What can I do when my computer seems slow?
From ITS Wiki
ThisTechnology Tip is in addresses the following “what would you like addressed in a Technology Tip” response on our recent survey:
I’d like to know to run and how often to run clean-up, computer process, technical functioning procedures on your pc/laptop. My pc runs very slowly these days…I would love to know how to fix snags, and I would love to know how often and when to run those kinds of system functioning procedures - to make sure everything is running well.
Special thanks to Kristi Jenkins for writing today’s tip so that we are all more informed about how to keep our computers running smoothly.
It is typical for machines to slow down in performance with wear and time. There are some preventative and clean-up techniques we use that you can try yourself.
Suggestion 1: Scanning for malware and viruses
We use Malwarebytes to scan your machines for any malware or viruses that may have slipped by our Forefront Client Security antivirus on campus. If you don’t currently have this program on your machine, you can get a free download at www.malwarebytes.org.
Once downloaded and installed, ITS reboots your machine, pressing F8 as it begins to start back up (this gives you safe mode options). Select “Safe Mode with Networking” – making sure you are connected to either an Ethernet cord or a wireless connection. (If this is confusing you can also launch Malwarebytes like you would other programs, and skip the “F8/Safe Mode” instructions. The scan launched in this manner might not find all malware or viruses, but will do a pretty good job scanning your machine.)
Next, we recommend making sure you check for updates and then run a full scan on the C: drive. Depending on how much data you have on your machine, this can take up to 2 hours, but usually around 45 minutes to an hour. When it finishes, it will give you a report of anything found. Click “remove selected” and then follow prompts to reboot the machine normally.
Running Malwarebytes about once each month should be sufficient. If you notice your machine is not functioning as expected, you can run it when you observe the unusual performance.
Suggestion 2: Rebooting periodically
We recommend rebooting your machine once a week to flush out processes that may be slowing your machine down. Sometimes a reboot will fix any problem you’re having (i.e. sluggishness, connectivity issues, hanging applications, etc.).
Suggestion 3: Cleaning up temporary files
For XP machines:
• Open My Computer\C:\Documents and Settings\your user profile
• Click on Tools\Folder options
• Click on the view tab
• Select the radio button next to “show hidden files and folders”
• Click ok to close
• Open the Local Settings folder and go to Temp
• Open Temp and select all with CTRL + a
• Delete all, confirm. *Some files may fail to delete. If this happens hold CTRL while selecting that file to un-select it and try to delete again (continue until all files successfully delete)
For Vista and Windows 7 machines:
• Open My Computer\C:\Users\your user profile
• Click on Organize\Folder and Search options
• Click on the view tab
• Select the radio button next to “show hidden files and folders”
• Click ok to close
• Open AppData folder\Local\Temp
• Open Temp and select all with CTRL + a
• Delete all, confirm. *Some files may fail to delete. If this happens hold CTRL while selecting that file to un-select it and try to delete again (continue until all files successfully delete)
Cleaning up temporary internet files in Internet Explorer:
• Open Internet Explorer
• Click on Tools\Internet Options
• On the General Tab, under Browsing History, select delete
• Accept defaults and click delete.
Suggestion 4: Don’t believe everything you hear
A common myth users have is that defragmenting your machine is necessary and helpful. A defrag on your machine would only be helpful for improving performance if your machine is several years old and you have installed/uninstalled, added/removed a lot of programs or files. What defragging actually does is relocate pieces of files and programs closer together on the disk so that the mechanism that reads the drive doesn’t have to look in several locations.
To give you an example:
This is like trying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Somewhere along the way, you put the peanut butter in the pantry, the bread on the kitchen table, and the jelly in the fridge in the garage. Defragging would move the bread to the pantry and the jelly to the kitchen refrigerator so you don’t have to search as much for the ingredients that make up the sandwich.
Suggestion 5:
Remember, this tip is in response to a question from our recent survey asking what you’d like to know. If your machine isn’t performing as you’d expect it to, but you are not comfortable performing the tasks outlined here on your own, just enter a helpdesk call online (http://helpdesk.centre.edu) and we’ll check things out for you.