You Can Speed Up A Slow Computer
Before you make up your mind on buying a new computer, consider the things you can do to remedy the old, slow you computer you have. First, let’s be clear: there are some computers that should be upgraded – no questions asked. When a computer no longer meets your needs – when it can’t run the applications you need, perform the functions you need it to, and you’re limited to software that’s no longer even supported by the publisher, it’s probably time to consider buying a new computer.
If your computer hasn’t arrived at that point yet, you can probably get better performance from your computer by addressing the issues that slow your computer down. Here are a few things to do to improve the speed and performance of the computer you have.
First, do regular maintenance on your computer. Regular maintenance includes clearing old files from the hard drive, removing temporary files, applications you no longer use, repairing bad sectors on your disk and defragmenting the hard drive. You can do all of these things using the built-in tools that Microsoft provides in the Windows operating system. While you’re at it, set up a regular maintenance routine to ensure that this kind of housekeeping is done regularly.
Second, briefly disable your anti-virus software and see if your computer performance improves. If it does, look for new, more up-to-date or just plain faster anti-virus software. A/V software is notorious for slowing down computer performance, but these packages are getting better. If your A/V software is just to slow, look for something faster.
Third, clean your registry using a trusted registry cleaner like SpeedUpMyPC 2011. You’ll be surprised by how much better your computer performs after running SpeedUpMyPC 2011. That’s because this software does more than just clean your registry. It also optimizes your computer so that you get the performance you’re looking for.
SpeedUpMyPC 2011 has been downloaded more than a million times by satisfied users who simply want better performance without having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars upgrading their computers. Download it for yourself and try it. You’ll be surprised by the real difference in performance this software makes!
Photo Credit: Peter Huys, via Flickr
Virtual Memory Can Cause A Slow Computer
Paul Watson, PC Technician
Friday, November 18th 2011
Virtual Memory Can Cause A Slow Computer
Memory Fills Up Fast
A computer’s RAM tends to fill up fast. Because RAM is in such demand by the operating system and applications in use on a computer, the computer also uses virtual memory to help shoulder the load. Virtual memory is hard disk space that is set aside and used like RAM. The size of a computer’s “virtual disk” is adjustable, but if you plan to adjust the size of the virtual memory allocation, you need to understand what you’re doing.
In order for virtual memory schemes to work properly, the computer has to have a minimum amount of hard disk space free and available. Once the memory is allocated to virtual use, it cannot be used for long-term data storage. If a computer’s hard disk becomes too full, the computer may not have enough free disk space to accommodate the virtual memory configuration. This can lead to performance problems, slowness and even system freezes and crashes.
To ensure that your virtual memory addressing function works properly, you’ll need to keep your hard disk well maintained. This means limiting the amount of data you store on your hard disk. Trimming data can be a little tricky. You want to keep your information nearby, but you also want to keep your computer free of digital debris.
Periodically, clean out your Downloads file and rid yourself of the downloaded information you no longer need. Clean out the temporary files that sometimes accumulate on your computer as well. Consider moving photographs, videos and other large file-size items to a DVD or CD for “nearline” storage. Having a backup copy of these kinds of files is probably a good idea anyway.
If you do a lot of copying or file transfers, you’ll want to defragment your hard disk regularly to ensure that you have contiguous hard disk space available for virtual addressing. This alone can help keep your system running smoothly and quickly. You’ll also want to use a recommended registry cleaner like SpeedUpMyPC 2011 regularly to help keep your computer’s registry file tidy.
Photo Credit: pravin.premkumar, via Flickr
More Slow Network Protocols
Paul Watson, PC Technician
Friday, November 11th 2011
More Slow Network Protocols
What Is IPv6?
If you haven’t heard of IPv6, you’re not alone, but you’ll be hearing a lot more about the new Internet addressing scheme as time goes on. Under the current addressing scheme, known as IPv4, computers have a numerical address in the form of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX. Each “XXX” is a number between 0 and 255. The first, first and second, or first, second and third number groups are used to represent the network the computer sits on, and the remaining numbers are used to identify the computer itself.
This addressing scheme has worked for a long time, but the explosion of computers and networked devices – including mobile devices that can join and leave networks easily – has created more demand for network addresses than are actually available under the addressing system. To accommodate the growing number of network devices, the powers that be developed a new addressing system called IPv6. The IPv6 addressing system has many more numbers available – 340 undecillion to be exact – addresses which means it will be around for a long time, but switching over to the new system will not be easy. And yes, in case you’re wondering, “undecillion” is a word. It means 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Many computers and other devices don’t understand IPv6 or simply don’t use it yet. IPv6 was announced in 1998, so it’s been around for quite awhile. Network device manufacturers have, for the most part, incorporated IPv6 support into routers and other lower-level network devices, to help ensure that the routing infrastructure can manage IPv6. ISPs are now beginning to request and distribute IPv6 assignments.
