Tips for Dealing with a Slow Computer

Slow Computer?

Check the memory

If your PC is too slow, consider adding more memory. Here's how:

• Right-click My Computer, and select Properties. The window displays the amount of memory about halfway down on the right-hand side.

Many computers ship with the bare minimum, to keep costs down. For anything more than just staring at the screensaver, you want about 1GB of RAM. For lots of numbercrunching, upgrade to 2GB.

Memory is relatively cheap - about $200/GB - and installation takes only minutes. There are many memory chips to choose from. Our preferred brands are Crucial for servers, and Kingston for workstations. Crucial have a useful memory selector on their website. Contact us if you need help.

Optimize disk space

If your PC has been slowing down, try defragmenting the hard drive. If that doesn't help, take a look at disk space:

• Double-click My Computer, right-click C:, choose Properties and check the pie chart display.

If the disk is over 70% full, that could be the problem.

To remedy, remove junk or get a bigger hard drive. Don't let Windows compress the hard drive! The consistent history of the hard drive is that the physical size keeps decreasing, prices keep dropping, and storage space keeps growing.

So buy for today, not for the longterm, because in two years you'll get twice the disk for half the money. Currently, the biggest drive around is 750GB, and price performance is best at 100 to 250GB.

Could it be a virus?

We've seen a lot of spyware nasties around lately. One type is the browser hijacker, which forces you to specific advertisers' websites, rather than those you are trying to reach, and eventually paralyzes the PC.

Another is a bogus spyware detector that pops up to explain that your PC is infected with a virus. When you click on it, it installs itself, slows down the computer, blocks Internet access and backup, and eventually asks for money.

Security tip #1: Don't talk to strangers. Most viruses gain access through the user's actions. If you don't recognise a source or haven't solicited a program, delete, quarantine or otherwise remove the suspicious file or window. Never click on it.

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