My computer is REALLY slow. What can i do to make it faster? I already tried defragmenting it.?

Question

How do you add RAM to a computer?

Answer 1

There are several primary areas that could be causing your computer to run slow. The most likely reason is that Corruption within your registry keys, registry classes, and registry settings,you have too many programs running behind the scenes and your system is essentially running in circles with its internal processing.
To determine if your system is in fact running slow because of problems in your registry and temp files and then speed up your computer, you will need to run a self diagnostic program called regsitry cleaner.This program is very very useful,it can fix regsitry errors,clean registry remnant,corrupt files and temp files in a few minutes.Then give you a bran-new and high-speed computer.There are collection and comparison of top rated registry cleaner:

http://www.speed-up-computer.info/index.php?t=speedup ,From there you can download and scan totall FREE.

The second most common problem is that you have spyware/adware in your computer.Spyware/adware not only pop up ads,collect personal info,but also can hamper your computer's performance.It use system resources and slow your computer down. Detecting and removing the programs will improve system performance.

check out http://www.speed-up-computer.info/index.php?t=speedup to Learn more about spyware and how to help protect your computer and improve computer performance.

Hope that help you.

Answer 2

1)Stomp auto-starting programs. Click Start > Run and type "msconfig" at the prompt. Click the Startup tab and look at all that junk that loads when you launch your PC. Do you really need "Adobe Reader Speed Launch"? Probably not. Turn off anything else that looks useless, but be careful not to disable Windows system components.

2) Clean up the disk. Uninstall unneeded programs (especially those that run at startup and/or put something in the system tray), run Disk Cleanup, and defragment the drive. This is a good first step that will almost always take a few seconds off boot time and application loads for any computer.

3) Run a full anti-virus and anti-spyware scan. I would recommend using AVG Free Anti-virus, AVG Anti-Spyware, Spybot, Ad-Aware.

4) Clean up the registry. This is controversial, as some experts claim registry cleaners don't really help. I've seen evidence to the contrary, so I recommend doing it if you've got a major slowdown. CCleaner is free and worth running.

5)Delete old network connections. Your computer may be trying to connect to shared hard drives that no longer exist. In Windows Explorer right-click on any network shares you don't actively use and click Delete. Under Tools, also click "Disconnect Network Drive" to see if there are any others lurking about.

Those are the easy and free things you can do. If your computer is still slow you need to move on to the bigger guns.

1) Upgrade RAM. This is the one killer trick that will make almost any computer run faster. With an older PC, you will rarely have enough RAM to run today's memory-hogging operating systems and applications, and adding a high-capacity stick or two of quality RAM will give you a quick speed boost. Adding RAM is fairly simple, even for a novice, and you should be able to do the job in 5 or 10 minutes.

2)Reinstall Windows. If the above tricks haven't helped, it may be time to wipe the slate clean and start again, reformatting your hard drive, reinstalling your applications, and restoring your data files from a backup. You'd be surprised how much more responsive a freshly reinstalled Windows system can be, as you've wiped out years of temp files, garbled registry entries, old versions of software programs that have been upgraded repeatedly, and all sorts of other electronic junk. Reinstalling is easy if you have the "recovery disk" that came with your PC, and only a bit more involved if you're using a retail copy of Windows XP. Just be sure you back up everything you want to take with you before you pull the trigger!

3)Upgrade your hard drive. This is a more complicated solution, but if you're reinstalling Windows (per the prior tip) you might consider upgrading to a bigger and possibly faster hard drive, too. Hard disk storage is a performance bottleneck on every machine, and magnetic disks degrade over time. Some performance issues could be caused by a failing hard drive, even, and upgrading to a new model could really put some zip back in your system. As a bonus, you can use the original hard drive for backups or occasional storage, if you put it in an enclosure.

Answer 3

Heres some other things you can try:

Run a full virus and spyware scan to make sure you do not have any nasty stuff slowing your machine down. If you want some good free anti-virus and anti-spyware you can get them as 2 separate downloads from free.grisoft.com

Cut down on the amount of programs that load on startup and stay loaded. To get an idea of how much is running look in the bottom left where there is bar located next to the clock. Click the little arrow next to it and look at how many icons are there. Uninstall or set the programs not to load at startup that you do not need running all the time. You can also delete some of the items you dont need from start button, programs, startup folder.

