Ah, Fall!
We love the chill in the air, the leaves turning colors, and the first snowfall of the season.
Autumn the time of year when you notice your aging body more and more. Raking leaves, shoveling snow, and hanging Christmas lights are not as easy as they used to be. Trying to keep up with our hunting dog gets harder year by year.
For humans, old age creeps up on us, but when we’re talking about our computers and tech equipment, old age can happen overnight. One day you’re cruising the internet superhighway, and the next you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for cat videos to load.
By far, the most common complaint we get from our customers is slow computers. There are a number of reasons your PC has slowed over time. Maybe it’s bloatware, or unnecessary programs installed by your computer’s manufacturer. Or it could be viruses and other malware. Or, like with humans, it could simply be the result of wear and tear and trying to do too much with too little.
You can speed up your aging PC by using free tools to turn off unnecessary programs. PCDecrapifier is a free tool home users can download to remove bloatware and other undesirable programs. Malwarebytes can search for spyware and potentially unwanted programs. These tools simple to use and can really improve your system speed.
Dust and lint inside your PC can also affect computer performance. Dust and dirt can block filters and destroy fans and other moving parts, which may cause your PC to overheat and perform slowly. Carefully removing the cover and blowing out dust with compressed air is easy enough for most users and should be done regularly. Just be careful not to touch or damage the delicate parts inside.
While you’re at it, use your compressed air to clean up your keyboard and mouse. You’ll be amazed (and disgusted) by the amount of dirt, crumbs, hair, and other grime these devices can collect over time!
RAM upgrades are an easy upgrade most home users can tackle themselves. RAM, or Random Access Memory, allows short term access to your data. RAM is the system component that allows you to multitask with multiple pages and applications open at once. When all your RAM us being used by running programs, you’ll notice your PC bog down as it is forced to use your hard drive (much slower) for memory. Most PC run far below their capacity for RAM, so a quick RAM upgrade may be the ticket to speeding up your boggy PC.
One of our favorite RAM vendors is Crucial.com. Go to your computer’s Control Panel and check your System Properties to see how much RAM you currently have installed. Then check Crucial’s search engine for your computer’s RAM capacity and Crucial’s product offerings. If you can double or triple your RAM for a reasonable price, the benefits will be noticeable and result in a huge improvement in overall system speed.
Where RAM helps with your computer’s short-term memory, your hard drive is used for storage of files: photos, music, documents, and system files. It’s your PC’s filing cabinet; files stored on the hard drive will be there when you reboot your machine. RAM remembers items (applications, browsers, etc.) you have open when you’re working on your PC, but if the computer suddenly lost power, would not be open when restarted.
Hard drives are made up of a stack of spinning disks (platters) and a mechanical arm that zips back and forth reading data, not unlike a record player with a needle playing music. Only there is a stack of records and they are spinning at 7200 RPM. That high speed and performance, over time, can lead to computer slowdowns and eventually a crashed hard drive.
To improve speed, performance, and reliability of your computer, many users upgrade the hard drive. One of the most exciting technologies over the last several years is the emergence of solid state drives, or SSD. SSDs have no moving parts, no disks, and no mechanical arms. Upgrading to SSD can reduce boot time, decrease system temperature, and lead to lightning fast performance.
One of the big dilemmas computer owners have is when to repair or upgrade their computer and when to just buy a new one. While I’m definitely the type of guy that loves to buy new gadgets and tech, sometimes making due is the more prudent course. Cleaning up your current machine and investing in reasonable upgrades can save money over time and get you back to blissful computer use…
and those cat videos.