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Between 2002 and 2003, I ran a computer lab for a non-profit organization; I'll let you in a few tricks of the trade. Kids, adults, and the elderly all utilized the computers. It was a madhouse at times but I managed to provide a lot of free tech support. I tweaked and tuned those computers like high-power gaming rigs.

Most of the time, it was worthless to call tech support: the computers were beyond warranty.

I worked roughly 60 hours a week and spent about half the time on maintenance and repair, spyware-removal, driver-reinstalls, and hardware labor. I came up with a simple process to determine the cause of the problem and implement a solution.

STEP ONE - Determine the problem.
STEP TWO - Implement a solution.
STEP THREE - Determine if you need professional help.

From my experience, it's best to first determine the cause of the problem before making any changes to the system. That way, you won't be wasting your time goofing off with an issue that may or may not be the ROOT of the cause. (Why aren't the help buttons ever ACTUALLY helpful? Sigh.)

I will address this article to both the masses and people with a bit of computer experience. Here is a list of possible things that can slow down a computer, and basic ways to solve them.

Defragmentation

I DO NOT RECOMMEND RELYING ON DEFRAGMENTATION. Some people will swear by it, up and down. If you have an issue that goes beyond defragmentation, defragging will make your computer work faster to utilize programs, sure.

What is defragmentation? Defragmentation organizes the actual data on your computer so that it can find and access the information faster. Think of it like cleaning up a room.

I will say that it is important to defrag ever few weeks, especially if you are moving lots of data (Installing programs, deleting multiple GBs, or dealing with audio or video data). Just don't rely on it!

If there is a deeper problem that needs to be addressed, Defragmentation is only a bandage.

Secondly, you must run Scandisk before you defragment. If there is some Scandisk error, your drive may not even be able to begin defragmenting.

Registry Errors (for Windows users)

It is important to make certain that there are no registry issues. The registry is a list of all data entries in your computer. Think of it like a catalog.

WARNING: DO NOT GOOF OFF WITH YOUR REGISTRY UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

It may be better to have a reliable computer user help with any changes to the registry. Or, do your own research and figure out what you want

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