Is your Windows computer slow? It’s probably deteriorating

Aren’t computers fascinating? With one device, you can do so many amazing things …

You probably recognize the feeling of coming home from the store and finally manage to unpack your new computer. For the first few months, everything works very fast, but after a period of time, you can feel it getting more and more complicated. The fact that your computer can start to deteriorate is due to many reasons. In this guide, you will find a series of suggested solutions for Windows computers.

1. Your computer uses too many resources!

Symptoms: Your computer is slower when you have a few browser tabs open

It takes an infinitely long time to open programs

Solution A: Try restarting your computer

One trick that works for almost all technical problems is to reboot the device. By restarting it we do not mean to put it in power saving mode, but to do a real restart.

What happens is that all processes are shut down and reset, freeing up resources for the computer such as the hard drive and RAM.

To do this, restart your computer using the built-in function found by clicking the Windows icon at the bottom left of the screen. Then, select the on / off symbol and click restart. Alternatively, you can turn it off and restart it manually with the physical button.

Solution B: Close unnecessary programs running in the background

The fastest way to do this is by opening the Task Manager. There are many ways to open this list of the “most common” ways;

Right-click on the taskbar (the bar at the bottom of the screen) and click on the task manager

Press CTRL, ALT and DEL to access the security overview. Even there, you can click on the activity manager.

In our opinion, the fastest way is to press CTRL, Shift and ESC.

Most likely, you will only be able to watch certain shows. To get a complete overview of the programs that are running, click on “More information” at the bottom of the window.

Now you can see all the running programs that can terminate redundant activities.

2. You have too many programs in the startup list.

Symptoms: Turning on the computer takes too long

Many programs start when you turn on the computer

Solution: Settings in “Start”

In the activities manager, you will find a button relatively high up where it says “Start”.

During the automatic startup, you will find all the programs that the computer opens automatically when you turn on the computer. You can go through the list and turn off unnecessary programs that you think should not start automatically, by right-clicking on the program and then selecting “disable”. When you do this, your computer will generally start up a bit faster, and there will be fewer programs running in the background.

3. Your hard drive is full.

Symptoms: You can no longer save files

The computer gets complicated in general

You cannot run certain programs

Solution A: Clean the hard drive

When the computer runs programs, temporary files are created and stored on the hard drive. Removing them can improve your computer’s performance. The first step is to press “Windows key + R”. A window should appear asking you to type a command.

Type “cleanmgr” and then press OK or Enter. Next, select your device, usually Windows (C :). There you can choose the files you want to delete. You can select temporary Internet files, Downloads (in the Downloads folder) and Trash if you don’t have to save any files in the Trash or Downloads folder (Save the files you want to prevent from being downloaded to another location).

Then, confirm your selection with “Erase system files”, and you can exit the program when this is ready.

Solution B: Uninstall programs

You will find all your installed programs in the control panel. Press the window button and type “control panel.” Open the panel and look for “Programs and Features.” Then, select the program you want to remove and click “uninstall” just above the list.

4. Your computer has a virus!

Symptoms: Pop-ups, slow computer, strange internet pages that open automatically, etc.

Solution: Virus Protection

Use Windows’ own virus protection, and you will find it when you search for “Windows Security” or any other antivirus program. We suggest Avast or AVG as free alternatives. Search and remove any threats.

Malware can only extract a lot of resources, and it can be good to check your computer from time to time.

5. You have old or “weak” components.

Symptoms: Your computer is unable to access many browser tabs

(You want to save multiple files)

Solution: Update some components

It may also be that your computer cannot function at the levels that you require. There is always the option to update certain components. This is, in most cases, cheaper compared to buying a new computer and a bit more environmentally friendly. It would be best if you kept in mind that it is usually a bit more difficult to update a laptop than a desktop one.

Hard drive: If you have low memory, you can buy hard drives. Today there are both; optical (HDD) which is a bit slower and digital (SSD) with generally higher speed.

RAM: Or also known as Random Access Memory is the working memory of your computer. There, the program files are temporarily saved so they “float”, and you don’t have to wait forever when you want to do something. The more RAM you have, the better. Feel free to check what type of RAM you need for your particular computer. The most current for desktop computers is DDR4 DIMMs and for notebooks SO-DIMM DDR4. The oldest generation is called DDR3. It would be best if you kept in mind that you must have the correct socket on the motherboard for each RAM.

[Also Read: PHYSICAL PROTECTIONS THAT CAN PREVENT CYBERSECURITY RISKS]

To sum up:

– Do a proper reboot

– Turn off programs running in the background

– Adjust Windows startup list

– Delete temporary files

– Remove redundant programs

– Update components

We hope that with this guide, you have managed to speed up your computer or at least you have learned something about temporary files and RAM.