13 Reasons Why Your Computer is Slow

Computers slow down for a number of reasons, but most of them boil down to one thing – we use them. As you download programs, install extensions, surf the web, create files and fill your hard drive with movies and music, inevitably, you will build the virtual trash that will impact the performance of your PC . Fortunately, much of this impact can be mitigated with better electronic health habits.

We had a conversation with Joe Silverman, CEO repair shop in New York Computer Help on the most common reasons your computer slows down – and the simple steps you can take to get his groove.

1. Your browser has too many add-ons

All browser extensions are created for good. “People often assume a slow computer is due to a virus, but many times it will be a browser add-on or plugin comes with a free software download,” says Silverman. These add-ons can proclaim blockers protective popups or research, but they are actually browser adware that can slow down your computer by downloading advertisements popping up ads every time you open your browser.

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Disable or remove browser extensions and toolbars that you do not really need:

Firefox: Click on the menu button on the far right, select Add-ons / Extensions and select disable or remove each item in the list.

Chrome: Right click on a button Expansion / Manage Extensions, then uncheck the box to disable a particular item, or click the trash to wave goodbye.

Safari: Safari Hit (top left) / Preferences / Security / Extensions, then select an item to uninstall. You can also disable all extensions here.

Internet Explorer: Tools / Manage Add-ons / All add-ons and select the offender (s) and click disable or delete.

2. Your hard drive is failing

“Hard drives have moving parts, so they all eventually fail,” Silverman said. “There is no way to guard against it, but backing up your files.” Regarding SSDs (SSD), which have no moving parts and are theoretically less likely to break down, “which is a kind of myth,” Silverman said. Although they can not undergo mechanical failure, their data may be corrupted. “When they fail, it is much more difficult to recover the data,” says Silverman.

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Run a check of the hard drive, Silverman said. He recommends installing a program called HDTune running a health check on your hard disk to diagnose health and disease. Do not drop, throw or otherwise causing the impact on the hard drive to extend its life.

3. You’re running too many programs at once

Make a trillion things at once is exactly why we have computers, but at some point, your little bundle of artificial intelligence will falter. The ability of your computer to run multiple programs at the same time depends in part on its RAM (random access memory), allowing him to move processing from one program to another with seeming fluidity, but if the requirements open programs ahead of your computer’s memory and processing power, you will notice a slowdown.

“Many people must keep in mind not to have too many windows open,” says Silverman. This includes minimized windows, which continue to operate in the background, vacuum processing power.

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Shut ’em down. In Windows 8, the programs are designed so that they work in the background for a while, then stop automatically. But if you want to manually stop a downward and ensure that all files associated with him stopped, slide the top of the screen down, and keep it until the toggle icon.

4. Too many browser tabs are open

If you are in the camp of dozens tabs open ( “All the better to never lose a link”, you claim), your browser is probably hogging more than their fair share of the RAM.

“Having multiple open browsers can slow down the work, as if you had more than 20 tabs open,” says Silverman. Additional items slow if tabs are self-refresh (for example, a live blog).

Also, having a glut of tabs open browser supposedly crucial information does not contribute exactly our efficiency or mindfuless

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Mark these links “necessary” (because of the organization, in a bookmarking folder called “To Read”) and close the tabs down. Best of all, One-Tab for Chrome and Firefox does the work for you, compile all your open tabs in a single list on one tab, which can then be accessed as needed. https://www.one-tab.com/

5. Rogue programs are hogging all the processing power

It is not always a video app or heavy music that is eating up processing power of your computer.

Some programs or system processes may be stuck in a loop or have encountered an error.

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Check how treatment programs and electrical processes use by category in the Task Manager (Windows, Ctrl + Alt + Del) or Activity Monitor (Mac, in Applications / Utilities). For both, click on the “CPU” to control programs by the energy of treatment they take place. If a program you do not use it is still up there in the best programs you can choose to exit the process.

And regarding browsers, Internet Explorer is particularly heavy on your computer, Silverman said. “You do not have to run, but do not delete [if you came with your PC Windows] – it could cause problems because it is very tied to the operating system,” he said. instead, he suggests Chrome lighter, safer.

6. You have an overzealous antivirus program

Have an active anti-malware program is an essential part of computer hygiene – but yours may be running regular background analysis at the worst possible moment. “The antivirus scans are slowing down work because they are running in the background,” says Silverman. Some antivirus programs can be set for weekly full scans, which can take a few hours and suck a lot of power treatment.

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Head to your antivirus settings and set to sweep into the night when you are not using the computer, Silverman said. (However, this feature may not be available on some free antivirus programs. – What makes a good case for the upgrade)

7. You have a virus

If this is not the antivirus, it could be a virus. Viruses, spyware and other malware can slow down your computer because they mess with all of hijack your browser to push advertising and phishing sites, crash your computer.

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Run a malware scan. “The best free avast we love is,” says Silverman. For more free and paid options, check out our top picks for Techlicious security software programs for Windows PC and Mac.

