Why is My Computer Slow - Does Too Much stuff on My Hard Drive Slow it Down?

Does too much information on a hard drive slow down your computer

. If the disk is nearly full then it will have an impact on performance and if the hard drive is really fragmented it not only risks performance but can result in file corruption as well and you will be asking why is my computer slow.

One of the most common reasons for people taking their computer to a technician is because it keeps freezing and crashing. Even though having too much junk and information may not seem to be the cause of this it might be. Here are some tips to help clean this up.

#1 Remove everything you do not need off your computer. It is all to easy to download free toolbars, free games and free trial programs. These do not just take up disk space though. They use up memory and some may be malicious. Uninstall everything you do not need.

# 2 The more programs you install the more fragmented your files become. This may not have much of an effect on small programs but on large applications and games it does. You may not notice the effects at first but running simple tests will show that the larger the application or game the bigger the impact on performance and a fragmented hard drive can slow down programs by as much as 25% before you even start to notice it.

There is another issue too. If the program files become too fragmented data corruption can and does occur. Having a fragmented drive will cause problems and leave you asking why is my computer slow.

The solution to this is to run the windows disk defragmenter program which can be found in the systems tools folder which is inside the accessories folder on the start menu.

#3 If the system tell you that disk defragmenter cannot be run because there is not enough free space you will have to remove even more files. There needs to be 15% free space for it to run.

#4 Having too much information on your hard drive can slow down your computer for another reason. Many of these programs load themselves automatically and start with windows. What does this mean in terms of performance? Each programs requires memory to run and there will reach a point when they will consume so much memory that your computer will slow down, freeze and lock up and the only solution is to turn the power off, which results in data and registry corruption.

To fix this go back to the first step and remove absolutely everything you really do not need and then go to the windows start menu. Then to run and type in "msconfig". On the box that appears go to the start up tab and untick everything you do not want to start with windows. This cannot do any damage and you can reverse any changes when you want.

#5 The final affect of having too much information on your hard drive is this. Free toolbars, programs and files keep adding to the windows registry. Eventually errors appear and if you have already experienced freezing and lock ups this is a clear sign of registry errors.

To fix this download a system and registry scanner and find out what errors there are. You will be able to see if the registry has suffered serious corruption or not. If it has you will need to run a registry cleaner that will fix and repair any errors and help you repair the damaged registry and stop you asking why is my computer slow. Click here to scan your computer now and speed it up.

Why is My Computer Slow - Does Too Much stuff on My Hard Drive Slow it Down?

By: Brad Armstrong

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