Computer Running Too Slow? Restore Your Microsoft Windows-based Computer

So you have had a computer for a while now and you're wondering how you ever managed through life without it. But lately your computer has been running slower than it has in the past: web pages take seemingly longer than usual to download, programs take longer to open, and audio/video files tend to sound anf look choppy when you play them. This article will help you to find the root of the problems and to take the proper steps to repair the problem and restore your computer to peak operating conditions.

The first place to begin is with a system defragment. over time, with access to files, particularly large media files such as audio and video, different segments of files can become spread over different segments of your hard drive. The trouble is that when you click on the file, it needs to be used as a contiguous file(meaning all of the segments of the file are in sequential orer on the hard drive). This leads to file fragmentation. To fix this in your Windows-based computer, click on your Start menu, then go to Programs,Accesories,System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. From there you can analyze your hard drive and determine how much file fragmentation you have. The analyzing process will tell you how much fragmentation you have, and whether or not you need to defragment. If your system doesn't need to be defragmented, its a good idea to defragment anyway, just to be on the safe side. The defragmentation proess takes anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or so to finish. To prevent system defragmentation, perform disk defragmenter at least once every two weeks, depending on how frequently your computer is used.