Why Is My PC So Slow?!
When it comes to speed on a PC, think of it as sections of a pipe. The larger the pipe, the faster you get your data. If three sections are large, but one section is small.. you are limited by the small section. With that analogy in place, let’s look at the sections that make up your PC experience on the Net.
SECTION ONE – The Internet Connection
Most people I encounter are on DSL, about 40% are on Fios and about 3% are actually still using dial-up in remote areas. If you have Fios.. that is the fastest connection you will get to your home, so no worries there. If you are on DSL, you may be on a “tiered” plan where you get a ‘medium’ or ‘high’ speed transfer rate based on your payment plan per month. To determine what your DSL transfer rate of data is, visit Speedtest.net at:
and see what your Download speed is. Then ask your DSL provider if that is the fastest speed they offer.
Meanwhile, if you are on dial-up.. it’s time time upgrade to either DSL, Cable or Satellite because just the Microsoft Updates alone will use up your PC online time day and night. Seriously, it’s time to upgrade.
SECTION TWO – The PC Operating Speed
Your main processor of your PC makes a certain number of calculations per second. Chips are rated according to Mega-hertz or Giga-hertz. If your PC motherboard is running above 1Ghz, you should be fine. 2 or 3 Ghz is even better. An older machine may be running at 900Mhz or less. To view your chip speed, Click on ‘Start’.. ‘Computer'(right-click).. select ‘Properties’ and view your Chip speed there. If your speed is below 850Mhz.. it’s time to think about a new PC in order to get more speed.
SECTION THREE – RAM Cache Memory
This is the easiest way to speed up your PC, no matter what condition it is in. However, older PCs are limited by the number of ‘slots’ available for expansion and often are limited to 1Mb total expansion maximum. To get a full recommendation and scan of your RAM Cache, visit:
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
RAM Memory allows your PC to ‘hold’ programs in quick-access mode while using your PC. So, the more RAM you have, the faster your PC operates.. the less RAM you have, the more often your PC refers to the hard drive, which slows things down. RAM upgrades come in different ‘pin’ configurations, so you need to use something like Crucial’s scan, or have a tech determine which chip is compatible to your PC. Installation is not difficult and there is no software to install.
A ‘Bare-Bottom’ PC requirement for today’s Net requires at least 500Mb of RAM. This will get you by, but with some slow responses. It is manageable if you use one program at a time, but is running at a minimal level of performance.
A more moderate amount of RAM is 1Gb (Gigabyte), in order to hold the operating system, anti-virus and user programs in memory for usage quickly. But 2Gb is really preferred. (If you plan to run 3Gb or more, you will need to run it on a 64-bit operating system such as either Vista-64bit or Win7-64bit.)
SECTION FOUR – Registry Clutter
As your PC installs and uninstalls either programs or updates, it accumulates digital clutter in the Registry. With irrelevant or obsolete entries in the Registry the PC becomes bogged down. However the Registry is no playground. Deleting one crucial entry can disable your PC from even starting up again. It is the closest thing to playing brain-surgeon on your PC as you want to get.
So what I recommend is a very safe Registry cleaner that is included with CCleaner. You can download it from here:
http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/
There are LOTS of so-called Registry ‘cleaners’ out there, most of them are either too dangerous for the novice user to be playing with or are trojan programs designed to infect your PC. This is why I highly recommend CCleaner.. it is easy, very safe to use and free of any virus. Plus, it’s free to use.
SECTION FIVE – Fragmentation on the Hard Drive
As files get accessed and re-written to the drive, they become scattered.. like a caravan of cars that now have to park in random places on a large parking lot. The program works fastest when that caravan is intact. To restore the ‘fragmented’ arrangement of program bit’s and pieces.. DeFrag your PC at least twice a month. You can use the built-in Defragmenter located in ‘Start’… Programs.. Accessories.. System Tools.. Defragmenter. Or you can use a nifty program available for free that I enjoy called ‘Defraggler’. You can get it free here:
http://download.cnet.com/Defraggler/3000-2248_4-10752905.html
Your ‘Fragmented’ level should be BELOW 8% if you expect your PC to run at optimal performance. One caution, but this ONLY applies to Netbooks with a non-standard Hard drive (Chip based hard-drive).. Only Defrag maybe every six weeks since chips have a limited number of re-writes before they become unstable. For standard, “spinning” hard-drives.. this is not an issue and running Defraggler twice a month will reduce the wear and tear on your drive as well as speed it up.
I hope you found these things useful.
For a complete tune-up, virus removal, tutoring or repair.. visit me online at www.FixMyPConline.net .
Henry Velez
Author: Henry The PC Guy
Since 1983, Henry The PC Guy has been working with the most basic of computers and continued to today’s Win10 operating system. From 2007 until 2012 was the owner/operator of ‘Up&Running PC Repair’ in Southern California until moving to a life in the Philippines in 2012. He has been building websites since 1993 and is well versed in various aspects of blogging, vlogging and podcasting.
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