Your slow computer is at it again. You’ve performed all of the recommended maintenance, but no matter what you do, the computer slows down when you use it. If you’re in the habit of leaving your computer on overnight, you could be experiencing the effects of a memory leak.

Memory Leaks Can Steal Working Memory

What is a memory leak? A memory leak occurs when an application does not (or cannot) release memory it has used. The longer a leak is active, the more memory your application will consume, and the less memory you’ll have left for other applications. Left unchecked, a memory leak will eventually consume all available memory and the computer will crash.

In the mean time, the memory leak will begin to affect computer performance. Your computer will slow down because it has to spend more time managing the remaining available memory. Memory leaks can occur in many different circumstances. Depending upon the kind of memory leak you’re experiencing, you may be able to resolve the leak by simply shutting down the offending application, or you may have to resort to more drastic measures like rebooting the computer.

A good way to avoid memory leakage is to shut down your applications once you’ve finished with them. Don’t allow applications to run for extended periods of time without restarting them or rebooting the computer. This prescription doesn’t apply to servers and server software, which are designed to run for months or even years at a time without a restart or reboot.

Any application can have a memory leak, but some apps, by virtue of their programming, are more prone to memory leakage than others. Most users don’t have the equipment and knowledge to properly or positively diagnose a memory leak. Further, since memory management is a function of the application’s programming, correcting a memory leak is certainly beyond the user’s capabilities. What isn’t beyond the user’s capability is limiting the impact a memory leak can have.

Be sure to shut down applications you’re not using. You can do this by simply quitting the application when you’re finished. A few apps (the Skype client comes to mind) will allow you to sign out without quitting the app itself. Quitting the app requires a second, discrete step. If you suspect an application is taking up a lot of memory, check the Task Manager to see what’s actually happening. If an application can’t quit or has stopped responding, use the Task Manager to shut it down.

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Last week, I talked about how you can use the Task Manager to find out what’s running on your computer. We looked at both applications and processes. The Task Manager provides a lot of useful information that can help speed up computer performance, or at least let you see the impact of certain processes and actions on your computer performance.

Services

After the Applications and Processes tabs, you’ll find a tab labeled “Services.” What is a service and how is it different than an application or a process? Well, applications are programs like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. They help you perform a specific task like word processing or game-playing. A process operates at a more basic level. The Task Manager is a process. Explorer is a process, and so is the Windows Desktop Manager. Processes, more often than not, are executables that have specific operating system-related functions. They allow the computer to control the audio, and other system-level tasks.

Services operate at an even more basic level. They provide support for certain functions like Internet access, Bluetooth support, system security, event logging, mobile device recognition, network communications between devices, and remote access. You can usually find several dozen services running at any given time on your computer.

The Task Manager will show you whether a service is running or stopped. It will also give you an idea of how much physical memory and CPU time are being consumed by services. Select a service from the list of services and click the Services button at the bottom of the panel. This will open the list of services, tell you how the services are set to start up, and tell you whether the service is currently running or not. You can start, stop and restart services here. If a service is consuming a lot of system resources, stop it and restart it. If that doesn’t solve your problem, you may want to restart the computer to see if you can resolve any performance issues.

The services panel should give you a good description of what the service is doing (or supposed to do) on your computer. Generally, you don’t need to change the settings on a service, especially those that are set to start up automatically. Occasionally you can eke a little more performance here, but what you really want to keep your eye on is services that are consuming a lot of resources unnecessarily.

In my next post, I’ll go over the Performance Monitor, the Networking Tab and the Users tab.

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When you have a problem with a slow computer, you may be tempted to reach for your anti-virus software and maintenance checklists. The real culprit may not be related to something that has happened to your computer, so much as it is the way you use your computer. You can do certain things that will reduce performance. This week, I feature a couple of good habits that you can get into that may improve your computer performance.

Stop Doing That!

Desktop File Storage If you store files on your desktop, you’re probably going to experience a performance hit. I’m not talking about desktop shortcuts, although I’m not a big fan of those either. I’m talking about saving files directly to the desktop. The desktop is a special part of the file system, and isn’t intended for file storage. It’s ok to save a file there if you’re working on it, but when you’ve finished, put the file away.

Likewise, don’t choose the desktop as the default download location. Normally, Windows defaults to the Downloads folder. If you change your default download location, make sure the location you choose is properly part of the file system.
The operating system is designed to store and index files inside the file tree. The desktop isn’t meant for permanent file storage, so asking the computer to go out and retrieve files from the desktop takes additional time and causes a performance hit. Put your files where they’re supposed to go and keep your desktop clean!

