you might have a slow computer.
OK, so it isn't Jeff Foxworthy funny (which, depending on your tastes, means it's less funny than lawn gnomes), but it is true. However, the phrase "it's funny because it's true" only applies if your computer isn't slow. Having a slow computer in today's world is one of the most frustrating experiences you can have. If it's a company computer, there's probably not much you can do, but there is a lot you can do for a slow computer at home.
Below are a few tips for troubleshooting a slow computer and hopefully squeezing a few months -- or even a year or two -- more out of your current rig. With any luck, we can turn that hour you spend waiting for your computer to boot and open Firefox (or Internet Explorer, if you must) into an hour reading about what your friends had for dinner on Facebook.
Up front, this is a guide for Windows PC users. I expect Unix/Linux users to already know this stuff and Mac users to tell themselves that OS X never slows down.
Viruses and Malware
I would place the probability that somebody approaching me with a slow computer is infected with a virus, spyware, or adware at above 50%. Even worse, many people are running shady antivirus/anti-malware programs that are actually malware themselves, or at the very least are just not effective. My recommendations for trustworthy, effective antivirus and anti-malware programs are below.
Antivirus
If you're interested in pay software, the best out right now is Norton Antivirus 2009. That will come as a surprise to many people who have been keeping up with how bad Symantec's software has been since 2003. If you look around, you can sometimes find a rebate making it cheap or free. I recently found a link for a copy for $45 with a $45 rebate in the form of a prepaid Visa card and free shipping. Keep an eye on Slickdeals.net -- often these deals are one day only.
If you're like me and prefer not to pay whenever you can, check out the free Avira AntiVir (http://www.free-av.com/). It scores highly on major virus scanner tests, doesn't bog down your system, and is a favorite among computer experts right now. The only caveat with the free edition is a daily pop-up. That can be fixed easily by following the instructions here:
http://www.elitekiller.com/files/disable_antivir_nag.htm.
Anti-malware/spyware
I have 2 suggestions here:
Malwarebytes' Anti-malware
(http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php)
Free, or $25 for a "full version" that allows you to schedule automatic updates and scans.
Spybot Search & Destroy
(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html)
Also free. It has 2 programs called TeaTimer and SDHelper to help protect your system. Feel free to install/run them if you like, but if you are a very careful computer user they aren't really necessary as long as you have Antivirus, a firewall (Windows has one built in since XP Service Pack 2, or you can run your own), and run an anti-spyware regularly.
Run both of these at least once a month, or you could also just alternate (run MBAM one month, Spybot the next). If you decide to go with Norton, it has a decent spyware scanner built in -- then you could just run Malwarebytes' Anti-malware once a month and skip Spybot.
Upgrade your Memory
If your computer is running really slowly and you have less than 2 GB of RAM, you might consider buying more RAM. Check your computer manual to see how much RAM it supports. If it's a couple of years old (e.g. Pentium 4, Core 2 Duo/Quad), then it is most likely DDR2 compatible. DDR2 RAM is super-cheap, so get as much as it will take, but at least 2 GB. Use the "Memory Configurator" at Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=17&name=Memory) to find a good deal on memory that will work in your computer. Stick to name brands like Kingston, Corsair, Crucial, OCZ, G.Skill, or Patriot. They are more reliable, and most of them offer a lifetime warranty.
If you aren't sure how many slots your computer has for memory, or how many are available, download the free Belarc Advisor (http://belarc.com/free_download.html) and install/run it. It will tell you everything about your computer, including information about RAM. You could also use this program to generate a page to send somebody information about your computer if they were giving you advice (I often ask people to run this, save the page, and send it to me). It will include the keys/serial numbers for some of your software, so don't send it to anybody you don't know or you think might use them for nefarious purposes. It won't show private data or passwords, though.
General Tweaking
There are a ton of things you can do to root out problems that slow down your computer. A few of the most effective are:
Clean up old programs
If you haven't reinstalled Windows on your computer in a year or two (see below), chances are it is filled with old software you either don't use, don't know is running in the background, or you shouldn't be running in the first place. Now is the time to clean it up and get rid of what you don't want.
First, if your internet browser is running more than 1 toolbar, get rid of it. Really, other than the Google toolbar and the Yahoo! toolbar, most toolbars are evil and just serve to fill your computer with ads and spyware, track your internet habits, cause extra pop-ups to appear, and hog your precious system resources. Uninstall them with extreme prejudice.
Next, go through Add/Remove Programs (Programs & Features in Vista) and uninstall any programs you no longer use. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven't used a program in the last 6 months, you don't use it often enough to justify keeping it installed (feel free to make exceptions, but make sure you really need to keep it). You can always reinstall the program later if you need it.
If you have a program that just won't go away (or doesn't disappear from the Start menu or Program Files directory), go grab a copy of Revo Uninstaller (http://www.revouninstaller.com/). Revo UI contains a special uninstall program and several other tools for cleaning programs and data off your computer. I'll leave you to check out all its features at the website, but its best feature is that it's 100% free.
