Does this sound familiar?
When you first got your computer it seemed fast. You switched it on and a few seconds later you were doing whatever you wanted to do. Now you start the computer and it takes ages! The little circle is constantly going round and round and opening applications takes ages. It's enough to drive you mad...
The good news is that there are things you can do to significantly improve the performance of your computer and bring it back to its former self.
To improve the performance of your PC you just need an internet connection and patience to run some tests.
7 Steps to a faster PC
The following steps are exactly the same steps I use to fix my customer's slow computers so I know they work!
Outlined below is a brief summary of the 7 steps. If you want a full step-by-step guide then head on over to Amazon where you can buy the book, in Kindle or paperback format.
Step 1 - Check the integrity of your hard disk
A faulty hard drive is one reason why computers can slow down. Once a hard drive starts to fail it's only going to get worse. So if you discover the status of your hard drive is anything but good then you need to get it replaced. A competent computer repair professional will be able to do this for you. A faulty/failing hard drive is also the perfect reminder that you always need to back up your personal files and photos.
To check the integrity of your hard drive download and install Crystal Disk Info.
Step 2 - Establishing the root cause of why your computer is slow
To understand how slow your computer currently is we need to look at some benchmarks. I'm interested in knowing how much the CPU and Hard Disk are active when the PC is idle. To carry out this test you need to restart your computer and after you've logged in and are at the desktop you need to leave your computer for 10 minutes. Then you need to examine processes under Task Manager to see the % activity on your hard disk and CPU. If they are high (near 100%) then there is something wrong because your computer isn't doing anything and therefore there should be no disk or CPU activity. The rest of the steps will focus on resolving the problems. Even if the activities are normal and you find your computer slow then the rest of the steps in this book will still help.
Step 3 - Malware scan that your anti-virus is missing
Malwarebytes will enable you to run a free scan on your computer. Even if you have an anti-virus installed Malwarebytes does a fantastic job of finding threats which most anti-virus programs miss. Even if you skip the remaining 4 steps your computer will probably be running much better after doing a Malwarebytes scan.
Step 4 - Clean up redundant Windows files that are clogging up your system
As time goes by Windows leaves file behind which accumulate and cause your computer to slow down. Windows has a great tool built in to clean up these files. It's called Disk Cleanup and you should run it.
Step 5 - Windows Update is working properly
I see this a lot. Windows updates gets stuck which causes the whole computer to slow down. These updates are really important to keep your computer running well and secure but sometimes the process gets corrupted resulting in Windows not being able to update itself. It keeps trying but the more it tries the slower your computer gets. Windows does have some built in troubleshooting tools to fix it and quite often it does a good job.
Step 6 - Check the integrity of Windows system files and fix them
Another tool built into Windows called chkdsk can also repair any corrupt or misplaced Windows files. You run it before Windows starts and can then review the Event logs to see what problems it found.
Step 7 - Uninstall unnecessary software programs which are slowing down your computer
Having lots of programs installed on your computer won't slow it down. However, what will slow it down is if all these programs like to start automatically when Windows starts and are then running continuously in the background even though you are not using them and it doesn't even look like you are using them. Tidying this up will free up resources and make your computer run much better.
The Final Result
By going through these 7 steps you will make your computer much healthier and faster. The description above gives a very brief outline of what you need to do. For detailed step-by-step guide you can buy my book from Amazon. It's available in Kindle and paperback format at £4.99 and £9.98, respectively.