4 Tips to Improve PC Performance

When you first received your PC or laptop you were amazed at how fast it was. But now you could go get a cup of coffee in the time it takes for your word processor to open. There can be many reasons for the poor performance. Here are four tips:

1. The first thing to do is to make sure that your system has not been hacked or is not running a bunch of malware. A reputable anti-virus/anti-malware package is essential. Run a full scan from that software and have it delete any bad things that it finds.
2. Run a software product that looks for spyware such as Malwarebytes (https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/) to remove any software that is pushing ads to you or spying on your every click.
3. Now, time for some house cleaning. If you run low on hard disk space your system will slow down noticeably so remove as many old files as you can. Search for “disk cleanup” from the search or start menu and use it to delete files you no longer need.
4. Search for “programs” from the search or start menu, select the “Add or Remove Programs” option and uninstall any programs that you don’t need.

Lastly, if you find that you are working on spreadsheets over a gigabyte (GB) in size, or need to have many programs open at the same time, then you may need to install more RAM memory. For the average user 8GB is enough, but for power users 16GB is better. You can find out how much you have in your computer by searching for “system” and opening the “System” control panel application. If your RAM memory is low, you may need to have a professional help with ordering memory and installing it.

Your computer should continue to run well for many years if you keep it secure, don’t install too many programs, especially untrusted games and programs from the internet, and delete old files that you don’t need.