Only a very small percentage of computers on the Internet use IPv6, but that will change soon enough. What happens in the mean time, however is that network operations (like DNS lookups) will actually slow down until the issue is addressed at the OS level. That may be a bummer for you in the short run, but eventually the new addressing scheme will not only make Internet operations faster, but will also allow many more computers and network devices to join the Internet.
Photo Credit: DBreg2007, via Flickr
Slow Computer? It’s Not Always The Computer’s Fault
Paul Watson, PC Technician
Friday, November 4th 2011
Slow Computer? It's Not Always The Computer's Fault
One Thing That Can Hang Up Your Computer
Networked computing is relatively new (at least in the Grand Scheme Of Things). The type of networking we use today (as in Internet networking) was developed about 50 years ago. (Really!) Since that time, advances and changes have been made, but the underlying technologies, network designs, and network protocols are positively ancient by today’s technology standards. Their saving grace, of course, is that they work.
When the forerunner of the Internet was originally developed, it was envisioned as a communications network that could withstand a devastating attack. The network was to be distributed, meaning that if one data pathway was down, others that were still up could shoulder the extra load.
At the time of the network’s original designs, computers had addresses made of numbers, not names. As time went on, the numbering system became more complicated until it reached a point where people couldn’t remember the addresses of the computers they wanted to contact. To fix this, a new system was developed that allowed people to assign names to computers, but computers still needed numerical addresses. Part of the new system requires a translation between the computer’s name and its numerical address. The system, called the Domain Name System (DNS), relies on computers that have information about how to find any computer on the Internet.
Occasionally, a major problem develops with the domain name server you (or your Internet provider) use. One way to ensure that you can still get to where you’re going is to configure your computer with an alternate DNS server, in case your primary DNS loses its marbles! Some companies – like Google – offer public DNS servers that will look up addresses for the computers (like Web servers) you want to visit on the Internet.
Google’s DNS server – 8.8.8.8 – is available for anyone to use. You can make this server your Primary DNS server or use it as a backup for your ISP’s DNS server. You can easily program your network configuration to include a backup DNS server. You may not often find a use for a backup DNS server, but having a working DNS server could mean the difference between surfing the Internet and curling up with a good book!
In my next post, I’ll take a look at some other network protocols that can slow down your surfing experience.
Photo Credit: abdallahh, via Flickr
Gartner Says Slow Computers Ahead!
Paul Watson, PC Technician
Sunday, October 30th 2011
Gartner Says Slow Computers Ahead!
Slow Growth Means Tough Decisions
Slow growth in IT also means fewer new hires and longer upgrade cycles for software and services. With elongated product replacement cycles, computers that are currently in service have an increased likelihood of losing performance over time. That will translate into slower computers. It also means that fewer new desktops – the ones that typically use the faster, more efficient processors – will be deployed in 2012.
If businesses are slow to purchase new computers and IT services, what are consumers going to be doing? Consumer spending on computers will remain comparatively healthy, according to Gartner. To date, PC shipments have not met initial expectations, but the industry analysts don’t expect sales to remain perpetually slow. Computer sales in 2012 are expected to increase slightly, as consumers move to take advantage of newer PC technologies, thinner and smaller devices, mobile devices, longer battery life and touch screen technologies.
Overall, Gartner expects PC shipments to increase by nearly 11 percent by the end of 2012, although it acknowledges that the first part of 2012 will be slow. Computer shipments will be affected by the outcome of the debt crisis in Europe. If European countries cannot find an equitable resolution to their spending woes, this forecast may turn out to be exceptionally optimistic.
In the mean time, if your own personal economy doesn’t permit the purchase of a brand new computer, consider ways in which you can get the most mileage out of the computer you have. That would include ensuring that your computer stays as responsive as possible.
One of my recommendations is SpeedUpMyPC 2011. This program will help keep your operating system in good working order by helping to clear out performance clogs before they can impact your computing experience. In addition to removing performance obstacles, SpeedUpMyPC 2011 can help you optimize your computer performance to meet your specific computing needs.
SpeedUpMyPC 2011 has been downloaded more than a million times and is hard at work making sure that your computer has what it needs to perform at its best.
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