There is little more frustrating than a computer that runs slowly, whether you’re using it for work or for personal activities. But what can you do if you suspect your computer is not running at its optimum level?
In many cases, it is not hard to spot where the issues lie (if you know what you’re looking for!). Some of the most common causes of a slow computer include:
- A computer virus or malware
- Too many programs running in the background
- Insufficient storage space
- Hardware that isn’t up to date
- Out of date device drivers.
You might be reading that list and wondering what many of those issues are – and how to find them – which is where home IT support comes in handy.
But if you want to see if you can speed up your computer yourself before getting professional support, here are a few simple steps you can try on your own.
Disable programs opening on startup
Having too many programs running when you start your device will slow it down – especially as you may not want all of them open. To see which programs are running on startup, you need to go into task manager (on a Windows device) and click on “startup apps”.
This should show you a full list and you can disable any that you don’t want to automatically run. If you’re not sure what some of the apps listed are, do some research before you disable them. Also note that disabling them on startup doesn’t mean you can’t use them at all, just that you’ll need to manually open them in future.
Uninstall unused apps
You can also pull up a list of all the apps and software programs installed on your machine. To free up more disc space, uninstall any that you don’t use. A top tip here is to look at how much space each piece of software takes up. You may find that by removing one “big” piece of unused software, you don’t need to do much more.
And if you’re still having issues with your computer running slowly, you know where to find us!
