Computers Running Slowly

“You know, I always wonder what my computer is *really* doing. Sometimes, it can be running a program or something, but it isn’t immediately apparent. It isn’t until I try to do something, that I realize that my computer is running very slow. It seems that I’ve always had this problem. Suggestions?” -Bryan Harwell

This is an age old complaint that people have regarding their computers. The causes can range from outdated hardware running newer software to a badly fragmented hard drive to low virtual memory. I’ll quickly address each issue, but having more information about your computer will help in the long run.

Keep in mind that many people never think that their computer is that outdated. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people legitimately complain that their computer is running slowly but never know how their hardware can cause such a bottleneck. When we talk about bottlenecks, it’s merely an analogy. If you pour water from a two liter bottle, it takes a little bit to get all of the water out through that small opening. If you cut the top of the two liter bottle off, then your flow becomes less restricted, if even restricted at all. The same thing can be said when talking about the flow of information that your computer deals with when you’re doing common tasks. All software has ‘minimum requirements’ which denote what hardware is absolutely required to run the software without having to take a nap between pressing keys. If your computer meets the minimum requirements it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to enjoy your experience though. Keep in mind that when they say ‘minimum’, they really mean it. So if your computer is sitting on the bottom of that list of requirements, you can pretty much figure that you’re going to have a slow time of it. If you compare your hardware to the computers that are on the budget list now, and your computer doesn’t even come close, then it’s time for an upgrade unless you do nothing more than check the email and write a few notes and letters.

Fragmented hard drives are also a culprit when it comes to slowing down the operation of a computer. Fragmentation occurs when data gets mixed up on the hard drive. It’s just all over the place and in no specific order, meaning that all the data for a particular program may be spread to the four corners of your hard drive making the computer have to search for the next piece of the puzzle in order to get things to run. Don Watkins wrote a great article over at that I encourage you to read since it gives a clear cut description of what a fragmented hard drive is and why fragmentation happens. Windows comes with a built in defrag program, but it’s not what I would call the most efficient. For those of us who are ‘thrifty’, this comes in very handy since it’s obviously free. The defrag programs that you pay for are more efficiently put together and usually do other things to help out the speed of the hard drive as well.

Virtual memory is another culprit of slow computing. Your operating system uses two types of memory to do its job. The primary is RAM (Random Access Memory) which is in a ‘stick’ format and inserted in the motherboard. The second is virtual memory. Windows allocates a certain amount of hard drive space to use as an overflow space for storing information that is being used or will be used by an active program. Naturally, the more RAM you have, the less Windows has to dip into the virtual memory, making things speed along much more efficiently. Since virtual memory is located on a hard drive, it takes extra time for the hard drive to spin, the data to be pulled and transfered and the operating system to process and display the information. If you have more RAM, then it allows more ‘instant’ access to data that you’re using in the course of computing.

These are just a few things that can cause your computing experience to be so slow and tedious, but of course there can be other factors. These are just the most common.

~ by jhurst747 on 29 June 2007.