Fix my slow computer;

I just hate it when my computer starts to drag, especially when I have a time line to keep to. Whether you work hard or play hard on your PC, if you are anything like me, I’m constantly looking for ways to Fix My Slow Computer system, trying to make it faster and more stable. If that’s you too then below I reveal 7 things I personally do to not only fix my slow computer but keep it fully optimized and maintained to boot.

Fix My Slow Computer Top 7 Tips

1. Use the Defragmenter and Scandisk tools monthly.
   
   This is the base of all your PC maintenance and works towards preventing crashes, freezes and hanging problems.
   Alternatively, purchase an all-round PC care utility to keep your hard drive healthy.

    

2. Use an anti virus program religiously.
   
   Monitoring your surfing in real time will prevent your computer from picking up nasties that can cause serious problems .
   Even with good real-time protection you should occasionally use  a different anti-virus , just to check that nothing has slipped through.
   There are free scans available online, but make sure you use a reputable one such as Panda.

    

3. A firewall is a necessity, especially if you have “always on” broadband.
   
   At least make sure to use Microsoft’s own Windows Firewall program.
   This may be enough where your router comes with a built in firewall, otherwise consider investing in a good program to be on the safe side, and run at all times when online.
   Never assume that hackers won’t be interested in gaining entry to your PC, a bot is just as likely to target your computer as any other.

    

4. Surge protection is also essential.
   
   A surge protected extension socket for your PC is the minimum required.
   There are some that incorporate phone line protection as well, recommended particularly for rural areas. 
   The basic surge protected socket will do the job until they are zapped, but a UPS will give far better protection, and go on working after they are hit.
   They are not cheap, but should last a long time and will work out a lot less expensive than a complete XP fix, repairs and replacements of your PC.
   
   
5. Never use the  power button to switch your PC off  before Windows has completely finished shutting down.

   The only time you can ignore this is if your computer freezes totally, and there is no hard drive activity.
   Then you should be able to just power down, and not cause damage to the computer hard drive.
   _^(Note…) This should only be used as a last resort, it may well cause loss or damage to what you were working on at the time.
   You can also get out of freezes by using the “Vulcan nerve pinch” (Control, Alt, Del all pressed at once) .
   The first time it will bring up Windows task manager so you can try “end task”;
   doing it twice will force your computer to shutdown.

    

6. You will find that you have a long wait for boot up if you have too many programs loading on Start.
   
   They are taking up your computers processing power unnecessarily.
   All the programs showing as icons in your system tray are loading whether you are planning on using them or not.
   You can speed up startup if you clear the ones you rarely use out.

    

7. Never forget to make regular back-ups of your documents, photographs, program settings etc.

   It’s vital to have copies of your important data just in case of hard drive failure.
   Really important stuff should be kept in a safe place, out of the house.
   In fact making two back-up copies is recommended for storing in different formats, different places.
   You can use portable hard drives, USB Memory sticks, DVDs, even online storage.
   There’s no excuse for not making a back up of your work as soon as it’s finished, don’t put it off.

    

Fix my slow computer – tips that will keep you out of trouble.

And just a small point, but it can be a real lifesaver – keep all the disks for re-installing your operating system and hardware safely together.
If you should run into problems that require reloading your software it makes it much quicker and easier if they are all to hand, and you always need them when you least expect it.

Take care

Steve Newman

More Compelling Reading, Finally There’s Help To “Fix My Slow Computer”  Here

Fix my slow computer

Check Out Registry Easy For Fast and Easy PC Optimizing Software

Getting Around Blue Screen of Death Error Messages

Blue screen of death error messages crop up with the Windows operating system still, even though we know it is now quite a secure system.

It’s difficult to either understand or analyze Windows XP computer problems.

If you have a slow PC or you’re experiencing freezes you must find out what is happening, don’t leave it unsolved.

Running a few tried and trusted tests will normally bring to light any major problems, and put your mind at rest if there are none.

Don’t start worrying about reinstating your entire operating system, reformatting your hard drive or thinking that your whole system is corrupt just because you have a slow connection.

Reformatting your PC could be something to think about if you are suffering BSOD and all else has failed.

Fix My Slow Computer – First Things First

Restarting your system would probably be the first thing to do.

Leave it shut down for around half an hour.

Next run your defragmenting program (instructions below) this will always improve your PC speed a little.

You will be able to do a fairly good job of cleaning the hard disc with the built in Windows defrag.

That is if you haven’t already downloaded a good registry cleaner.

Here’s The One I Highly Recommend. Registry Easy.

Fix my slow computer – How to start a defrag.

1. Go to your start menu, “all programs”.
2. Go accessories.
3. If you click through system tools now you’ll discover disc defrag.
4. From the disc defrag window you can perform the “analyze”.

When the analyzing is complete you will be informed as to whether you have to defrag the volume or not.

Make sure you initiate the defrag when you don’t have anything important to do with your computer because they do take a while to complete.

