Why is My Computer So Darn Slow?
When you first bought your computer, it zinged.
It was faster than the computer you replaced. it was upgraded. But lately
something happened. It slowed to a crawl, taking forever to boot up and
net surfing - especially for you dial-up users - became excruciatingly,
impossibly slow. It is possible to recapture that lost speed. What happened?
There are a few culprits. We personally hate long winded explanations, so
we will keep this short. Or, you can forget the explanations and just skip
to the fixes. For those of you still with us, here are the three most
common reasons your computer has slowed down. Two deal with slow
internet browsing and one is what is causing your computer to take so long
to boot up is causing your computer to run slow. Okay, here we go.
1. Temporary internet files. These are slowing
down your internet browsing. You need to clean them out. Consider this a
regular maintenance item. It is easy and you do it right from your web
browser. This is for users of internet explorer (sorry Netscape and AOL
users).
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From Internet Explorer
1. Click on TOOLS
2. Click on INTERNET OPTIONS
3. Click on DELETE FILES (this is only deleting temporary
internet files, not files on your computer that you want or need. A
little hour glass will appear while the files are being deleted. The
longer the hour glass appears, the dirtier your web browser is.).
4. Click OK
5. Click on DELETE FILES again. This time, check the box that
reads, "Delete all offline content"
6. Click OK
While you are at it, you might as well DELETE COOKIES. Click
on DELETE COOKIES, then click OK.
Now Click OK and the pop up window will close. You have
cleared out your temporary internet files.
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2. Clearing Out Your Start Menu Programs
(for faster computer start up and overall faster operation).
Many programs load at start up. Each program that loads at start up takes
time to load and consumes system resources. The more programs that
start at the same time your computer does, the longer it takes
your computer to fire up. How these got there is of no concern right
now. And you will not be removing the programs from you computer.
They will still be there. They just will not in your start up menu. Let's start.
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1. From the very bottom of your screen, find the
START Button and click it.
2. Click on Run
(a window pops up with a box to write something. It is right below
the sentence that reads, Type the program you want to ...)
3. Type MSCONFIG in the box. Then CLICK OK. (A
window will open).
4. CLICK on the tab marked START UP (a window will
open with check boxes. These check boxes show you all the programs
that are starting at the same time your computer starts up. We want
to eliminate some of them, but not all of them and we want to be a
bit careful here).
Do Not Uncheck These Programs:
- - System Tray,
- - Any program that has the name of your mouse manufacturer in
it (mine says Logitec).
- - Any program that sound like the anti-virus software you are
running.
- - Any program that sounds likes the personal firewall you are
running (like Zone Alarm, etc).
5. Now the tricky part. What programs to uncheck? The easy
place to start is with programs you recognize and know that you
never use any more. Maybe you tried a program, didn't like it but
never uninstalled it. Maybe you no longer use ICQ, or AOL. Maybe you
have a Kodak graphics of other graphics program you use very
little.
The best course is to start slow and see the result. Find a
couple you are sure about and uncheck them.
6. After you have unchecked the programs you don't
want to start up when you start up your computer, CLICK OK.
(You will be asked if you want to restart your computer. SAY
YES.
Your computer will shut down and boot (start) back up. If it
boots faster, then you have made progress. Not only will it not take
so long to start your computer in the morning, it should run faster
all day long.
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3. Remove Spyware
that is slowing your internet browsing.
This one is easy. Get Ad Aware by Lava Soft. Not much we need
to tell you on this one. We will let them guide you through
installation and operation. It is a quick download and you will be
amazed at what you find once Ad Aware scans your system.
Ad-Aware by Lava Soft
Download
Here
A bit about spyware. It slows down your computer by
sending out information about your internet browsing habits. If you
have a lot of spyware on your computer, you can increase you
internet browsing speed tremendously. There is probably no single
thing you can do - especially if you have a dial-up connection - to
speed your internet browsing than removing the spyware. Why have we
recommended Ad-Aware. It is the one we use and it seems to work.
There are others out there.
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That's it. That's our tips. Hope it helps.
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