My Computer used to run fast, why is it running slower now?

There are a variety of reasons your computer may be running slowly. Here are the two most common:

• Your computer is low on RAM and is trying to run too many processes at once. This is often a result of unintentionally installing spyware/adware/malware onto your computer, or by visiting a website which automatically installs such software though a security hole in your system. Or, it may result from installing too many programs which require system resources, such as anti-virus programs, firewalls, system monitors, print monitors, media players, instant messengers, etc. Normally, no single process will slow down your computer significantly, but the combined total may cause your computer to have to resort to "virtual RAM", which means that your computer will resort to using the hard drive for its resources, significantly slowing down your computer.

  There are two possible solutions to this:

  1. Uninstall unecessary software which use system resources. Go to your control panel, select Program and Features (add/remove programs in Windows XP) and remove unecessary software.
  2. Add more RAM (memory). Find out the type of RAM your computer uses (normally indicated in your computer manual), and increase your RAM as follows: Windows 2000/XP: minimum 1 Gb RAM; Windows Vista/7: 2 Gb of RAM.
  
  
• Your computer is running programs that stretch its processing capabilities. Most programs will want you to upgrade to the latest version. If you have done this consistently, it could be that the lastest version was never intended to run on your current computer. One good example of this is Internet Explorer. If your computer is running Windows XP, version 8, which is automatically pushed as an update to your computer, slows down the operating system significantly. Often, a slow computer can be corrected soley by removing Internet Explorer 8 and retrograding to version 7. This only applies to Windows XP.

  The solution to this situation can be one of the following:

  1. Run only versions of software that were intended for your computer. This may not be possible, since current versions may be necessary to be effective. But you may be able to find leaner programs that do a comparable job.
  2. Upgrade your computer. It could be time for a computer replacement. If your computer is over 4 years old, and you require the latest software, this is your best solution

Some common misconceptions as to why a computer runs slowly

• The hard drive is almost full. Although a full hard drive may cause system instability if there is not enough room for temporary files, this is rare. A hard drive that is almost full (more than 200 megs free) has virtually no impact on the actual speed of your computer.
• The hard drive hasn't been defragmented in a long time. While this used to be somewhat true in systems 10 years or older, the fast access/seek rates of newer (6 years or newer) hard drives means that a fragmented hard drive will have a very minimal impact on the overall speed of your computer.
• I have too many programs installed. This depends on the nature of the program. Most programs are simply copied to the hard drive and are only used when you actually run them. Some programs do install modules which run when your computer starts up, and stay running while you are operating your computer. This is especially true of programs which need constant access to your system's resources, such as anti-virus programs or print monitors. But uninstalling a program may or may not make a difference to your system's speed, depending on whether a part of it loads at startup.
• I haven't reinstalled Windows for a long time. Reinstalling Windows from scratch will restore your computer to the state you bought it in. Although this method may seem effective, it may not be necessary. Most likely, there are simply some startup programs that need to be removed from your computer's configuration. And it could be that after reinstalling Windows along with updates and all your programs, your computer may run at the same slow speed as before, if it is caused by your computer running too may processes at once and you reinstalled the programs that initiated those processes.