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Sudden Slow Computer Can Be Sign Of Big Trouble

Posted by paul on October 29th, 2010

Sudden Slow Computer Can Be Sign Of Big Trouble

Computers slow for a lot of reasons, and at a lot of different rates. If your slow computer got that way over a long period of time, it’s a good bet that some routine maintenance is in order. The cause of a long, slow decline could be anything from too many accumulated “auto-run” programs in memory, to not enough temporary disk space, to not enough installed memory to run the programs you’ve picked up along the way.

A Good Spring Cleaning Will Go A Long Way

For these gradual slowdowns, good regular maintenance can help restore your computer’s performance. Get rid of your temp and cache files; throw away old, unnecessary files or move them off to storage; defragment your hard disk; get rid of any files you’re storing on the desktop or move them to a folder inside the file structure; and clean your registry with a good registry cleaner like RegCure. While you’re tidying up, remove any unnecessary “auto-run” programs, and remove or disable toolbars you don’t use. Your performance should perk up.

If your performance problem appeared suddenly, you should be more concerned. Something in your environment changed recently, and the sooner you start your detective work, the more likely you are to solve the mystery.

Suddenly slow computers may be the victims of a spyware, adware, Trojan or virus attack. Getting rid of these performance thieves can make a huge difference. This malware can be loaded onto your computer surreptitiously, but more likely, you downloaded one or more of these vandals when you accepted a toolbar, downloaded a “fun utility” or opened an attachment from a friend. Make sure your virus/anti-malware software is up-to-date and remove any of these wet blankets you find.

Suddenly slow computers can be the victim of a hardware failure of some sort. If your computer is attached to a network, your suddenly slow computer could have a network connection that’s lost its mind. Sometimes simply powering off and powering back on will help, but more likely than not, you’ll need to replace the network connection.

Another common hardware failure is the loss of a CPU fan or cooling device. CPUs run very hot these days and require active ventilation to keep the processor from freezing up. If your fan goes bad, your processor can quickly overheat and cause all sorts of performance problems. You will probably need to open up your computer to make sure the CPU is being cooled properly.

Don’t be fooled by the power supply fan. This fan, which runs virtually all the time, is designed to keep the power supply cool. It will run quite joyfully while your CPU overheats and melts away. To be sure the fan is operating, you really need to see it, unless your computer has a bios setting or application that monitors the CPU temperature.

You might get some help from Performance Monitor on this one. PerfMon won’t tell you whether your CPU is melting, but it does give you some indication of what it’s doing. If the CPU doesn’t look well, open up your case and inspect the cooling fan visually. If it’s not running, replace it, but do so knowing that you may also have a damaged CPU.

Photo Credit: hammershaug, via Flickr

Filed under faster computer, fixing your PC, registry fixer
Tags: registry cleaner, slow computer, slow computer hardware, slow computer network, speeding up computer
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Slow Computer Performance: Graphics and Networking

Posted by paul on December 29th, 2009

Slow Computer Performance: Graphics and Networking

I’ve said it before but there are many different causes for slow computer performance. If you use your computer for graphics-intensive activities like playing computer games, or network-intensive activities like surfing the Internet, your computer may take a noticeable hit on performance.

Graphics Can Slow Even The Fastest Computers

Graphics processing is notoriously hard on processors. All modern video cards have their own graphics processors and memory to help ease the burden on the central processing unit. These graphics processors also make modern game-play possible. The great 3-D graphics you see on today’s computer games wouldn’t be possible without a good graphics processor. Often, game you purchase in the store or online will have specific graphics requirements. Games won’t work without them or won’t work well enough to make game-play fun.

If your graphics processor is stretched to the limits, you may find that your computer performance is suffering as a result. This may be especially true if your computer is older and you’re trying to play the latest multi-player games on it. You may also notice extreme delays when you’re connected to a game server somewhere on the Internet.

Check your graphics card’s capabilities carefully and make sure you’re not asking the graphics processor to do more than it’s able to. If your graphics processor is good, see if you can upgrade the graphics memory. Make sure you have the right kind of memory installed in your graphics processor. Without the right kind of card or the right kind of memory, your performance is likely to be less than optimal.

You’ll also want to make sure that your computer’s network connection is solid. A bad network interface card can cause trouble, not just for you but also for other devices on the network. If your computer is at home and you connect to the network through a high-speed network service provider, consult with your provider to help you determine whether your network card is working properly. Your provider may show you how to conduct speed tests to verify that it can download and upload information properly.

The provider may also want you to verify the operation of any firewalls you may be running. Firewalls can block or slow traffic and cause a very slow performance response on your computer. On some Windows computers, a firewall is automatically enabled. I don’t recommend disabling the firewall but I do recommend learning how firewalls work and how you can safely permit desired traffic to pass through the firewall unimpeded.

Photo Credit: Alan_D, via Flickr