My computer is running really slow, it takes forever to open a program or visiting websites is very slow as well. What are some ways I can speed up my computer?
There are many number of different reasons to why a computer may be slow. One of the most common reasons why computers can be slow are spyware or virus infection.
Do a virus and spyware scan on your computer. There are many free online virus scanners, House Call from Trend Micro does a pretty decent job although because it scans online the process tends to be slow. Use Spybot and AdAware to scan for spywares they are both free. CCleaner is a great program that will get rid of a lot of unwanted junk also.
If it’s possible add more ram to your computer, installing ram is a very simple process and is the fastest way to increase computer speed.
Get rid of any programs you no longer use. It’s amazing how much junk we pile up on our computers take some time and un-install programs you don’t use.
The last thing you can do to increase your computer speed is to start over. Back up all your important files then grab the Windows install disc to format the drive and reinstall Windows. This will take your computer back like you just bought it. Everyone should do this at least once a year to get rid of junk, spyware, and viruses.
Some more tips to speed up your computer:
http://www.microsoft.com/AtWork/getstarted/speed.mspx
http://windows.about.com/od/troubleshooting/tp/5waysperform.htm
If you are running XP and older you can get a big performance boost by running the disk defragementer.