Is your computer running slowly?

 

There are numerous reasons why your computer might slow down over time. Some of these are software or operating system related, while other are hardware related.

The biggest culprit for poor system performance on older machines - normally 5 years+ - is your hard drive.  Replacing the old mechanical hard drive in your system with a newer Solid State Drive (SSD) will normally increase your system speed significantly.  The price of an upgrade of this type can be as little as £109 and wherever possible we will clone your existing drive to the new SSD meaning you lose no programs or data!  Please give us a call to discuss this.

Software.

Is your computer running slowly?If you have installed or removed quite a number of programs these can leave temporary files on your hard drive which might not be removed and accumulate over time, causing your system to slow down. By uninstalling programs there are often minor errors left in the registry by the unistallation program. Disc fragmentation is another issue which relates to the operating system, the pre-installed program which allows your computer to operate. Most recent operating systems automate the process of de-fragmentation. A fragmented disc at like your favourite novel that has been in the hands of a toddler with a pair of scissors. All the pages are there when you gather them back into the cover but not in the right order. You could still read your book but searching for each page number as you finished the previous page would take you some considerable time and effort. This is what fragmentation is like on your hard drive. It is often responsible for slow start-up as the operating system has to search around the drive to find files which should all be gathered together. Malware can often result in slow operating speed. Malware is software which by one means or another has found it's way onto your computer and runs quietly in the background, often performing operations of a malicious nature without your knowledge. Hence the name. These programs might not present a threat to your computer in their most innocuous form but are still unwelcome guests. The more malicious of these programs can cause considerable damage over time or open the doors to more destructive viruses. You should have software to deal with both viruses and malware installed. Although these will use some resources and might appear to slow your machine slightly this is a price well worth paying. The consequences of not having such protection can be catastrophic. These are just a number of software related issues which might slow your machine and there are free programs here which will assist with the most common of these. It that doesn't cure the problem, we're here to help. Feel free to give us a call on 01757 290500.

Hardware.

There are all manner of reason that the hardware in your machine might not be providing the performance you used to experience. Common amongst these are internal memory, processor and graphics processor speed. If your machine is a little older and you're using complex programs or games it might just be that your machine doesn't have the power to deal with the demand. This doesn't always need to be as problematic as it sounds. In many cases faster processor or graphic chips and be installed or more memory added. More advanced users might be comfortable installing additional memory for example but for many users it's best to bring your machine in to us. Also opening the case might invalidate your warranty, so it's often best to ask for assistance before taking a screwdriver to the box – as it were.

A cautionary note.

You'll often see adverts on various websites offering a few tune-up etc. Whilst the word free sounds appealing there really is no such thing as free. The people behind these adverts are paying to make sure you see the advert one way or another and consequently there has to be something in it for them. In the worst case scenario the software you are persuaded to install is not designed to do anything of the kind and by installing it you may well allow the software to pass through your anti virus system and cause untold damage to your machine. This can be costly and damaging. So be very careful what you click on!

We offer friendly support and advice regardless of whether you purchased your machine from us or elsewhere so please feel free to give us a call on 01757 290500