What you need to do first is to isolate the problem to determine what is causing the slow speed and to troubleshoot the identified problem. Are you experiencing slow speed in your Internet connection, or is the issue on the computer itself, your hardware?
After isolating the problem and identifying that the issue is on the hardware and not the Internet connection, you can now focus on how to fix a slow running computer due to hardware issues.
To fix a slow running computer due to hardware issues, it is crucial to become aware of the common issues and concerns that are easily repairable:
1. Too many unnecessary programs simultaneously running in the background especially when the physical memory or RAM of the computer is low. You can close the programs by accessing their icons in the system tray (lower right hand corner near the clock), or you can prevent them from simultaneously loading on the start-up by opening each program and shutting off the option that says 'load on startup', that can be ordinarily found under the 'options' or 'preferences' menu.
2. It is also essential to look into the hard drive to fix a slow running computer. If there are too many junk files in the hard drive that eats up the storage space, this can slow down your computer. It is necessary to delete the junk files. You can do this in two ways:
2.1 Optimizing your browser:
On internet explorer, click tools, click internet options, click delete browsing history. On the browsing history window, click on the button that says 'delete all' and confirm.
2.2 On your computer:
Click on start, and then go to all programs. On the menu, hit accessories, and then click on system tools. On the system tools window, go to disk cleanup. The disk clean up window will open where you will have to check on all the boxes after the computer analyzes the disk. This shall delete all the junk files in the computer.
3. Slow speed is often a symptom of malware infection and/or registry errors. What is needed here is a good updated version of malware programs to address the issues on virus and spyware infections. To resolve the registry errors, it may be a bit complicated for ordinary users as there may be changes to the registry that will affect the performance of the computer. Unless you are very confident with the registry, it is highly advisable to just download a good registry fix from the internet.
With technological software readily available for the users, you should not be scared to tinker with your own computer to improve its performance. Most of the software programs are usually all-in-one where they also provide tune-ups and maintenance for your hard drive.
