Computer Repair


Title: My Computer Is SLOW... what's wrong with it?! It was fine when I first bought it!
Author: LLRo
Published: 06/10/08



Theres a lot of things that can be causing a slow down but the PRIMARY thing is NOT I repeat NOT a virus. It can be, but more than likely a virus is meant to destroy your computer or mess it up in some way where it's inoperable.

Your computer has a set of instructions that first start up. Imagine this like a list of tasks that you have to do in the beginning of your day. Wake up, brush your teeth, shower, get in your car, drive to school/work...

Well your computer has similar tasks to accomplish. From the time it 'wakes up' (boot) it has a set of programs that it has to start up.

When you first bought your computer, this list was fairly small. Inevitably you will install programs that you may have seen that says "Turn On at Startup"... well these are the biggest culprits for slowdowns! Whenever you install do NOT opt to turn this on. Doing a few is fine but having a million things to do at startup WILL slow it down.

So a remedy, go into your programs separately, ie Windows Media Player, Quicktime Player, iTunes, AIM or whatever else and find the option in your preference to disable at Startup. The program will still open up when you click on a file like an mp3 or whatever, but it will reduce the time it takes for startup to load up all the programs. Uninstall useless programs. Try it out!

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Another culprit is antivirus software. A few years ago antivirus programs were simply for 'viruses'. Since then, different forms of viruses came about. Annoying programs that you accidentally install that run ads are called bloatware; which, to some, can be considered a form of virus. Companies like Symantec, MacAfee and/or Kaspersky (to name a few), have developed suites that may include a TON of utilities that run in the background. Some monitor your network, your internet browsing, things being loaded on your computer. If you are not doing much browsing and your computer is slowing down while you're doing a Powerpoint project, then simply disable the web protection. While it won't give you a significant boost in resources, any amount will help.

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If the steps above does not remedy the slowdown problems then there may be other problems involved. It could be as simple as a few programs causing the slowdowns to hardware issues. If your computer starts to act funny: make strange noises, reboot frequently, and/or things start looking weird on your computer, then chances are there could be more serious problems. Always ensure that you've properly backed up all your important data. Consequently, those that decide to backup their files are the ones that have had major crashes and lost a lot of important stuff. Be smart, back it up. Thumb drives are easy to come by as well as portable external hard drives.

Remember, the less bloat programs you install (freeware games/softwware/utilities) the better off your computer will be.


Note: There are many advanced ways to fix a computer but these articles are intended for novice computer users. If you find any mistakes to any of my articles, please let me know through the Contact Form. I hope you have enjoyed/learned something. Thank you for visiting the site.