Intel Soars As IT Buyers Ditch Slow Computers

IT Buying Has Slowed In Recent Years

During this recession, consumers, rather than enterprise-level purchasers have largely driven the pace of computer chip sales. Enterprise purchasing has been put on hold as companies try to stretch their existing hardware inventory to save money. The end result of this kind of economy is noticeably slower computer performance and pent-up demand for faster computers.

Now, enterprise level purchasers are at the point where hardware replacement isn’t an option. At the same time, Microsoft has introduced a new version of their Windows OS that is much more palatable to the enterprise-level users, in large part because Microsoft has also upgraded its server platforms.

Intel and other chip makers are now the beneficiaries of past years’ corporate economy. What can corporate IT consumers expect to gain from the newest chip sets? First, corporate users gain the ability to dual-boot, which means experimentation with Linux, Macintosh and other non-Microsoft operating systems. IT departments may begin to offer the functions their users want without having to manage multiple desktop platforms.

Second, on the server side, corporate IT departments will have more flexibility to virtualize servers. Virtual servers can free the corporation from having to maintain separate servers for enterprise-level functions.

Third, corporate IT deployments may begin to take advantage of larger memory-addressing capacity – another side of the server virtualization coin. The latest chipsets will begin to break the traditional memory addressing barriers by offering workaround solutions that will both enable a larger cache of installed memory and faster processing for server-based computing.

In the mean time, computer users can recover some of the “speed potential” of their desktop installations by increasing the amount of installed memory on desktop units, and by performing regular maintenance on computers, such as defragmenting the hard drive and performing registry maintenance with a trusted registry cleaner like RegCure.

By performing regular maintenance on computer systems, users can expect to maintain or improve the performance of their existing systems and in some cases, can even delay the need to upgrade computer hardware.

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Anti-Virus Programs Can Cause Slow Computer

A/V: A Diminishing Return

With anti-virus software, you can be over-protected. That’s a nice way of saying that you shouldn’t have more than one anti-virus program installed at any given time. To be sure, some AV programs have advantages over others. Some are updated more frequently; others are better at detecting obscure infections. Others provide a balance of good protection at a reasonable cost.

What you don’t want is competition on your system. Anti-virus programs, by their nature, examine the activities of other programs. More than that, they limit the activities of other programs, including other anti-virus programs you may have installed.

AV programs compete for access to the same resources and can throw up unnecessary warnings, cause conflicts and crash the system when confronted with another AV program that is scanning the computer. Some AV programs make nice with each other, so these dire results aren’t always a foregone conclusion. Some users rely on two or even three AV programs that run simultaneously to protect the system.

AV software may work pleasantly in conjunction with a firewall, but throw in an extra measure of protection and you could be in a very slow world of hurt. The rule of thumb is that you should choose one AV program and one firewall program to protect your computer from malware and possible intrusions. Test your protective software for compatibility and if you find a good match, stick with it.

If you find that your combination has produced an unacceptably slow computer, switch out the test components one at a time. You may find that certain firewall/AV combinations don’t work well together, while others produce a perfectly harmonious result. Ultimately, the combination you choose should be one that provides good detection of viruses, as well as good prevention.

Also, don’t assume that firewalls come configured for your system right out of the box. Simply installing a firewall does not always equal protection. Frequently, their default state is either “minimal” protection or “off,” so make sure your firewall is actually configured to do something useful once you have it installed.

Finding a combination of AV and firewall protection that works well together doesn’t mean you can never change your protective software suite. Just don’t expect exceptional results from combined software suites that are designed to interfere with other software on the same computer!

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Curing Computer Performance Problems May Not Require A Lot Of Cash

How To Speed Up A Computer

Computers slow down for a number of reasons, some of which are avoidable or curable without spending a lot of cash. It helps if you know why the computer is slowing down, but there are some good maintenance practices that you can employ to help you keep your old computer working on the lively side.

First, check your computer for viruses and malware. These malicious programs are designed to wreak havoc on your computer. They chew up valuable memory and processor resources, and may even allow your computer to be used surreptitiously by a third-party. Getting rid of malware is important, so make sure your anti-virus definitions are up-to-date and check your computer for malware.

After getting rid of the malware, get rid of the stuff you no longer need. Old files and programs take up a lot of space. If you can’t bear to get rid of these things, try moving these files to an external storage device or write them off to CD. That way, you can keep these files close at hand, but they’re not taking up valuable real estate on the hard disk.

