Why is My Computer So Slow?

Your computer may have slowed down its execution speed below the expectation due to various reasons and complications. If your computer is running slower than usual and you are considering it to be inspected by a computer repair expert and spending money on getting your computer back to its normal level of performance, you should read about the common causes that make a computer slow.

While these issues may not be what's causing your computer to run slowly, there is a chance that you can repair your computer without spending a single dime, instead a small investment of time and effort into looking at the following potential issues (please note that all of these issues concerns to PC/Desktop computers):

Has your Hard Drive reached its Maximum Capacity?

Hard drives with less than 500 Megabyte (MB) of free space on each partition (right-clicking the hard drive partition icon and navigating to the menu that displays the properties of your hard drive will give the free space estimation), can have a negative impact on the performance of your computer. Specially, less free space on the root partition where you have installed the operating system could lead to highly degraded performance. Why is My Computer So Slow?

To resolve this issue, you can uninstall unused programs or delete large media files (such as movies, audio etc). If deletion of such large files is unworkable, then you can store them onto an external backup media such as external hard drive or burn it on a CD/DVD.

Always make sure that you have at least 1 Gigabyte (GB) of free space on each hard drive’s partition, and may be more on the root partition. The root partition (which is usually C:) requires more free space to execute the programs efficiently, hence, install only the critical required programs on the root partition and keep other files on other partitions.

Do you have Multiple Drivers Installed that are Conflicting with Each Other?

A driver is basically a program that controls a specific computer device. However, there is a possibility that you could have multiple types of the same device driver (such as an older version and a newer version), which can cause conflicts when Windows is unable to determine which driver is correct.

To find out if this is the cause of your computer's slow performance, boot/start your computer into Safe Mode by holding down the F8 key on the keyboard as your computer starts up. Once the Safe Mode has been loaded, navigate to the Devices menu by going through Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then System and selecting Devices.

By clicking on all of the drivers that are listed, you will be notified whether or not there are any issues through the indication of a yellow or red exclamation mark. If issues involving the conflicting drivers exist, you can delete the duplicate or obsolete versions of the driver. If the problems still persist after removal of the duplicate or obsolete driver version, then uninstall the required conflicting drivers and install them freshly.

Is your Hard Drive Fragmented?

When programs are installed and uninstalled quite frequently, they can cause your hard drive to become fragmented, which can result in a decreased level of performance. A fragmented hard drive includes scattered memory space and related files, which during execution makes it difficult for the computer to locate and execute them. To avoid such fragmentation issues, use the tools that are included in your operating system to defragment the hard drive at least once a month. This can be accomplished by right-clicking the hard drive icon, opening the Properties menu, selecting the Tools tab and then choosing Defragment Now.

Defragmentation will eventually manage/arrange the memory space and related files in a systematic order by which the computer can easily locate and execute them, thus enhancing the computer’s performance.

Do you have Multiple Computer Programs Running Simultaneously?

A program in execution is induced on the primary memory known as RAM. The primary memory as compared to the hard drive is very small in size (ranging from few Megabytes to single digit Gigabytes). A major cause of decreased computer performance is running multiple computer programs simultaneously, which eventually exhausts the primary memory. Computer programs can also run in the background without your knowledge, you may be running far more programs at one time than you realize.

Hence, to view all of the programs that are running currently on your computer press the keys CTRL, ALT and Delete at the same time or open Task Manager by right-clicking on the desktop’s taskbar. It will list all the currently running programs on your computer. You can inspect the list and close down any program that is currently not required. Doing so will free up the primary memory and enhance your computer’s performance.

Is your Computer Infected with Spyware, Adware or Viruses?

A computer virus is generally an executable program that is capable of infecting other computer programs by modifying them to include a copy of it, without the awareness of the user. Similarly, Spyware and Adware are also programs used by hackers to steal valuable information from your computer.

While surfing the Internet, programs like spyware, adware or even viruses can be downloaded and added to your computer without your knowledge. All three of these malicious types of programs are most important causes of making a computer run slowly.

To find out if these types of programs are present on your computer (and to then remove them), you will need a special piece of removal software. The most popular malware detection and removal software are:

ZoneAlarm Security Suite
Panda Platinum Internet Security
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security
Norton Antivirus
McAfee VirusScan Home
NOD32 Antivirus System
Avast Home Edition
EmailProtect
Spyware Eliminator
WormGuard

If you do want to spend money on buying any of the above mentioned removal tools, you could possibly use an online scanner that checks your computer for any potential threats.