8. You have too many startup programs

Newly downloaded programs often try to weasel their way into your Start menu (Windows) or connecting elements (Mac). If you uncheck the box for that permission, you could be dozens of unnecessary programs vying to be up and running as soon as your computer starts up (like what happens in the near future).

“Having too many icons on the desktop can also slow booting a Mac,” says Silverman.

While some programs – such as antivirus software and firewalls – should be allowed to run from the start, others – such as iTunes or Microsoft Office – could very easily stay closed until you actually need to access a file from their digital depths.

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Mac: Applications / System Preferences / user groups / Login Items and uncheck unnecessary programs. Remove desktop icons you use not screw up or, in the case of files stored on the desktop for convenience, the reorganization in the appropriate folder.

Windows 8: Right-click on the task tab / Task Manager / Starting the bar, then right click on the program you want to remove and select Disable.

Windows 7 and more: Start button and search System. Go to the Startup tab and uncheck each program if you do not want to leave when the system starts up.

9. Your hard drive is 90% full

When your hard drive reaches 90-95 percent complete is when you see things moving at a crawl, Silverman said. “A full hard drive can also prevent a computer from starting is preferable to optimize your space as much as possible. – Move things to the cloud, or delete the stuff you do not use,” he said. ”

Hard disk space is taken up by programs, updates programs and downloads, as well as temporary files and associated files deleted programs, so you might be able to generate a good amount of space just by emptying your trash. Check your location on the hard drive (Mac) by clicking on the Apple and select About this Mac, or (Windows) hit Start / Computer and right-click the main hard drive (usually C :), then go to Properties.

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deep clean your computer of unnecessary files from unused programs to the deceased downloads and temporary files.

“It is good to remove bloatware – Toshiba, Lenovo and other PC makers have put their own software on the computers that are supposed to run utilities or cleaning,” says Silverman. And in terms of this ancient ritual of defragging the computer cleaning, “which really works on Windows XP and more,” says Silverman. The system backups and restore points can also take a huge amount of space , do not keep more backup versions that you really need.

10. Your OS is way too slick

It is the age old battle of the appearance of the performance: Having enabled visual effects – aka eye candy as these snazzy transitions to minimize windows – can affect the speed of your PC (and to a lesser extent, Mac) if his skates equipment only just inside the minimum requirements for your operating system of choice.

“If you have a good video card – that is 1 GB of RAM on the video card or better – you’re OK,” Silverman said. “But less than that, [with enabled visual effects] can slow down your computer.”

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Windows 7 and more older: Start / Control Panel Performance Information and Tools / / Adjust Visual Effects, and then click Adjust for best performance or choose the effect you want to keep manually.

Windows 8: Windows key + X Settings / System / Advanced System Settings / Performance / select as above.

Mac: System Preferences / Dock, then to minimize the application, change the super-swish Genie effect to a utility scale effect (basically just disappear). Deselect “Animate opening applications.”

check also: 25 Tips To Shoot Perfect Videos From Your Smartphone

11. Your room is too dusty

Sometimes the problem is not internal but external – is the back of your CPU casing tangled in the dust? This can prevent the ventilation that cools the processors as they purr away in an attempt to run Photoshop, Spotify, Skype and Outlook. And nobody wants a hot computer – heat increases the likelihood of malfunctions and accidents.

As for laptops, whenever you notice that your warm laptop, you must ensure that its vents, usually on the sides are not blocked. For example, do not put your laptop on something soft like a pillow where it can fall into.

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Dust off the ol ‘, uh, dust. If it is really serious, you can use a vacuum cleaner (carefully) or a compressed air cartridge.

12. You don’t have enough memory

If you have deep cleaned your computer and change your usual browser tab, but your computer is still slow (and you own a PC), you may want to consider a minor upgrade in the form of additional RAM.

Some programs take much RAM your computer to run – for example, programs that work with huge files such as photo or video editing software. “Many people try to run Photoshop or graphic-heavy program on a computer entry- or mid-level who can not handle,” says Silverman.

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Silverman recommends a minimum of 2 GB of RAM, 4 GB or if you are a graphic-heavy work on your computer. Fortunately, upgrading the RAM on your PC is inexpensive and a task most people can manage themselves. To find out what RAM upgrade options are available for your computer, we like the advisor tool Crucial.com memory.

13. You need to restart your computer

Restarting the reason seems to solve many engineering problems is that programs can get hooked for a myriad of reasons. “A lot is erased in the background. For example, if you turn off Outlook, the background processes are still ongoing,” Silverman said. “You could ‘end task’, but many people are not that savvy with one at the end. ”

Instead of digging manually in Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) to guess the root (s) of slow, restarting flashes on the system, a panacea for the thugs, resource hogging programs and a clean slate free of files and fragments.

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Bite the bullet and stop things. It even has the added advantage of having critical updates applied the system that may occur during a reboot.