I thought we would go back to basics this month so …. What is the best free fix for slow computer performance under Windows?
A slow computer is something that a lot of people have to face on a daily basis. Slow Windows boot, unresponsive programs, slow browser that freezes up every once in a while – sounds familiar, doesn’t it? And when you want to fix a slow computer, it usually means that you have to either upgrade your hardware or even hire a technician. That costs money. But there is a way to make your PC faster without having to spend a cent. Here is the best free fix for slow computer performance.
When your computer becomes slow all of a sudden, the first thing to do is check it for viruses, malware and spyware. Malicious programs tamper with computer settings, steal your bandwidth to transmit data and make your computer slow. So, if your computer has become suspiciously slow overnight, the free fix for slow computer is to download free anti-malware and anti-spyware software and remove infections from your PC. When all viruses are gone, you will notice an immediate speed gain.
Windows has quite reasonable built-in security and anti-virus/malware so ensure that not only are these enabled, but that the anti-virus database is up to date. If you have Windows update set to automatic this will happen without you having to think about it.
If the anti-malware scan comes clean but your computer is still slow, this could mean that your PC is badly fragmented. File fragmentation is something that can drastically decrease computer performance because it affects the slowest part of your PC – your hard drive. File fragmentation makes the hard drive’s read arm work more than necessary, which takes more time. So if your files are fragmented, opening documents, videos, songs and launching programs will be really slow. To be honest, I forgot to do this for quite a while and I was kicked in to action when my PC became slow, video playback was jumpy and I could hear the hard drive working away. Whilst there is a built in defragger in Windows I find the free version from Auslogics to be much bette, just do a Googles search to find it.
So there’re we have it. A basic lesson for this month on things that we should do but sometimes forget!
