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My Computer is Running Slow

his is probably the most common call I receive
for a computer repair service call. While in
some cases it requires the hands of a computer
technician most cases do not. When you notice
that your computer is beginning to run slower
there are a few procedures that you can perform
and possibly save you a house call or a trip to
the repair shop. First, make sure that your
hard drive has been recently been defragged. I
know it takes a long time for the defrag process
but if I come to your house you are paying me by
the hour to watch your computer defrag as that is
the first check that I will make. Second, verify
that you have ample free space available on your
hard drive. I recommend that the maximum usage
of a hard drive should be less than 70%. If you
have less than 30% of the drive free then you
have a choice of deleting some older programs
that you don't use or upgrading your hard drive.
I will post soon about upgrading a hard drive.
The third step I perform is cleaning out the
Prefetch folder. This folder holds all the bits
and pieces of programs that you have used on your
computer.


You find the folder in My computer > C:drive>
windows>Prefetch.

Delete all files in that folder do not worry they
will repopulate when you restart your computer.
The fourth step is to delete all temporary
internet files. This is accomplished by opening
Internet Explorer then clicking on the tools link
at the top of the page. Next click on Internet
Options on the page that is displayed there is a
button to delete all temporary internet files
click on it. This will remove all the files that
your computer is keeping track of while you are
surfing on the internet. A personal
recommendation is that if you have a high speed
connection to make it so that all temp. internet
files are removed when you close the browser.
This is accomplished by going to the last tab of
the internet options screen called advanced.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will
find an entry called Empty all Temp internet
files when browser is closed. Place a check mark
in the box by clicking there and click apply then
ok. Be sure not to change any other settings as
changes here could cause problems with your
browser. Even though this is being done in
Internet Explorer it will cross over into AOL if
you use that for surfing. The fifth step is to
upgrade all virus protection and adware
protection and run a deep scan of the system. A
restart of your computer at this time should have
things back in order.

If you are still noticing that your computer is
running slow then you might need a professional
to look at your computer. Problems that can
cause a computer to run slow after the steps
above include the following:

hard drive is failing
power supply is failing
memory is failing
fan is failing
cpu is failing
and various other gremlins in the machine

If you live in the Savannah area I would be happy
to assist you on your computer repair needs.
About the Author
Robert Donlon Computer Repair Technician over 20
years experience.
http://www.ccsav.com