My computer's been really slow lately. What could be wrong?

Question

i defragmented it a few days ago but it didn't help. what should i do? should i do Disk Cleanup? if i do, will it erase my music or pictures?

Answer 1

This link will explain beautifully Disk Cleanup. It will not erase your music or pictures.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm

Take some time and run through these homemade fixes to increase and maintain your computer's speed:

1. Set wallpaper and screensavers to blank or none — they run continuously in the background and use memory.
-----right-click on the desktop, select Properties
-----click the screensaver tab, on the left where it says "screensaver," select none.
-----click the desktop tab, for background, select none
2. Review your start menu – remove anything you don’t need on a daily basis — load games, etc. on an as-needed basis.
-----click Start, Settings, Taskbar and Start Menu
-----click the Start Menu tab
-----select a program you do not want to load at Startup, then click remove.
-----Caution -- do not touch anything you are not sure of or you will mess up your computer royally.
3. From Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options: delete cookies, delete files (offline), and clear history. (You can also set days to store history to 0.)
----- These actions will clear your computer’s cache. (For a description of cache, go to http://help.yahoo.com/l/ph/yahoo/mail/access/access-27210.html )
4. Run Disk Cleanup, Scandisk, Defrag at least every two weeks (the more frequently they are run, the less time they take).
-----These can be found in Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools.
5. Periodically, click Start, Programs, Run — then type ipconfig renew
(that’s ipconfig space renew).
6. Optional: Speed vs Goodies — in the Control Panel, System, Advanced, Performance, Settings — you can have visual effects or let Windows select the best options. I am using “Best Performance.” Your choice.
These things should increase speed and free up memory as much as possible.

Answer 2

Mad About Computers Guy is wrong. Disk CleanUp does not erase everything.

Most likely, you are running Windows XP. If so, I would recommend performing a System Restore. This often works wonders.

Click on Start, then Help & Support Center.

On the right-hand pane, you will find an option: Undo changes... Click on that.

Choose to restore your computer to an earlier time. Then choose a date/time from the calendar that was definitely before your problems began. Then just hit Next.

Let the computer do it thing until it reboots and it reports whether it was successful at restoring your system. If not, try again to an earlier point.

This really should do it in the easiest manner possible.

Answer 3

Well, Disk Cleanup should do it and it will erase everything in your computer.

Answer 4

I vote for that System Restore thing. That guy up there looks pretty smart.

Answer 5

First thing to do is run an anti-virus and anti-spyware/malware program. Make sure nothing is running that shouldn't be.

www.adaware.com
www.spybot.com
http://safety.live.com

Answer 6

maybe you added a big program that wasnt compatible with your computer.. like Norton for example..

Answer 7

here are some tips
http://mypchelp.blogspot.com/2006/10/pc-running-slow.html

Answer 8

download and runs spybot search and destroy.