SYSTEM SLOW 
  

  1. Need To Restart
  2. Change your power settings
  3. Disable programs that run on startup
  4. Outdated Drivers
  5. Your PC May Be Too Old or out of Date
  6. PC Hardware Failure
  7. Internal PC Dust
  8. Unnecessary Software Updates
  9. Hard Drive/Memory Maxed Out
  10. Rogue Programs Hogging Processing Power
  11. Too Many Active Programs or Browser tabs

  
  

  • Need To Restart

When is the last time you restarted your computer? If your computer is running slow, this could be a sign that it needs to be restarted, especially if it’s been a long time since your last one.

This is mainly because, as you use your computer, many processes run in the background. When too many of these background processes are not ended, they end up using huge amounts of your computer’s resources, causing your computer to slow down over time.

Close all your programs and files, then restart your computer. Also, ensure that any time a software installation or upgrade asks you to either restart now or restart later, always choose to restart your PC at that moment.

  • Change your power settings
      
      . You’ll typically see two options: Balanced (recommended) and Power saver. (Depending on your make and model, you might see other plans here as well, including some branded by the manufacturer.) To see the High performance setting, click the down arrow by Show additional plans.
      
                 To change your power setting, simply choose the one you want, then exit Control Panel. “High performance” gives you the most oomph, but uses the most power; “Balanced” finds a happy medium between power use and better performance; and “Power saver” does everything it can to give you as much battery life as possible. Desktop users have no reason to choose “Power saver,” and even laptop users should consider the “Balanced” option when unplugged — and “High performance” when connected to a power source.



  • Disable programs that run on startup

                         Start by launching the Task Manager: Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc, right-click the lower-right corner of your screen and select Task Manager, or type task manager into the Windows 10 search box and press Enter. If the Task Manager launches as a compact app with no tabs, click More details at the bottom of your screen. The Task Manager will then appear in its full-tabbed glory. There’s plenty you can do with it, but we’re going to focus only on killing unnecessary programs that run at startup.

Click the Startup tab. You’ll see a list of the programs and services that launch when you start Windows. Included on the list is each program’s name as well as its publisher, whether it’s enabled to run on startup, and its “Startup impact,” which is how much it slows down Windows 10 when the system starts up.

To stop a program or service from launching at startup, right-click it and select Disable. This doesn’t disable the program entirely; it only prevents it from launching at startup — you can always run the application after launch. Also, if you later decide you want it to launch at startup, you can just return to this area of the Task Manager, right-click the application and select Enable 


  • Outdated Drivers :

Your computer uses drivers to communicate with hardware devices connected to it. If you are using outdated drivers, then the communication will most likely be faulty and take your computer longer than it should to have the connected hardware devices working properly.

 

Browse the internet for the most recent drivers compatible with your computer hardware, download and install them or install driver updating software to locate and install the drivers for you.
 

· Your PC May Be Too Old or out of Date

If your computer has been in use for more than 5 years, then running slow is more of a natural progression rather than a problem.

At some point, due to the frequent releases of updates for programs, your computer will fail to meet the minimum requirements for certain updates leaving you to work with old and outdated programs.

 

You only have several options. Either purchase a new computer, update your computer’s hardware, or accept working with a slow computer.


· PC Hardware Failure :

Your computer’s hard drive, RAM and CPU are prone to damage. If none of the above issues are the reason behind your computer running slow, then hardware failure could be imminent hence causing a slow down on your machine.

 

It is advised to seek help from a computer support or IT professional.

At Vintage IT services, we understand how frustrating the speed slump down must be to your productivity and business efficiency. As a leading provider of managed IT services, we can help take the burden away by troubleshooting, installing, and supporting your PC, so that you can focus on your core competencies.

Would you love to learn more about how we can help you manage your IT resources? Contact us today and let us do the legwork for you.


  • Internal PC Dust :

You may be dealing with a slow computer simply because you have forgotten to pay attention to the basic principles of proper ventilation. Accumulated dust in your CPU can prevent your processors from effectively cooling and prevent excessive heat from staying trapped inside your PC. This, in turn, can affect the speed at which your computer performs.

 

Dust off your computer occasionally to clear its air vents. Also, once in a while have an IT professional clean inside of your PC.



  • Unnecessary Software Updates :

Software updates are vital to keeping your installed applications running smoothly and secure.

However, some of these programs come with pre-installed automatic updates that keep running in your background unnecessarily, taking up valuable space on your hard drive and resulting in your computer running slow.

 

Find a proactive maintenance solution suitable for your computer. Essentially, this solution should be responsible for making the necessary updates and patches for all your software when the machine is not in use.


  • Hard Drive/Memory Maxed Out :

A hard drive that is at least 85% full can reduce the computer’s processing speed by up to 50%.

This is because, at this point, the virtual memory required for saving temporary files that facilitate the seamless running of programs is barely available. The drive space is mainly taken up by programs, updates to applications, downloads, files of deleted programs, and temporary files.

When it comes to RAM, the biggest culprits are programs that require a lot of memory to run. Such include graphic design software like Photoshop or other industry-specific applications.

 

Start by first knowing the amount of free space on your hard drive.

For windows: click on My Computer then right-click local disk C and go to properties.

For Mac: click on the Apple then select About this Mac.

At least 20% of your total disk space should be free, and if it is not, you can increase the free space in the following ways:

i). Empty your trash bin.

ii). Run the disk cleanup utility available to delete temporary files and any other unnecessary files on your computer.

iii). You can also download verified free programs that can effectively delete and clean up any baggage of unnecessary files on your computer.

iv). Find a cloud storage service and store some of the big and necessary files on your computer there.

For maxed out RAM, you will need to install additional RAM hardware to accommodate your needs.


· Rogue Programs Hanging Processing Power:
 

Sometimes, there could be programs running in the background and taking so much of your RAM’s memory and processing power, without your knowledge. These could be programs that encountered an error and did not completely shut down or programs stuck in a loop running in the background.
 

For windows: press (Ctrl+Alt+Del) to open the Task Manager.

For Mac: press (Cmd+Space, type ‘into spotlight bar’) to access the Active Monitor.

Next press the CPU tab. This will allow you to see which programs are running and how much processing power they are consuming. To release the hogged processing power on your RAM end tasks that are running but not being actively used.


  • Too Many Active Programs or Browser tabs :

How many programs are you running at the same time? How many tabs are active on your browser?

Every open tab and every open program takes up a certain amount of space on your Random Access Memory (RAM). Having too many of them running at the same time means you are reducing the memory and processing power available for your computer to allow seamless transition from program to program or tab to tab.

Yes, a computer is supposed to allow you to run several processes simultaneously, but that does not mean you should overload the system.

 

Only open the tabs you need to use at that moment on your browser. If you would like to save pages for future reference, simply bookmark them and close the tab. For further organization and easy access to saved pages, you can group your bookmarks into folders such as for work, recipes, to read, etc.

For programs, have only those you are using at the moment running, and once you are done shut each program down.