As a developing country, Kenya has seen exponential growth in the use of computers. Many schools across the country received free laptops from the government and people have access to computers in most learning institutions, companies, libraries, cyber cafes and homes across the country.
There are many things that may be reducing your computer’s speed and performance, but they can be summed up to your computer’s properties being used wastefully.
Here are some of the most common reasons why your computer is slow:
- Low RAM
The more RAM your computer has, the easier its job becomes, this enables your computer to be fast and responsive to all commands. RAM also helps your system support all installed software.
- Insufficient Hard Drive space
The hard drive’s performance will start slowing down your machine even before it is full. It’s estimated that even when your hard drive is at 80% full your computer’s speed is reduced significantly.
- Hidden startup programs
Many applications tend to run without you knowing. Such applications usually launch at startup and keep running in the background while hidden.
- Malware or viruses invasion
When your computer becomes slow, particularly experiencing endless pop-ups or unexpected crashes, there are high chances of virus or malware invasion on your computer. When the malware/virus invades your computer, it not only puts your personal data at risk but also consumes a large amount of computer memory, thus leading to slow performance of your computer.
- Overheating
Sometimes your computer may be slow because it is too hot. Overheating occurs when computer cooling vent is blocked with dust or the machine is too close to a wall that blocks the ventilation. For laptops, placing them on your laps or sinking them in your beddings for long hours will block the cooling fan and cause your machine to overheat.
Here are other ways you can speed up your computer.
- Reinstall the Operating System:
Aside from rebooting your computer, getting a fresh operating system will boost your computer performance significantly.
- Free Up Disk Space:
Always leave your computer some room to work on the hard drive and form a habit to delete unused applications, programs and unnecessary files. On top of that, keeping your hard drive with free space of at least 40% will ensure your computer works in peek condition.
- Scan for Malware and viruses:
Frequently scan your device with an antivirus and make sure to empty your recycle bin after a scan and fix. Also scan your device with Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes will catch a lot of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) that may be ignored by the antivirus.
- Disable Startup Programs:
Some startup applications often launch when you switch on your machine and stay running in the background, which will reduce the processor’s speed significantly. Please disable some startup programs so that your computer can experience a higher running speeds.
- Clear the cache and cookies on your browser:
Cache files (web pages your browser saves to improve browsing speed) and cookies (data stored on your computer by websites you visit) build up every second you browse the internet. Unless you clear them regularly, they can take up a large amount of space on your drive, thus eventually slowing your computer down.
- Make sure the environment is cool
Overheating is one of the most common causes of computer crashes or breakdowns. Please make sure the ventilation of your machine is always clean and it has enough space to accommodate the complete Inhalation and exhalation.
Most of the time the simplest and easiest way to fix a slow computer is by restarting it. This ensures that all programs that may be making your machine slow are stopped. When a computer restarts, it also updates its software and the new software usually fixes a number of bugs that could have caused the computer to be slow.
