Why Is My Computer Running Slowly?

 Katrina Willeyin Support, Technology
November 5, 2019

It’s not too often we hear this from our clients (because we do our absolute best to provide proactive maintenance!)  – but picture that you have a million things to do but your computer is running at a snail’s pace. There are a number of things that could be causing this, and here are some of the most common issues that we encounter:

  • The computer needs to be restarted – always try this first.  A quick restart can often eliminate the system hiccup or the little hidden malfuction. If you’re one of our IT clients, you have probably heard this many times through the years – RESTART!
  • There are too many programs running in the background – sometimes we get so busy that we forget to close out unused programs. If you’re running Windows 7 or higher, open Task Manager to see what programs are running and how much memory and CPU they’re using. Then shut the unnecessary things down (after saving your open files, of course).
  • There could be malware on your hard drive. If we are your IT provider, we would’ve installed a malware software that can quickly scan and remove malware from your hard drive. If for some reason you don’t have malware installed, there are free malware scanners online.
  • There isn’t enough free space on your hard drive – It’s crazy how quickly your hard drive can fill up!  Generally speaking, you should have at least 5% of total disk space as available free space on your hard drive.  If we are your IT provider, we would’ve caught this by now if we are proactively managing your IT. Either way, if you are almost out of space, it’s time to call us! We can install extra space on your hard drive, or point you in the right direction to speed up your system.
  • The hard drive is corrupt or fragmented – Do a quick ScanDisk run or give us a shout to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the hard drive. Often times, depending on your service contract with us, we can connect remotely to your computer to check this for you.
  • Your computer has a virus – The little virus buggers are sneaky these days! We do our absolute best to protect our IT clients from viruses with robust software.  Make sure your antivirus subscription and definitions are up to date. Don’t know if you have antivirus installed? Call us for help, and we can get you reliable and affordable antivirus protection right away!
  • If the computer runs slow everyday, it may just be showing its age – Call us to help diagnose, and let our team help upgrade your memory if the computer is more than a few years old.  If it’s even older than a few years, time to consider letting us help you build a fast, efficient machine that will work as hard as you do.

Give these suggestions a try first, and call us if you’re still having trouble. We’re here to help!