My PC is Slow

If you worked at a tech call center for just a few minutes, you’d get a call from someone who complains “my PC is slow.” They want help improving the performance of their machines, but they don’t even know why their computers have gone from lighting fast to slower than a turtle on antihistamines. There are several reasons that your PC could start to slow down over time. Luckily, many of these problems are easy to fix without paying professional computer techs a lot of money.

My PC is Slow Because of a Virus

You’ve probably heard a lot about how viruses can steal private information and turn your computer into a slave bot. What you might not have considered though, is how much CPU space and bandwidth viruses take up when they perform these actions. If you have a virus on your computer, then chances are that it is in control of your PC, not you. It accesses the Internet whenever it wants. It tells your operating system what to focus on. Essentially, you only get to use the computer when the virus isn’t working.

Not all viruses are that intrusive. Many of them however, will sap your computer’s resources and make it nearly impossible for you to use the PC for work and entertainment. You can identify and destroy most viruses by choosing a reliable anti-virus program. Make sure you use a recent edition that can identify and delete even the newest viruses.

My PC is Slow Because it Doesn’t Have Enough Free Memory

Another common reason that your PC could function slowly is that it doesn’t have enough free memory to complete tasks. This commonly happens when you keep large amounts of data on your computer’s hard drive. Movies are one of the biggest culprits. Other usual suspects include music files, pictures, and unnecessary software.

Deleting unnecessary files is the fastest, cheapest way to clear up space on your hard drive. Look for movies and music that you haven’t used in a long time. Chances are that you don’t really need these files, so delete them. You should also look for software that you never use. Your computer probably came preloaded with lots of programs that you will never even think about using. Uninstalling these programs can clear up lots of space.

If you don’t want to eliminate all of these files and programs permanently, then you can move them to an external hard drive or burn them to a DVD. That way you can keep the files without slowing down your PC.

My PC is Slow Because the Registry is Cluttered

If your PC has a cluttered registry, then it will spend a lot of time looking for files. That means inefficient operations and slow performance. Unless you have a solid background in computers, you shouldn’t try to remove or reorganize the registry files on your own. Doing so can have serious consequences for your operating system. Instead, choose a registry cleaner that will analyze your system, eliminate unwanted files, and organize commonly used files so that they are easy for the computer to access quickly.