How to troubleshoot your slow PC?
In the modern age of today, everything has digitalized from learning to work. Technology was advancing at a steady pace for years, but it has become a commodity in our daily lives in the last decade. The pandemic of Covid-19 may be in many ways the reason for an unexpected boost, but now it plays a vital role in our day-to-day activities.
Wherever we look, from online shopping, work from home, or virtual learning, the need for computers has increased considerably. Now, it would be crucial for you to own a computer to carry out your daily tasks at any stage of your life. However, one common predicament individuals find is waiting for a slow computer to perform a simple task.
Waiting for a slow creaking PC to perform a simple task is one of the most annoying things in the world. Long delays on tasks and startup can undoubtedly make your blood boil. Slow working isn’t just a disease found in old computers, as new computers can also get clogged up and run slowly.
Most individuals believe that PCs tend to work slower if you use refurbished hard drives or used intel processors, but that has never been the case. There are multiple reasons for computers to get slower over time and even new computers also get slow. Therefore, here are some ways to help you troubleshoot your slow PC.
- Uninstalling Unnecessary Programs:
When you buy a new computer, there are bound to be unnecessary programs pre-installed in your system. These applications or programs can clog up the space in your computer and might be running in the background slowing your PC down.
Even your old PC can acquire these programs over time. Therefore, it is important to check and uninstall unnecessary programs over time. The best way to uninstall these programs is by clicking the “Start” button and then “Settings” You can enter “Apps,” where you will find all your programs.
Ensure to uninstall programs that do not serve any purpose to you and ensure that you don’t uninstall any essential program in the mix.
- Clear out the Clutter:
Your computer might be storing more clutter than you expect, as whenever you use any browser, temporary files are stored in your PC, and the same goes for installed programs. It is like keeping the packaging of any product that you bought. Hence, keeping up much-needed memory and clogging your computer.
You can find a folder named “temp” in your “Program files” in the main drive. Once you have deleted the old files from that folder, your PC will get freed up and start working better than before. Ensure that you don’t delete any current data, or you might face problems loading some of the programs.
- Replace the Processor:
A processor is one of the most essential components of the computer that determines the speed of your computer. A sophisticated, high-performance processor would surely speed up your PC.
However, buying new processors could prove pretty costly, as it is an expensive component of the computer. Therefore, you can always use used intel processors, as it is a less expensive alternative for ensuring that your PC no longer has any problem performing tasks.
- Using a Solid State Drive (SSD):
Does your PC take an eternity to turn on? The problem would be your hard drive. A conventional hard drive contains several moving parts that can take some time to get fired up. Therefore, an SSD is the best option for you.
An SSD works as a flash memory similar to a sizable USB stick that can read data faster than a standard hard drive. Thus, resulting in a fast startup of your PC. So now you won’t have to wait for ages when you turn your computer on.
- Increase Your RAM and Hard Drive Space:
You might have noticed that your PC starts hanging when you open multiple programs at once, and this is because you don’t have enough RAM. RAM is not such an expensive component of the computer but sure is an important one. Therefore, it can help you speed up your PC.
It doesn’t matter how tidy you keep your computer if your hard drive is packed with data. If you are using processor-heavy tasks such as recording or editing videos, it’s more likely for your hard drive to get full. A full hard drive can slow down your PC, so replacing it with a better one would be the best option.
Now it’s considerably easier to get mega hard drives with more than enough space, such as 1TB, which is enough for storing thousands of HD movies and will keep your PC from slowing down.
- Vacuuming the Dust:
If you haven’t ever opened your CPU and seen it from the inside, you probably won’t believe how much dust can settle inside of it. Dust is constantly being sucked inside through the cooling fan and can clog the airflow.
A clogged air flow might result in overheating the CPU and reducing efficiency. Therefore, the best way to treat this problem is by carefully vacuuming the air out of the PC. Before you start vacuuming right away, you need to make sure that the computer is turned off at least for 30 minutes and all the wires are plugged out from the main switch. Otherwise, you might end up receiving an electric shock or frying up any boards.
Keep the vacuum settings to a minimum to avoid breaking any important cables in the process. Removing the dust doesn’t only keep your computer from slowing down, but you also avoid the risk of burning any crucial component such as RAM or Bios.
Conclusive Thoughts:
A slow working computer that takes a long time to do simple tasks can irritate and annoy you, but fortunately for you, the tips mentioned earlier can help you speed up your PC. However, sometimes the issues aren’t as simple as deleting temporary files from your computer or uninstalling unnecessary programs, as you might need to replace some components.
It would be best to take your PC to a professional if you don’t know how to replace computer components. Replacing hard drives and RAM is easier, whereas replacing used processors could be challenging if you don’t know much about it. Therefore, professionals can help you do that without any risk.
