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How can I get
my computer's original speed back--to get it as fast as it
was when I first got it?
Ahhh
yes...the age old question. Everyone wants to know why their
computer is so slow and what to do to make it faster again.
Well, I've been doing computer work for a long time. I can
tell you that despite the claims of gimmicky websites
peddling poorly designed software, there is no magical fix.
Not an easy one anyway. Of course it could be a virus or
spyware causing it to be slow, but that's discussed later.
In the meantime, let me say that before I started writing
this particular piece, I went and researched what others
were saying. I couldn't help but laugh at all the fake sites
that looked completely real just in order to sell you some
"registry cleaner" software that while yes, it really will
clean out some of the errors in your registry, it will NOT
speed up your computer. That, and most everyone says the
same thing that I'm going to say but not in the same way.
What I say is based on my own experience. All the other
sites I saw seemed like they're just saying things they've
heard over time. So, on to the answers as to why your
computer may be slow.
If you've had
your computer more than a couple of years and it's nowhere
near as fast as it used to be, I can assure you that it's
not the computer's fault--meaning it's not the hardware
slowing down. It's still just as fast as the day you got it
as far as the speed of the processor, RAM, motherboard, hard
drive, etc. That kind of stuff doesn't change (as long as it's not
failing...but that's another issue altogether.) What's
happened is several things. I'll try my best to explain them
all.
Let me start
by telling you what's not making your computer
slower, contrary to the most popular beliefs:
It's not the number of icons on your desktop. While,
yes, a large number of icons on your computer's desktop it
can make it boot slower, and the fact that it makes
the desktop very difficult to look at, it's not going to
make your computer run slow.
Next,
having
"a lot of stuff" on your hard drive won't slow it down. You
can fill your hard drive with pictures, videos, music files
and it still be just as fast as the very first day you got
it. Why? Well, we'll get to that in a little bit.
It's not that "it's really old." Two things have happened if
your computer really is old and it's slow. Either A, it's
one of the things I will explain here in a sec, or B, it's
just not as fast as you used to think it was "way back in
the day" when you first got it. ;-)
Registry cleaners such as
those you see advertised as DoubleMySpeed.com, MyCleanPC.com, FinallyFast.com,
FastAtLast.com, CleanPCNow.com DO
NOT WORK
And finally,
despite the commercials, magazine ads or Internet site ads
that try to sell you some gimmicky registry "cleaner"
programs, the Windows Registry is not filled with
"tons of junk" and abandoned files / settings to the point
that it will bring your system to it's knees. While, yes,
it's true that most programs that get uninstalled do leave
some things in the registry, there may be completely valid
reasons for it. I mean, after all--the company that created
the software you just uninstalled also created the
uninstaller that removed it. So obviously they knew what
settings THEY put into the registry so it's not like they
just "forgot it was there." Maybe they were there in case
you reinstalled later? Who knows.
And consider
this--if you take a computer with a completely blank hard
drive, buy a brand new copy of Windows, install it and
reboot, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the registry cleaners you run
will find "critical errors." How can there be any "critical
errors" in this completely clean version of Windows? All
jokes aside (because I know any Microsoft haters would have
a field day with that) seriously think about it. Why would
those programs find "Critical errors" in a completely clean
registry? I have my own ideas, but I'll just keep going.
Like I have
said before, I have downloaded and tested a lot of programs.
I want to know what works and what doesn't. I will never
recommend anything to a customer that I have never used or
tested myself. I have downloaded and tried all the most
popular registry cleaning programs--yes, even the ones on
TV, radio and Internet. I've tested all the most popular
programs that "guarantee to speed up your computer" and all
the Windows cleaners and all that good stuff. There's not a
single one, or even a combination of some, that will bring
your computer back to it's original speed. Sorry. But I will
say this. Yes, there are a few times where someone's
computer will be so completely full of who knows what that
it might actually work. But just like they show on all the
diet commercials and the "make Internet millions"
commercials, "these results are not typical...your results
may vary." Ya think???
Ok, so now to
what can cause it to be slow. Spyware and Viruses.
But if you already have read my other posts here, you
probably don't have to worry about that. What else? Hard
drive fragmentation (only if it's really bad).
But the
biggest things to slow your computer down that you can
easily fix are to not have enough RAM, no more hard disk
space (meaning less than 50 megs--no, not GIGS, I mean megs)
too many programs and utilities starting when your computer
starts, and of course, having Norton or McAfee or some other
"full version" antivirus or worse--"Internet Security" type
program. So let's look at each one of these individually.
Not enough
RAM. Depending on the type of computer you have, and the
version of Windows you have on it, the first thing you need
to know is if you have less than 512mb, you definitely need
to upgrade. A good "minimum" amount of RAM for any given
Windows XP system is to have at least 1gb. Now your system
can probably handle more, but depending on what you're doing
with your computer, most people don't need more than 2gb and
will never see the difference if they were to upgrade
further. To find out what kind of RAM your computer takes
and how much you can upgrade to,
go to the Crucial.com website and
click on their SystemScanner and it will (in most
cases) be able to determine what computer you have, the
amount of ram you have, the type of ram you have, and what
you can upgrade to. You do NOT have to buy from them, but
the price they give you for the different options is pretty
comparable to what you can typically find locally.
Not enough
hard disk space This one is pretty easy. First
off, go look and see what programs you have that you no
longer need and uninstall them. Next you have three places
(for Windows XP and later) where Temporary files are
created. In a default installation they are:
C:\Temp (you
may or may not have this folder)
C:\Windows\Temp
%temp%
The third one
is what's called a "variable" for those of you who don't
understand computer programming language. Basically the
%temp% variable means the currently logged in user also has
a Temp folder assigned under their particular user folder.
Now depending on what version of Windows you're running it
will be located in different places. But that variable will
work on just about any later version of Windows.
So how can
you clean the Temp files out? The easiest way is to use the
Disk Cleanup utility that came with Windows. To find out how
to run it in your particular version of Windows, use the
Windows Help feature and search for "Disk Cleanup." This
will also help you reclaim disk space in other ways. Once
you have at least 1500 megs, or 1.5 gigs of reclaimed free
space (A LOT more would be better) then you should notice an
improvement.
Too many
programs, utilities or services starting with Windows
This is a good one. Think about this-- almost everything
you install or update or renew or whatever, doesn't matter
if it's a printer driver, screen saver, program etc. will
almost always try to either put something in your startup
menu, or in the Run areas of the Registry (places where
programs can start when Windows starts) or they'll install
some stupid toolbar in Internet Explorer. All of these
things drive me nuts on a personal level--meaning when *I*
am the customer and not the tech. HP All-in-one printers are
probably the worst offenders. Or really any all-in-one
printer. They install an ink level monitor, a print job
monitor, an update checker, a button detector, and who knows
what else. So now, you had let's say 12 different things
starting every time you turned on your computer, and now
just because you installed this printer software, now you
have sixteen!
Most all of
the things that start when you start the computer aren't
even needed. Most of them are "update checkers" that go out
and check for updates for their respective programs every
single time you turn your computer on...and get this--they
also check for updates when you start the program! Why???
Sounds like overkill if you ask me. So if you want to find
out what all is starting every time you turn your computer
on, go back to Windows Help and search for and then run
MSCONFIG -- or the System Configuration Utility (they're the
same program) then go to the "Startup" tab. The results may
just surprise you.
Norton
Antivirus / Internet Security software
Well, I can't really say much here other than the only thing
you can do is to remove Norton and install
AVG Free Edition and then
install
ThreatFire. You'll be happy
with the results!
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