Once you have your old files removed, defragment the hard disk. Use the built-in defragmenting tool found in the System Tools folder. The defragmenter will allow the computer to write files in contiguous spaces on the hard disk and will save time when it comes to searching for, reading and writing files.

After defragmenting the hard disk, run CHKDSK to locate any bad disk sectors and lock them out. Like the defragmentation tool, this is a freebie that comes with Windows. Run this periodically to make sure none of your data gets written to a bad disk sector.

Run a registry cleaner like RegCure to remove any orphans or other leftovers from programs you no longer use or have installed. Cleaning the registry is a valuable exercise and will help keep your computer running smoothly.

After having done these things, your computer should show noticeably better performance. Set up a schedule to perform these tasks regularly – perhaps quarterly – and your computer should perform trouble-free!
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Three Guaranteed Performance Killers Will Slow Computer Down

Making A Few Adjustments Can Help Speed Up Your Computer

If you plan to pack a laptop computer, keeping in mind these things may help you spend more of your vacation time enjoying the scenery and less time performing technical support on your computer.
Don’t Expect Much Out Of The Hotel’s Internet Connection Some hotels offer free in-room wireless connectivity but that doesn’t mean you’ll be blazing along as you might at home or work. Often, hotel connections are limited to 128K/s or less. Good for checking email and not good for much else. Also, you may need to create new network settings for your computer in order to get an IP address and DNS service.
Don’t assume that paying for a connection will get you … well… a better connection. Some hotels charge for Internet service, but the service they provide isn’t any better than what you’d get from a free wireless connection. Check the hotel’s information about guaranteed upload and download speeds, and whether or not the maximum advertised speed is guaranteed or not. Some hotels charge by the hour for Internet access, while others charge by the 24-hour period. If you can get away with paying for service by the hour, time your connections to the Internet carefully to minimize your out-of-pocket costs.
Turn Off What You Don’t Need If you can, turn off the network services you can’t use on the hotel network. This might include Bluetooth and wireless networking capabilities. If you can’t use these services but leave them on all the time, you’ll soon find that your battery is drained. The same is true for brightness and volume controls. Turn them down to conserve your battery life.
Check your A/V before you go Hotel networks and public networks may not be terribly secure. Check your A/V software and apply the latest virus and malware definitions before you leave. Avoid connecting to your bank and credit card accounts using a wireless network or the hotel’s public workstations, while you’re at it.
Defrag your hard disk and clean your registry . In preparation for your trip, defragment your laptop’s hard disk and clean out the registry. That should help speed up your computer, even when you’re working in trying circumstances!

Photo Credit: Jerzy Kociatkiewicz

Data Storage Choices Can Speed Up Your Computer

Why Is 75% Full Really Full?

Computers use hard disk space for more than long-term file storage. Computers write plenty of temporary files when you’re using applications, browsing the Internet and performing other computer-related tasks. In addition, computers use hard disk space to make up for a shortage of RAM. When you have lots of applications open, your computer uses its RAM first; once your RAM is full, it switches to disk space to “swap” information in and out of RAM. The more you ask your computer to do, the more swap space you’ll need. This is especially true of graphics intensive programs like games, modeling software, and graphics editing programs.

The impact of not having enough available hard disk space is slow computer performance. In addition to speed problems, you’re likely to end up with more serious performance issues like crashing and loss of data. If you have a limited amount of money to spend, your first choice should be to delete files you no longer need. After all, deleting files is free! Go through your file system with a fine-toothed comb and clear out old files you don’t need. Temporary files and download files are prime targets.

If you’ve removed all the files you can, and you still need additional space, consider moving file “collections” to some other storage medium. For example, if you have a large collection of photographs or music that is stored on your hard disk, consider moving it to a CD or DVD to clear space on your computer. You can keep your storage DVDs handy, and eliminate space on your primary hard disk at the same time. You could also accomplish the same thing using a few low-cost, high-capacity USB drives.

If you do have a few dollars to spend, you can pick up a TB of external storage space these days for around $100. External storage is great for files you want to keep handy, and perhaps even add to, but don’t need to store on your primary drive. If you store large graphics files or lots of music, a “nearline” storage solution may clear up your drive for immediate operational use.

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