after years of use, computers and notebooks can slow down? is there a way to prevent that?

Question

how much would it cost?

Answer 1

Try this computer speedup tool:
http://boost-computer-performance.info
It works very well.

Answer 2

Well, generally after you've had a computer awhile, either it's hard drive gets full and you can't fit anything else on there, or the amount of RAM in the computer isn't up to speed with the programs available for computers in general currently. So the quickest, cheapest, easiest way would be to go through your programs and get rid of ones you're not using anymore, to free up some hard drive space. You could also try having more RAM placed into your computer if it's a desktop and the motherboard can accomodate more RAM. If you're really unsure, take it somewhere that fixes computers and see what they can do for you. My boyfriend recently took his to a store, they wiped it clean (although that will erase all your files and programs!), reinstalled Windows, added a new stick of RAM, and now it runs like it's brand new. I think it cost him about $200 or so, which compared to a new CPU entirely, is cheap! Unfortunately, I've heard that you cannot upgrade a laptop, so if that's what you've got, you're going to have to make do with the RAM you have.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Older computers typically have more modest memory and storage and slower more modest processors while developers sit on the latest and greatest with huge hard disks, vast memory and multicore processors. The old machines don't slow down on the old programs, they are slow because the new programs overwhelm them. They also may be slower because you do more multitasking as you become better on the computer (leaving a couple of browser windows open while you write in Word and answer e-mail.)
By far the cheapest and easiest change is to increase the amount of memory. On some older machines, you may have to take out the old memory to put in new mini-boards that have more, but in many cases you can buy a chunk of new memory, put it in the first slots and move the other stuff to the higher slots. I put in 512M and put the 128M I had before above it so now have a 640M which is much quicker than before. If you don't have 512M, get it and consider buying 1G if it will fit in your machine - memory cost is low right now.
It is not worth the hassle, in my opinion, to get into changing motherboards - keep the old machine, copy everything off, keep the machine for visitors or give it to a charity.

Answer 4

there are a couple of things you can do to help. You shoudl run your defragmenting program to defrag your computer of bugs and broken programs. It basically fixes glitches in your computer. You can also save things to disk or a mass storage devise and then delete them from your computer. That will make your start-up and browsing quicker. You can also go under TOOLS then INTERNET OPTIONS then HISTORY (in your tool bar) and erase all of your internet browsing history and empty your COOKIES files while your there and that will boost your speed considerably. Try these things first as they normally do the trick. If that doesn't satisfy your needs you can tke it to a pro and have it wiped clean to it's original state.

Answer 5

Click on START, Then click on RUN. Type in %temp%, then clich OK. This will bring up all temperary files. Delete everyone of them that your computer will let you. After that empty your recycle bin. After that click on start, go to system tools,click on disk clean up, delete all your cookies and temperary internet files and then click on system tools again and defrag your C; drive. This should help some. You may also go to MY COMPUTER and click on ADD AND REMOVE PROGRAMS and delete any old programs that you don't use anymore.

Answer 6

Do a clean sweep. Have someone reformat the hard drive. All would be erased and like new again.Don't know what it would cost you tho.You will lose everything however so back-up what you want saved.

Answer 7

hunny the best thing you can do is go to your internet options and delete cookies and temp folders, then go to disk clean up and clean that out, and then go to your disk defragmentor and run that too, that will clean up unnecessary files, compact the ones you need, and put everything in format to free up disk space so you will hacve more memory and it will run faster

Answer 8

keep it drfraged..and replace th hard drive and regular maint on them....that is all i can say...also if you start with w98 and upgrade to xp or other os then you have to realize that your pc was ok at that time in history to run that os and the newer os's require more faster and upto date hardware

Answer 9

go to (www.tune-up.com) that will solve lots of things,i use it all the time and it works,its free for 30 days,then uninstall it and reinstall it