subject: My Computer Is So Slow - What Can I Do About It? [print this page] It's a big problemIt's a big problem. You're trying to get some work done on your computer and it starts acting like it's sick. It's slow and definitely out of sorts. What can be done about it?
A computer can become under the weather for a lot of reasons. Usually, when it is ailing, it tells us by slowing down. Let's see if we can figure out what has happened to a computer that once flew, but now acts like it has the flu.
Don't forget the System Tray
First, if you have a lot of programs opened, just close a couple of them and see if that makes a difference. Also, check your system tray. This is in the lower right hand corner of your computer screen. Whenever you add a new program, the installer will ask if you want the program to open on computer startup. Usually, at this point we are all just clicking next in response to any question, so the result is we get a lot of programs starting up automatically. You can usually close these programs by right-clicking their icons.
There are other things that can slow down your computer and they are not at all your fault. There is one thing that happens to Windows operating systems in particular. We can just call it a Windows peculiarity.
The Windows Registry
The registry, which is a mainstay of Windows operating systems, becomes loaded with information it no longer uses. So, this added dead weight of useless information makes your computer use all its resources to do very little. It makes it seem like your computer is running up hill all the time. No wonder it acts sick! Fortunately, we can clean out this dead weight with a registry cleaner.
When your PC is running slowly it becomes impossible to keep up on your work. So, time being money, you have another important reason, other than the aggravation factor, to keep your PC humming along.
The bottom line is, you can only do so much by yourself to keep your computer from slowing down. After you closed all you can close and after you've gotten to the point there are only a couple of much needed icons in the system tray, you need to call on help from the outside world to aid you in getting your computer back up to speed.
Using a registry cleaner is taking a long step in the direction of restoring your computer's speed. Assuming you have a good virus/spyware uninstaller on your computer, using a registry cleaner may be the only step you need to take to restore your computer to great health.