Go to Start, control panel, add/remove programs and then remove every program you dont need. Take note to any of them that say they are rarely used (use is displayed on the right of the item only after you highlight a specific program)

Then theres always the hardware upgrades that can help. Mainly RAM and CPU if possible. More hard drive space also never hurts.

As a last resort you can always format and reinstall windows. This will delete all the data on the hard drive and then reset the computer to how it was when you first got it. The benefit from doing this is that your PC will be as fast as it was the 1st day you turned it on. If you have a computer that was made and sold by a big PC company such as HP, Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, etc.. you will often have a set of recovery discs that make this easy. To use recovery discs simply put the 1st disc in your cdrom or dvd drive and reboot, then follow instrucions. It is often very helpful to do this every couple of years to keep the computer running at its best. Be sure to backup all important data before doing this to CDRs, DVDrs, or an external usb or firewire hard drive.

Good luck I hope this helps you get your computer back in shape!

Answer 4

The above answer from BountyJack is the best one so far. However, I have more advice to give. First, it would be helpful if you were to specify the Speed of your CPU, and the amount of RAM you have, along with the operating system you are running (Windows XP, Visa etc.).
But provided you actually have a fast machine, you will find all you need to keep it clean and running smoothly below. Without maintenance, even the fastest computers can run like old dogs.

The top 3 contributers to slowing down good computers:
1) Spyware
2) Startup Lists
3) Cluttered disk drives

First, deal with #2. Click on Start --> Run --> type msconfig --> Click on the Startup Tab --> Click Disable All.
Your computer can function 100% normally with everything on this list disabled. But DO NOT mess with your services. Your services are Windows components, your Startup list is not. The one thing you do want to enable is your Antivirus Autoprotect, provided you have one. If you have Symantec, it's ccApp. If you want to know about the specific proccesses in your list, simply type their names into google, and the first link will 99% of the time be it.

Secondly, after you reboot, you want to deal with #3. Easy answer - run a disk cleanup.
Open My Computer --> Right Click on C: --> Properties --> Disk cleanup. Check all the boxes and click Next. Depending on how much old files you have on your computer, this may take a while.

Now for your #1 threat, Spyware.
Ad-aware is the best free Spyware cleaner. Download it here:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/download_and_buy/product_comparison_chart.php
Next, you want to get SpyBot Search & Destroy from here:
http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html
SpyBot S&D will lots of times catch things that Ad-Aware misses.
A Third program, which prevents spyware from infecting you in the first place, is Spyware Blaster. You can download it here:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

When you run these programs, be sure to get the CURRENT definition files. You can update them through the programs, or download them manually. Without the current definitions they are not of much use, just as your Antivirus software. Always keep up to date before you perform a scan.

Lastly, you'll want to run your Antivirus to make sure you don't have any other threats. If you don't have an Antivirus, you can find a good free one here:
http://www.avast.com/

I hope that helped!!! =)

Answer 5

i know these guys did a good job , but if u followed that , u'll really feel different ....
follow that ::--

1.CLEAN YOUR TEMPORARY FILES AND OBSOLETE REGISTRY ENTRIES REGULARLY. how ?? --->
Download CCleaner and run it’s Cleaner section, once daily, before shutting down your computer. It removes all the trash files that are created while surfing through the net. Use its Issues section once a while to delete all the unused registry keys. Another good cleaner, Disk Cleaner, can be used along with CCleaner for even better results.

2.REMOVE ALL THE UNWANTED AUTO-START ENTRIES. MOST IMPORTANT PART
If you have a lot of Auto Start entries, then you should remove them. To do so, go to Start > Run.
Type 'msconfig' in the box and then click 'Startup' tab. Uncheck anything that is unnecessary.
Of course, you can revert that in future. Just go back to MSConfig and check anything back that you removed from the start-up list. However, you should not remove any of the security related startups (read next point), like the real-time shields of your anti-virus / anti-spyware, firewall etc.