The most sensible time would be when you are thinking about retiring for the night.

Registry cleaners will always do a much better job than a defrag in my opinion, the good ones will normally give you a free scan to start with.

Fix My Slow Computer – Misplaced Files

The Windows system will quite often misplace files and tuck them in out of the way areas.

Where, if your system has to get at them quickly it is very difficult, these fragmented files tend to cause slow startup and overall slow performance.

What a registry cleaner will do is place the most commonly used files in easy to access areas; this will speed up Windows greatly.

It also locates file fragments spread around your computer hard drive, gathering them up and clearing away the useless ones.

The files that are causing your system to slow down will be included in these; again this will greatly speed up your PC.

Blue screen of death error messages are started off in a few different ways.

It is a possibility that your PC’s random access memory is not functioning properly.

If dodgy RAM is indeed your problem, then you can connect a new one into your mother board easily and they are not expensive.

Another common reason for a slow computer

If there are too many networks running at once on your computer IE. Many different connections to office servers, Internet or Blue-tooth networks, this is likely to cram your virtual memory space.

You could try restarting after disconnecting from all networks, and then gradualy reconnecting one network at a time to see which is the main culprit.

If your problem was accumulated networks then your system will run a lot faster when restarted.

When you connect back to all the networks the problems will come back.

To improve your PC speed in this case, don’t run things like printer or blue-tooth networks until they are needed and increase your RAM.

Thanks for visiting fix my slow computer.

Steve Newman

Hi all,

Welcome to my site which is full of information on Maintaining and Optimizing your PC speed.

How many times lately have you asked yourself  ‘how can I fix my slow computer‘?

Well over the coming days and weeks I am going to lead you through the basics on how to improve PC performance, with;

• Simple speed up tips.
• Some very useful security suggestions.
• And secrets of how to prevent things from going wrong in the first place!

Eventually, if you keep visiting this site, you will be more than capable of ‘confidently’ carrying out your own maintenance and even a little extra optimization.

So don’t forget bookmark me now so that you don’t lose me.

Okay let’s get straight down to it.

Fix my slow computer – How to improve PC performance

We’ve all noticed now, that the lightning fast connection we start with soon slows to snails pace.

Don’t worry, it’s not inevitable, you can do a heck of a lot to speed up the situation with just a few simple tweaks.

The best way to deal with slow internet browsing is to simply clear your cookies and cache.

Fix my slow computer – Cookies and cache

It is necessary to occasionally clear out your browser’s memory.

The “cache” is the memory your browser uses to store images of the web pages that you have visited.

It stores them so that when you visit again, the images load quicker.

The trouble is that when left to accumulate, your browser has more and more of its memory being used , and so it badly effects your PC speed .

Fix my slow computer – How do I clear them?

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer6. for Windows:

• From the Tools menu, select” Internet Options.”
• In the Temporary Internet Files panel, click the “Delete Files” button.
• Click the “Delete Cookies” button and click “OK” when prompted.
• Click the “Delete Files” button and select “Delete all offline content”.
• Click “OK” when prompted.
• In the bottom right-hand corner of the Internet Options page, click the “Clear History” button, and choose “OK” when prompted.
• Click “OK,” then close your browser.
• Re-launch your browser.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 – 8.0 for Windows:

• From the Tools menu, select “Internet Options.”
• Click “Delete” under “Browsing History”
• Click the “Delete All” at the bottom, then click “OK.”
• Click “OK.” at the bottom of the Internet Options window
• Re-launch your browser.

If you use Mozilla FireFox 2 or 3:

• At the top of the FireFox window, click on the Tools menu, and select “Clear Private Data” or “Clear Recent History”
• The “Clear Private Data” window will open, allowing you to select which private data you want to clear.
• Open Details if needed, be sure that both “Cache” and “Cookies” have check marks next to them.
• Click on “Clear Private Data Now” to clear the data.

Other Browsers:

Most will be similar to one or the other of the above methods to clear your browser’s cache, if it’s not obvious please refer to your browser’s help file.

Fix my slow computer – Other methods to speed up your browsing

Try a New Browser when your PC starts running slow.

If you only ever use one browser try downloading and using something different.

FireFox is the second most widely used after Internet Explorer, and is generally considered one of the best for PC speed, although the new I.E.8 is also a considerable improvement on older versions.

Then there’s Opera and Safari, both of which have their fans, and can be faster than I.E or FireFox at times.

Opera is particularly suitable if you spend a lot of time on social sites like Face book, My Space, etc. as it is well adapted to deal with their intensive graphics.

Safari is a nice intuitive browser, it’s being used more and more on mobile applications.

Fix my slow computer – Update regularly

Whatever your browser of choice, remember to check for updates, and get the latest improvements downloaded.

Well that’s about it to begin with, If you find your computer slowing down again, these tips should help to boost your slow performance quite a lot.

See you soon

Steve.