There are a million and one reasons why your desktop, laptop or other device is running slow and this can be a huge waste of time, not to mention a huge frustration.

Computer problems such as this one often come up when we’re at our busiest! Why is that?

What can one do when faced with a slow computer?

Other than throwing it against the wall and breaking it, there’s quite a few things you can try before taking it to a professional.

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• You might need to restart

You know you’ve heard this line before “Did you try switching it off and on again?” – you may or may not have been a fan of the TV show IT Crowd. It’s a valid question because most of the time background processes are not ended, which ends up using huge amounts of your computer’s memory and causes it to slow down.

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• You may have too many active programs running

Every open program takes up a certain amount of space on your RAM and having too many programs running at the same time means that the processing power is reduced.

Your computer is capable of running several processes at the same time but overloading it unnecessarily is not advised. The point is, only keep open what you’re readily / immediately using – clear up the rest.

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• You may have too many browser tabs open at one time

Close all unnecessarily open browsers/browser tabs. Save pages or bookmark should you need to return to these or save your projects if possible.

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Quick tip! Organize your saved pages for ease of access by grouping your bookmarks into relevant folders. Examples: design ideas, keto recipes, books to read, new movies, Netflix etc.

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• You might have unknown programs running in the background

There could be programs that encounter an error and do not completely shut down. Alternatively, there could be those that run in a loop in the background unchecked. Open the Task Manager to see which programs are running and how much power they’re using. You may end programs that are not being used to bring down the volume of usage.

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• Your memory / hard drive might be full

There are programs that require a lot of memory to run, e.g. design software such as Photoshop. The processing speed of your device can be reduced significantly if the hard drive is at least 85% full.

Free up space by frequently emptying your trash bin, deleting temporary files, use cloud storage to save a lot of what you’d normally use space on and so on. Alternatively, you may just need to install additional RAM hardware to accommodate your needs should the easy fixes not help in the short term.

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• Your device may be attacked by a virus (sometimes more than one)

In the event of every test coming out positive then it might be wise to consider the presence of a virus – sometimes this can be more than a single one or kind. These can come in different forms, such as random pop-ups, and files being encrypted without your authorization. You can download a verified antivirus program to use your cyber security tool or you may contact a computer support company to assist you in making better choices as well as getting rid of your virus problem.

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• Your PC might just be too old or out of date

You may contact a computer support company (i.e. PC Techies) / purchase as new device / accept the current state of your slow computer and custom-fit your work to it.

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• The hard drive of your PC might be damaged

The best thing to do is to seek the help of an IT professional or computer support (like PC Techies) to discuss further and better options.

Is your computer running slow and wasting precious time to get work done?

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