How to Clean Up a Slow Computer Quickly
Have you noticed your computer running slower than usual lately? A slow computer can get to be really annoying, especially if it’s taking a long time to perform simple tasks that shouldn’t take too much time. Although you may not want to spend time trying to figure out what’s wrong with your computer, performing a few easy steps can make a huge difference when it comes to the operating speed of your computer.
Many things could be causing your computer to operate slowly. Once you clean up a slow computer, you should be able to get your computer operating at faster speeds as quickly as possible.
Don’t know where to start? We’ll walk you through six easy and effective ways on how to clean up a slow computer. At least one of these methods should give your computer a much needed speed boost.
1. Remove computer programs you don’t use
Whether your computer is old or new, chances are very likely that there’s a load of programs on there that you don’t use. Having too many programs on your computer can seriously slow it down. In order to slow up a computer, you need to remove these unnecessary programs.
The first thing you should do if your computer is running slowly is to uninstall these programs. And don’t worry – it’s easy to do! All you need to do is click the Start Menu and navigate to your Control Panel. Once there, click Programs and Features. Now you can go through the list and find the programs you don’t use. When you find a program that you don’t need, simply uninstall it.
2. Increase your computer hard drive space
There are two ways you can increase your hard drive space: performing a disk clean-up and using an external hard drive. The more files there are on your hard drive, the slower it will perform. In order to clean up a slow computer, start by cleaning up your hard drive regularly. To do this, go to your Start Menu and type in Disk Cleanup. From there, choose the disk you would like to clean-up. This will delete things like temporary files, downloads, and files in the recycling bin.
If you need more hard drive storage for videos and other media, it may be worth your file to purchase an external hard drive. This way, you can store all the files you want without slowing your computer down.
3. Stop applications from starting up with your computer
When your computer starts up, there are likely applications that start up with it. Since every open application uses your computer’s memory, this can significantly slow down your computer. A good way around this is to disable those applications from starting up unless you click on them.
How do you clean up a slow computer? Go to your Start Menu and type Run. A box will pop up and in that box type “msconfig”. In the new box that pops up, click the Startup tab. From here you can unclick the boxes or simply click “Disable All”. The next time you start-up your computer, these applications will no longer automatically open.
4. Clean up your computer disks
Another way to clean up your slow computer is to clean-up your disks. This will delete large files that are taking up a lot of your computer’s space and memory that often you don’t even need.
To perform this function, go to your Start Menu and navigate to All Programs, then Accessories, System Tools, and then Disk Cleanup. From there, you can clean-up your disks, which should allow your computer to perform at a faster speed.
5. Use a vacuum to get rid of dust
This may sound like a crazy idea, but often the amount of dust in your computer plays a role in slowing your computer down. This is due to the cooling fan sucking in dust which clogs airflow. When the airflow becomes clogged, your system can overheat, causing your computer to perform slowly.
Getting rid of the dust can be an effective way to clean up a slow computer. To perform this clean-up, turn your computer off for at least half an hour and unplug it. Use a vacuum on a low setting to very gently clear out dust. Once you’re done and you get your computer up and running, it should move at least a little bit faster.
6. Bring your computer in for professional help
If these tips don’t make much of a difference to your computer’s operating speed, it may be time to bring your computer in for professional help. The IT support can examine your computer and diagnose the problem.
From there, they can try different things to get your computer back into tip-top shape. It may be an inconvenience not having your computer for a few days, but it will be worth it.