Control which programs run at startup
Even if you have programs you don't want to uninstall, chances are you don't realize that some of those programs run in the background all the time. It's unlikely that you use Quicktime every time you use your computer, but it could be running, using up your system resources anyway. Revo UI includes a Startup Manager, but there are a few other tricks to taking back control of your computer. MaximumPC has an article about this that I can't do much better than. It's geared toward curing a slow startup, but it will also help to make your computer run a little faster:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/six_essential_steps_diagnosing_and_curing_a_slow_startup
Don't shut off your antivirus or any other essential app like video card or device drivers, but if you don't use a program every time you sit down at the computer, you don't need it running at startup. Avoid stopping Microsoft services and it's pretty hard to screw up. If you disable something that causes a problem, just go back and check the box to enable it again. If you disable them one at a time, it'll be easy to figure out what you need to turn back on.
Reinstall Windows
Although it is a small pain in the butt, reinstalling Windows and your programs from scratch is one of the best ways to clean your computer of unnecessary cruft that is slowing it down. It is also a surefire way to clean up any viruses or spyware that you just can't seem to get rid of. You'll need to make sure you have discs and keys for Windows and all your important software (Belarc Advisor can retrieve those keys if you've lost them). If you decide to do this, you'll also have to back up all your important data.
You should already be backing up your data regularly -- if so, it shouldn't take you long to run a quick backup and start your reinstall. Otherwise, the best thing to do is invest in an external hard drive. USB hard drives will work for almost everyone, but you should get a Firewire-capable drive if you have Firewire. If you have an eSATA port, you can buy a super-fast eSATA drive for a few dollars more. You can get a 1TB external hard drive for under $100 on sale (Newegg.com and Slickdeals.net are good places to look). Make sure you read the reviews, as a few external drive makers are known for poor quality. Major manufacturers like Western Digital and Seagate are always safe bets, but companies like Fantom, Buffalo Technology, and LaCie are also generally good.
Consider a hard drive upgrade
Hard drive space is getting pretty cheap these days, with 1 TB drives costing under $100. Even so, most of us still have less space than we need after we put all of our music, photos, and movies on our computers. Even if you aren't out of space, hard drives tend to become less efficient as they reach full capacity. If your drive is over 80% full, you might see a speed boost by upgrading your hard drive. In most desktop PCs, you can just install a second hard drive in your computer and move all of your personal files into a folder on the new hard drive. You can find instructions for drive installation online, in your computer manual, or included with some retail-boxed hard drives.
If you'd prefer to just move your entire My Documents folder to the new drive so that your files are easy to access from the normal My Documents links, that's easy to do. In XP, right click on My Documents, go to the Target tab, and click the Move button. In Vista, do the same thing, but the tab is called "Location" instead of Target. Choose a location, click Apply, and Windows will ask if you would like to move the files in the folder to the new location. Choose yes, and wait for the move to complete.
If you want to speed up your application load times, and don't mind spending a few bucks and reinstalling Windows, consider upgrading the drive you have Windows and your programs installed on to a Western Digital Velociraptor drive, which spins at 10000 RPM compared to most drives 7200 RPM. These drives don't have as much storage, though, so you'll still need another, larger drive for file storage if you have a couple hundred GB or more of files.
When to upgrade the whole machine
If your computer is 3-4 years old or more, and you don't see much improvement with more RAM and a fresh Windows install, it may be time to consider a new computer. This is especially true if your computer runs on a Pentium 4 or older processor, and it wasn't top-of-the-line when you bought it. The new Core 2 and Core i7 machines run faster, cooler, and quieter than old Pentium 4 and Pentium D computers. Pentium 3 computers can barely keep up now, and you're really missing out on a lot that even a modern $500 computer could get you.
If you are willing to take on the challenge of building your own computer, you can get even more bang for your buck. The internet is full of instructions and suggestions for building your own computer (including parts lists). MaximumPC.com is a good place to start again, but a Google search will lead you to many more great guides.
This list of tips barely scratches the surface of what you can do if you're willing to put in a little time to make your computing experience better. A few more tips can be found in this article:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/21_steps_make_your_pc_betterfasterstronger
MaximumPC.com is a great resource for this type of article, as is ArsTechnica.com and the forums at both sites. Spend a little time reading there, add in some Google searches, and in no time you could be a computer expert (or at least make your coworkers and friends think you are)! Who knows -- you might even venture into the world outside of Windows. I'll try to post a few more articles when I come across them and links to helpful websites and forums for people with computer questions. Maybe I'll even post a few articles of my own!
Got another tip for speeding up a slow computer? A computer question you just can't seem to find a good answer for? Post it in the comments. If I can't answer your computing question, I probably know someone who can!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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