Is your computer slowing down?

There are a number of activities that you can do to improve the speed of your computer. Although depending on how bad it is you may not be able to improve the situation without going down more extensive routes.

1. Firstly, we advise to use the Disk Cleanup function within Microsoft Windows at least once a month. This in all Windows systems is in Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then click on Disk Cleanup. If it asks you to select the drive you want to cleanup, select C:. After you have got past these screens it will then ask you what you want to cleanup, one this screen tick every box and then click OK. Disk Cleanup may take some time so we advise you to let it go through it’s complete cycle.

2. Disk Defragmenter – once again we advise you to do this every month if possible. Once again, this is in all Windows systems at Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools. In here click on Disk Defragmenter. Once you are on the disk defragmenter screen then click on the defragment button and once again let it complete the full cycle. Please note on Windows Vista you shouldn’t need to run this utility as it is normally run automatically.

3. You could try uninstalling programs that you no longer need on your computer. Adding computer programs to your system will always have a small impact on performance as some of them run in the background or at startup which will slow down the running of the computer.

4. Install a program such as CCcleaner which can improve the performance of your PC. Go to www.cccleaner.com and download and install the utility from here.

5. One thing that you can also do is run adware removal programs such as ad-aware, or spybot search & destroy as sometimes spyware etc can cause your computer problems.

6. If you are unable to install a piece of software for some reason or your computer is bringing up error messages. You could use the windows system restore function. This is under all programs/ programs then accessories and system tools. It will ask you to select a date previous to when the problem started. This will normally be highlighted in bold. It will restore your computer without affecting emails or any documents you have saved.

These 6 options above are completly free. However there are paid for options that are worth considering. Please find these below.

1. Increase the RAM (Random Access Memory) in your computer. RAM is not too expensive and fitting is not that difficult either. Please note if you are not comfortable taking the cover of a computer and changing parts then you may need a professional to come in and do this for you. If you don’t know what type of memory you have in your computer go to www.crucial.com and install their memory utility and they can tell you what you need.

2. Improve the processor CPU in your computer. Please note again if you are not comfortable taking the cover of a computer and changing parts then you may need a professional to come in and do this for you. This is a more complex process than changing memory

3. Reinstall Windows or the operating system on your existing computer. This will certainly have an impact on speed but once again if you are not sure what you are doing we advise for you to get someone in to look at this.