Speeding Up a Slow Computer

This will be the first in a series of articles about common computer problems and how to fix them. This first article will tackle a problem that seems more common than anything else: a slow computer.

Before we can address the software issues that might be slowing down a computer, we have to look at the hardware. If a computer doesn't have the necessary hardware to run at a reasonable speed, all the software troubleshooting in the world won't do much good.

If the computer is running Windows XP, it should have at least 512MB of RAM. While Windows XP claims to only require 256MB, system and background processes easily take up that amount. If the computer has less than 512MB of RAM, it's probably more suited to run Windows 2000. Windows 2000 is very similar to XP, but it's not as pretty and takes up far fewer system resources.

If the computer has at least 512MB of RAM, then we'll continue to software problems that might be slowing it down. We should make sure that the system is free of viruses, spyware, and adware. Make sure the computer's antivirus program is up to date and run a full system scan. An out-of-date virus scan is as useless as no virus scan, so it's very important that the latest version of the software and virus definitions are installed. If the computer doesn't have an antivirus installed, you can download and install AVG antivirus for free.

Spyware and adware are next. There are plenty of programs out there that you can buy to scan for these pesky little programs, but none of them are worth the money. There's plenty of free programs that do a better job. I recommend installing and running two, both available for free download. The programs are Spybot: Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware. Between the two, they'll do a good job getting rid of any unwanted programs.

Like the antivirus, it's very important that these anti-spyware programs are up to date before they start scanning, or they'll be pretty much useless. Run virus and spyware scans at least once a week to check for any new problems.