If we install too many programs will it affect the running speed of the PC?

Question

..what happens when we run them?Is more memory space taken in the hard disk?

Answer 1

Installing programs is one thing, having them running is a complete other.

You can install many programs without losing much speed but if any of the programs are actively running (even in the background) such as anti-virus, spam blockers, instant messaging clients and so forth it can/will impact speed.

Answer 2

You can install as many programs as your hard drive space allows, but you should only run what you need to. It is rather difficult to run lots of programs at once, and why would you want to. I often run a photo program and a word program at once, and work between the two, but if you need to keep any more than that open just minimise what you are not using or close them down. Running too many will affect the memory you have and slow things down. I cannot imagine why you would need many programs running at once. Try to keep to a minimum of open programs and you should be OK Cheers Rob B

Answer 3

Only if you never defrag the drive and if you completely fill the harddrive. It's recommended that if you fill a harddrive, you consider it full when you have 1gig of empty space left on the drive. this allows the computer to use the swap file and move files around. anything smaller and your computer will become very unstable.

If your talking about multitasking several programs at once, then yes your computer will slow down and it will affect your harddrive because windows will allocate harddrive space to run as physical memory in order to be able to run all those programs that are filling up your memory. And the more programs you run the bigger the allocation to the harddrive will be.

Answer 4

Yes, it does effect if your computer RAM is smaller. If you are using XP pro windows then you should have at least 512 MB RAM installed.
RAM plays a crucial role in opening & closing programs. If RAM is overloaded with so many programs it would surely affect the performance of your pc.

In other words RAM is like a Librarian in the library, it searches the book you want & if you want many books in a short time the librarian gets exhausted, start getting lazy & slow. At that time you need to replace hire additional person to do that job. Same is the case of RAM, if you pc is hanging or slow you need to add an extra RAM to optimize its working. Best if you keep only the most important programs on your pc & get rid of unwanted or rarely used programs

Answer 5

It really depends which programs we are talking here. Some programs are loaded with .dll files that are hidden all over the hard drive, while some programs are much smaller. Most standard programs will remain in it's own slot in the Program Files directory.

♦Programs are stored on the hard disk, and when you run a program it is copied into a portion of your memory♦

Answer 6

Installing many programs will slow down your PC regardless of your computers' specifications. If you install them but seldom run them, the system will slow down less but it will slow down nonetheless. First, it will lower system startup because the program will increase the size of your startup files and registry. Second, it will lower contiguous drive space which will shrink the size of your swap file (which Windows manages automatrically by default) further slowing down your system.

If you run them, especially if you run them simultaneously, your RAM can be used up, which will force the computer to use the much slower swap file on your HD and slow down your system even more.

Of course, the degree of slowdown will depend on many factors such as your computers specs, the programs' resource utilization, steps you take to speed up your computer (defragging, etc.), etc. but it WILL slow down relative to when fewer programs are installed.

I'd suggest you install and retain only programs that you need to use (relatively) often or are critical for computer use. Any others that are important but will rarely be used may be installed and then uninstalled after you have used them completely. Simple defragging and registry maintenance should then keep your system lean and mean.

Answer 7

installing softwares won't slow down your computer if you didn't run them, they will only take space from the harddisk, which will make slower to start, when you run them, then you are using ram (memory) which is very limited when compared with harddrive, that will sure slow down your PC and hang it if you run many softwares together.

Answer 8

It will slow the computer and taken up you RAM. Your hard disk space will not be effected.