TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

This will be the prototypal in a series of articles about common machine problems and how to fix them. This prototypal article will tackle a problem that seems more common than anything else: a slow computer.

Before we can address the software issues that might be slowing down a computer, we have to countenance at the hardware. If a machine doesn’t have the needed element to run at a reasonable speed, all the software
troubleshooting in the world won’t do such good.

If the machine is running Windows XP, it should have at least 512MB of RAM. While Windows XP claims to only require 256MB, system and background processes easily take up that amount. If the machine has inferior than 512MB of RAM, it’s probably more suited to run Windows 2000. Windows 2000 is rattling similar to XP, but it’s not as pretty and takes up far fewer system resources.

If the machine has at least 512MB of RAM, then we’ll continue to software problems that might be slowing it down. We should make sure that the system is liberated of viruses, spyware, and adware. Make sure the computer’s antivirus program is up to date and run a full system scan.

An out-of-date virus construe is as useless as no virus scan, so it’s rattling essential that the latest version of the software and virus definitions are installed. If the machine doesn’t have an antivirus installed, you can download and establish AVG antivirus for free.

Spyware and adware are next. There are plenty of programs out there that you can buy to construe for these pesky little programs, but none of them are worth the money. There’s plenty of liberated programs that do a better job. I recommend installing and running two, both available for liberated download. The programs are Spybot: Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware. Between the two, they’ll do a good job getting rid of any unwanted programs.

Like the antivirus, it’s rattling essential that these anti-spyware programs are up to date before they start scanning, or they’ll be pretty such useless. Run virus and spyware scans at least once a week to check for any newborn problems.