About Sending a Nude Photo?' The Wall Street Journal How to Make Your Phone Last Forever: 6 Simple Tips The Wall Street Journal |
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