Applications Left Running Overnight Some people prefer to leave their computers on at night, or when they’ll be gone for long periods of time. That’s ok; computers can manage that, though you’ll save electricity if you turn off your computer when you’re done for the day. Applications are less able to tolerate being left open for long periods. You may notice a big performance hit when you return to an open application. For better results, save your documents and close your applications, when you walk away from your computer for a long period of time. Also, make it a point to restart the computer periodically. You’ll clear out the cobwebs and give your system a fresh start.

If these don’t help improve computer performance, consider running a registry cleaner to clear out non-essential registry entries that may be impacting computer performance. SpeedUpMy PC 2011 is a great tool to have on hand for just this purpose.

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Speed Up My PC is more than a simple cure for the common slow computer. Speed Up My PC contains helpful features that can enable you to spot trouble, make good diagnoses and provide you with the tools you need to keep your PC in good working order. Speed Up My PC is more than just a registry cleaner; it’s an entire toolkit designed to help even the most novice PC users take care of their computers the way a professional technician would.

Features of Speed Up My PC

Speed Up My PC has been on the market for years. It’s a mature product that contains all of the tools and features you’ll want to have on hand when you’re experiencing slow computer performance. Speed Up My PC is optimized for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Uniblue Systems, the makers of Speed Up My PC, understand that there are a variety of reasons for slow computer performance. That’s why Speed Up My PC contains memory optimization tools, a memory cleaner, a startup items utility that ensures your computer starts up only what you want it to at boot time; a reliable registry cleaner; s system scanner; and tools to optimize the performance of your CPU.

Speed Up My PC starts its work with a full system scan. The scan examines the major components of a system to help identify areas where performance problems may have taken up residence. Speed Up My PC examines all of your system settings, startup items, and the status of the installed RAM, the CPU and the hard disk. Once a snapshot of the entire system has been made, Speed Up My PC goes to work to optimize the performance of each of these significant components.

Speed Up My PC allows you to identify, disable or uninstall performance thieves that may be slowing your computer system down. This may include unnecessary startup items, toolbars, adware, spyware or malware, unneeded system components and more. By removing unneeded (and potentially dangerous) programs, you can increase the security of your PC, too!

Unlike many ordinary registry cleaners, Speed Up My PC is very affordable. For less than $30 you can have an excellent registry cleaner plus all of the helpful tools and diagnostics you need in one, reliable fast application. Speed Up My PC is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Download your copy today and let Speed Up My PC make a significant improvement in the performance of your slow computer today!

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For some reason, certain users believe that reloading the operating system is a sure cure for a slow computer. Some people even go the extra mile and reformat the hard drive before reloading. Reloading the OS has some benefits, to be sure, but it’s really not supposed to be part of “normal” maintenance. I consider it “abnormal” maintenance. In my book, reloading the OS is a very extreme measure, and one that is taken only as a last resort.

Avoid The Temptation To Reload

While reloading the OS may have been a first choice at some point in the evolution of the Windows OS, it certainly isn’t one today. There’s very little to recommend reloading the OS until you’ve gone through every other possible alternative. Reloading the OS is time-consuming and you lose a lot of valuable stuff – like your hardware drivers and system updates. You’ll need to reload, reconfigure and repatch everything, including the OS and all of your hardware drivers.

If you’ve decided that the reformat route is the one you’re taking, you’ll need to back up all of your applications and data – unless you go super-hard core and reload your applications, too. In that case, you’ll just need to back up your data, but you’ll also have to apply all of the patches or updates to your applications.

The bad part about reloading is that it doesn’t always resolve the problem. If having too little memory causes your slow computer problem, for example, all of the reloading in the world isn’t going to touch this one. If your hard disk is nearly full, it’s still going to be nearly full when you’re finished reloading the OS. I will say that reloading the OS is one way to clean the registry, but you can use a registry cleaner and get the same effect. I recommend SpeedUpMyPC for this particular task.

There are better ways to speed up your computer and prevent it from slowing down again. You know the drill: remove old applications and files; kill unnecessary startup items; defragment your hard disk; add more memory if you’re running short; patch your OS and drivers; add disk space if necessary; use a reputable registry cleaner; get rid of viruses; malware, adware and spyware. If you haven’t done these things, you’re selling yourself short by thinking that an OS reload is the cure for what ails your PC.

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