12 of 14

Write now Article Tools

Speed up your business.

Personal computers are now indispensable for business and personal use. So there's nothing more frustrating for users than having to deal with a slow computer.

For the small business, or even large enterprise, the cost of slow-running PCs has not been quantified in any great degree. And this is interesting, when you consider the level of information and statistical analysis that goes into quantifying the effect of employee ill-health, it's surprising that more has not been done to quantify the actual cost of poorly performing computers. But even when it's just for purely personal use, the sheer annoyance and frustration of having to restart programs, login again, and even re-boot can send blood pressure sky high!

So what seems to be the problem?

Slow computing is not always due to network connections, as many think. To start with, you might be working in off-line mode a lot of the time and find your PC continually "hanging" on specific tasks or with specific programs.

So what are some of the causes of these problems and how can they be fixed, so that you can easily get back to smooth computing?

Some of the most common causes include:
Your windows "registry" contains corruptions or needs a clean up;
The presence of "Malware", including viruses, key stroke loggers, some hacked programs and Trojans;
Network bandwidth gobblers such as programs that update in the background (without explicitly giving user options).
Badly engineered programs that don't "release" memory when they have executed functions or when they have been closed, leading to "memory leaks".

This article discusses the first 3 of these causes (there's no quick cure for badly engineered software, except the free market - bad software won't survive).

The Windows Registry:
The Windows registry is deep within the guts of the Windows operating system (OS) and is the place where most installed software is "registered". It contains all sorts of information about software (configurations, license information, special instructions to the OS and more). It also holds a lot of information about the Windows desktop environment and its users (such as when you last logged on, items of your browsing history, which programs you use the most and so on - it's the Big Brother of your operating system).

Sometimes the Registry can become clogged with information that is no longer necessary, relevant or useful. For instance, when you uninstall a program it sometimes leaves traces of itself within the registry.

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Tips to diagnose and fix a slow running computer?
We want to hear your view. Write now!