If your computer runs well, then you don't tend to pay much attention to it. But if it starts slowing down, then you definitely notice – and probably get frustrated, too. The truth is that there are many different potential causes if your computer has begun to slow down for seemingly no reason, from viruses to just plain too many files. The good news is that you can learn how to fix computer speed issues like this yourself, and once you

know how to fix them, you will also know how to prevent it from happening again in the future!

A change for the worse in your computer's speed is never a good sign. Whether your computer locks up or freezes when you trying to open a file or run some software, it hangs while you are trying to watch an online video, or it just takes forever to boot up completely, a slow computer is an annoyance of the highest order, especially if you have good hardware and a lot of RAM.

The most common culprits for a computer slow down are viruses, a highly fragmented hard drive, and too many programs running at once. All of these things are easily corrected in their own way, and here's how to do it:

 

1. If you have a virus that is eating up your resources, then you need to get rid of it as soon as possible to prevent it from doing more damage or driving you crazy (or both). Get a good anti virus software, like the free one at www.avast.com. Keep it updated and current, and run it regularly to detect and remove any harmful software from your computer system.
2. When you install a program onto your hard drive, or save a file, it tries to put all of the information for that program or file right next to each other. The closer the packets of information are to each other on the hard drive, the faster it can find them when they are needed. Unfortunately, as your hard drive gets older, and as more programs and files are saved, installed, deleted and uninstalled, the hard drive becomes fragmented – new programs have to find spots to fit in, and the more places a program has to look to find everything it needs, the slower it gets. Run the Disk Defragmenter utility regularly to push the packets closer together and move them into better order, and your PC will run much faster!
3. Never run more programs than you actually need to use at any one time. More programs open means you are using up more resources, and this slows your computer down.

Taking the time to take care of your PC means it will run quickly and smoothly, just the way you want it.