3.KEEP YOUR COMPUTER SAFE AND GET RID OF VIRUSES AND ALL OTHER FORMS OF MALWARE.
Any Windows computer connected to the Internet MUST have an anti-virus, a firewall and and one or two anti-spyware.
They MUST be regularly kept updated with the latest detection databases. The real-time monitoring of the anti-virus and any one of the anti-spyware should always remain active . I give u some free and good anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall, you can get them get them all:
> Anti-virus: AVG
> Anti-spyware: Spyware Terminator , a-squared Free
> Firewall:Comodo Personal Firewall


N.B. Never keep two anti-virus or firewall on a single system. If you are already using a good anti-virus
or firewall, then you need not download the corresponding one. You can, however, use as many anti-spywares
as you want, provided you use the real-time protection shield of only one of these.

4.ALWAYS MINIMISE THE USAGE OF RAM.(Only for those with 256MB or less RAM)
For this purpose, you may keep a virtual memory booster as an auto-start entry. It frees the clogged RAM. I use RAM Booster, which is very effective. Here is the link to download it:
http://www.download.com/rambooster/3000-...
To configure it, please follow these steps:
* Click on Edit > Options and tick the follow options:
(a) Set auto optimisation on
(b) Show CPU usage
(c) Start minimised
(d) Launch automatically at start up
Also, change the ‘Auto Optimisation Level’ and 'MB of RAM to free at auto level' as per your requirement.

5.DON'T JAM YOUR MOTHER DRIVE (C:).
Keep at least 35% of your C: free. Transfer all the music, image and video files to other drives.

6.DEFRAGMENT THE HARD DRIVES PERIODICALLY.
Defragment the hard drives (especially C:) once every month. To defrag, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragment. It takes a lot of time (50 minutes or over) so don’t become impatient. It’s for your computer’s good.

7.You may get the free Google Web Accelerator to boost up your Internet speed http://webaccelerator.google.com/

8.ALWAYS KEEP YOUR RECYCLE BIN EMPTY.

-.USE MINIMUM POSSIBLE SHORTCUTS ON YOUR DESKTOP.

9.IF YOU HAVE GENUINE WINDOWS, KEEP IT UPDATED EVERY MONTH. IT HELPS A LOT BY FIXING MANY VULNERABLE SECURITY ISSUES

10.HEAVY GAMES CAN PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON VIRTUAL MEMORY. SO, STAY AWAY FROM THEM IF YOU HAVE 512MB OR LESS RAM.

11.SET YOUR WALLPAPER TO BLANK.
You will hate this suggestion, but believe me; blank wallpaper helps a faster startup.

Note :- when u run antispyware or antivirus run it in safe mode
how --->To do so, go to Start > Run Type 'msconfig' in the box choose diagnostic from the general tabe and retart ur computer run the antispyware and do not forget to do all over again but choose normal instead of diagnostc

Answer 6

Depends how much memory and what size processor you have some computers are slower then others also if you have high speed or dsl or dial up also I would clean out temp files go to start programes then system tools then disk clean up and if you have Internet explorer 7 then go to tools on the far right of toolbar and click delete browsing history . if none of that helped then I would buy more memory for your computer

Answer 7

defrag is good. Doing a disk cleanup may help if your disk has very little free space.

start>programs>accessories>system tools > disk cleanup.

Adding more memory may help.
If you have little disk space left then backing up old files and deleteing them from the drive may help, or add another drive .

if you start a lot of things that you dont need at system startup, you can remove them.

Answer 8

By the time i finished reading the long answer below I was almost asleep....Good answer though

In case you dont know how to check the size of your ram...
Start...RIGHT. click on My Computer and then click on properties. check the size of your ram...If it is 256 or 512, you should upgrade to at least 1gb. Now that I have done it, it is quite simple to do...check your manual...you can find good companies on line that sell them cheaper than best buy, circuit city, etc... good luck

Answer 9

Just go to Best Buy and tell them your type of computer you have and they will tell you what type of ram you need. then go home and open up your tower and put in your ram chip. all computers have an extra ram slot in their towers.

Answer 10

Well
You can speed up your pc and get rid of viruses, worms and trojans by cleaning up your register. A good free program is CCleaner. Link here http://bitly.com/1sW2e2i
I have been using it for years
Cheers ;)