It is one of the biggest frustrations in life to wait for your computer to finish a simple task. These top tips will help you fix a slow computer if it fails to respond to your quick commands. An old, tired PC can really make your blood boil. Sometimes, even the best PCs can get clogged up and slow down. We have come up with 8 quick fixes that anyone can do.
So What’s the best way to speed up a computer when it starts to slow down? It may seem daunting to fix computer lag. This guide will help you fix slow computers with quick steps that deliver long-lasting results.
The below-given options can be tried in order to fix this issue, these methods are tried and tested by many users who faced the same problem.
These steps can actually make your system work faster and better, but to your knowledge, the methods provided below are only for basic lagging and slow-working laptops and PCs.
They might not work for you if your computer has some physical error.
1. Deleting Volatile/Temp Files
This first method is quite underrated and many users don’t even look at it. Deleting temporary files is greatly important as the actually slows down the computer.
These files get accumulated when we use the internet or any other browser and explore different websites, the data of those websites get collected in our history section and also consumes cache storage.
It happens the same way when you install something. This is like not throwing away the covering when you purchase a TV. It will free up space on your computer.
So, in order to remove such files- Open “My Computer”, click on your main drive, then click on the “Windows” folder. Next, open the folder called “Temp”.
Select the View option on the appearing menu and select the Details option. When this is done select all the files which are left unused there for months and delete them altogether.
After deleting them from there, don’t forget to remove them from Recycle bin as well.
2. Deleting all Useless Applications
There are likely to be a lot of programs already installed on your new computer when you purchase it. These programs can accumulate over time on old computers.
These are the ones you won’t use, but some can run in the background and slow down your computer.
Click on start < Open the control panel < open programs and features option < list of applications and software will appear all together < uninstall/delete the ones you don’t use.
If you’re unsure what should stay or go, use PC Decrapifier – a free piece of software that recommends what is worthwhile or not.
If you feel uncomfortable or confused doing this, simply download a software called PC Decrapifier, which would help you in figuring out which software is useful/good for you and which is a waste.
3. Free up the HDD
Make sure that there is a minimum of 250MB of free space in the HDD. This available space helps the computer in swapping the extra files and rotating them from one space to another.
Availability of space on your hard drive. This space is enough for the computer room to allow swap files.
Swap files to expand in size, and also allow room to temporarily store files.
4. Getting Installed With an SSD
If your computer is taking a long time to boot up and be ready to go, the hard drive may be at fault. The majority of them have moving components, and they can take an extended time to start up.
Solid-state drives use flash memory (like an enormous USB stick) and read data much faster, thus making it easier to start up.
Whatever you do to clean your PC If your hard drive gets too full it can impact the speed of your computer. If you are using your computer to perform tasks that require a lot of processing power like recording media and video, there is a chance you’ll see your hard drive choked before you know it.
Today, you can buy massive storage drives that exceed 1TB that are able to store hundreds of HD films.
5. Check if There is Any Virus
If the system has been contaminated or has some sort of viruses or malicious applications that have some or all of the viruses the computer may be running slower.
If your computer isn’t equipped with an antivirus program then you can use antivirus tools to scan and clean the malicious contents from your system. It is suggested installing an antivirus program provides great security against viruses.
Due to the increase in the usage of the internet and everyone out there consuming data through the internet, it has become a piece of cake for malware creators to send these malicious files and Spywares get fixed into your system.
These malicious files make your system get slower and sometimes affect your privacy as well.
You can use many free online tools to get your computer scanned for malware.
6. Disabling Auto-starting Software
There are few applications and software that get started unnecessarily once you turn on your system.
The starting of these apps may seem quite fine or natural to you but in actuality, this Softwares make your system slower not only at the initial level but also in overall terms.
When you turn on your PC, certain programs will start running in the background. Examples include Skype, as well as Spotify, which are the culprits. The applications running make use of your computer’s memory, so you should eliminate the ones that don’t require running.
Go to the start section and type “Run”, In the run box type “MSConfig”, and a new dialogue box will appear having written “startup”.
The startup tab will have the list of all the applications which get started unnecessarily once you turn on your computer.
From this list, you can easily deselect the non-needed application or “disable all” to deselect all of them, but make sure to keep the important ones like the antivirus software, because they are needed to start up on their own self to scan for malicious software.
7. Installing More RAM
If you have seen that when you are trying to run numerous applications or have opened different tabs on chrome at the same time the system is experiencing tiny cuffs when you switch between them. It usually happens because the user does not have enough RAM on his Motherboard.
This is the memory used by your PC to run applications and is easily upgraded and inexpensive for those who are aware of where to search.
8. Running Disk Defragmentation Process
Doing this would prove to be a great help for the users to optimize their hard disk and improve their drive’s efficiency as well.
To do this go to “My Computer”, right-click on the hard drive, and select “Properties”. Under the “Tools” tab there should be an option to “Defragment Now”.
For this go to “My computer”, right-click on the Hard Drive and Click on properties.
Below that section, you will see the option “Defragment Now”
Click on it and see the results yourself.
