Every Computer with Windows Operating system decreases its performance as computer goes older. There are several reasons can cause your computer to slow down day by day. If you are a daily Internet user, your computer has lot more chance to store junk files, cookies, programs that might not necessary. You can get lots of helps from the Windows forums or from some other sources with lot of tips but there are some easy common steps you may apply by yourself first before contacting to a technician.
Before troubleshooting your computer, please make sure your you have no issue with your Internet connection or Internet speed. You can check your internet speed free through online (How to check Internet speed free over online). If you do not have any antivirus install, it could be more chance that your computer is infected with viruses and malware and as a result, your computer is performing slow. So, it is better to scan for viruses(How to Install Free Antivirus) and malware(How to install Free Malwarebytes) and remove those if infected.
What are the basic steps can I apply to speed up slow computer?
Although, there are several ways to troubleshoot and fix slow computer issues but following are the basic steps you may try by yourself first. After you apply the following steps, there are lots more chance that your computers’ performance will increase.
Step 1: Uninstall unused software
There are several programs may already installed in your computer and you may no longer use those. Those unused programs occupied your hard disk space by connecting the operating system and can slow down your computer. It is always good to remove those unused programs sitting on the hard drive for long time. To uninstall a program, go to Control Panel -> Uninstall a program – > select a program(right click) -> click Uninstall ->Click-Yes.
Step 2: Reduce too many programs running from the startup
Some software you install in your computer start automatically when the computer starts. Those programs you can see in the startup. To display those programs, click Windows Start, type msconfig at the search box and hit Enter as displaying at the following picture. Click on the Startup tab, unchecked the programs you do not need to run and Apply.
Step 3: Defragment your hard disk
Defragmentation rearranges fragmented data on your hard drive which will help to improve your computer performance. It is recommended to perform Disk Defragment occasionally so that the hard drive works more efficiently and increase computer speed. To perform Defragmentation, open My Computer –> right click on the Hard Drive(C)-> click on Properties-> Click Tool -> Click Defragment now…->click Defragment disk.
Step 4: Delete temporary files using Disk Cleanup
Use Disk Cleanup and delete unnecessary files, temporary files, unused system files and your computer performance will increase. To perform Disk Cleanup, click on Start(windows icon), type Disk Cleanup on the search box and hit Enter. Disk cleaner will calculate and show how much space you can save. Select the files you want to delete and click OK. Click Delete Files and your selected files should be deleted.
Step 5: Delete Temporary Internet Files/Cache
When you browse Internet, your browser stores temporary internet files on the computer. Your computer performance will increase when you delete temporary internet files more often. Please read “How to delete temporary Internet files” to learn how to delete temporary internet files.
