If you’re like most people in the Western world, you no doubt use more gadgets than ever and rely on computers to do things such as research, shop, video conference, email, write, watch shows, play games, connect with people on social media and more.
While this is all helpful at times when tech is working right, when computers slow down — or worse: freezes or crashes frequently — it can cause a lot of stress. The frustration of wondering, “why is my computer so slow?” becomes even more pronounced, with potential lost income for those whose work depends on computers. To help avoid this issue, it’s vital that you maintain your tech so it stays in the best shape possible. Read on for some key ways you can make your computer run better today and into the future.
Get More Storage
For starters, computers often start to run more slowly if they don’t have enough storage to handle what’s required. To address this problem, obtain more hard drive (permanent) storage. For many people, particularly those who store many large files such as movies and photographs, a hard drive capacity of 1 terabyte or more is required. If you see that your hard drive is at around 80 percent full or above, this will likely be noticeably affecting the speed of your machine since the computer will have to work harder.
Apart from your hard drive storage, you can also add more room via Random Access Memory, or RAM. This term refers to the temporary storage used by your device when tasks are being completed by programs. So if, for instance, you tend to have many different programs open at once, you will need more RAM. Without it, your computer will slow down.
If you notice your desktop or laptop freezing quite often when you’re trying to complete numerous tasks at once, this is an indication that you need a RAM upgrade. Similarly, if you find that your device slows down significantly anytime you try to utilize large files, this is another sign of RAM trouble. You can simply and easily add more RAM to your computer by adding extra memory sticks. While it varies from case to case, depending on how people use their devices, often adding just another 4 gigabytes is plenty.
Use Cleanup Tools
Another good way to help your computer operate well is to clean it up by deleting any old files. You can do this manually, but it means clicking through likely thousands of files currently stored on your device. This is time-consuming and boring. Luckily, though, there are tech tools available to take all the effort out of the task for you. All you have to do is look online for Mac cleaners or PC cleaners, and you will find numerous products to choose from.
Delete Unnecessary Programs
Unnecessary programs take up vital space as well as processing power. There are probably numerous programs you’ve installed onto your gadget over the years that you no longer use, but you should note that it’s likely there are also programs you don’t even know are on there. Most new computers come pre-loaded with apps users never access and don’t even realize have been installed.
Many programs run processes in the background as you’re loading your computer, even if they’re not open and being utilized. As such, it pays to get rid of anything you don’t use. Open the “Programs and Features” section on the Control Panel on your computer, and look through all the installed software that’s listed there to see if there’s anything you can delete.
Run Updates Often
Many people ignore the “Update” messages that pop up on their devices, telling them an update is recommended. While you may wave off the messages as annoyances, the fact is that running older versions of programs, software, browsers, apps and the like can slow your computer down considerably.
To avoid this, take note of the messages. Make sure you’re always checking for and running the latest hardware and software updates. This will help your device to keep processing things quickly and efficiently. Even better, updates keep your machine safer from attack, which is merely another way you can prevent slow-downs on your device.
