I hear from many people complaining that their computer is slow and that want to know if there is anything that can be done about it. Everyone remembers how fast their computer was when they first got it, but over time they start to realize that the computer is running very slow. Why does this happen? Unfortunately there is not one answer, but the good news is that you have me to try and help solve this issue. Lets break down some of the reasons this happens and what can be done to solve it.

1. Over time you install and uninstall many programs, and you copy, move, or delete data that resides on your hard drive. As this data gets moved around, your computer is trying to find space on the drive to put the files. Sometimes there is not enough continuous space to store a file or program, so the computer fragments or breaks the file/program into lots of little pieces. Then these pieces are store in different areas of the hard drive. As this continues, your data and programs get spread all over the hard drive into lots of little pieces. I like to compare it to looking at a picture that has been made into a puzzle. If the puzzle is in one piece we can see what the picture is, but if the puzzle is broken apart and spread out across our table, then we must first try to get the pieces put together before we can figure out what the picture is. This is kind of what your computer has to do with the files on your hard drive after files have been moved around a lot and one of the reasons why your computer may be running slower. So we want to put the files back together in one continous space so it takes the computer less time to figure out where the data is. We can do this by using a defragmenter program. Most all operating systems like Windows has a default defragmenter program built in, and should be ran at least once a month to help speed up your computer. I like to use a program that runs all the time in the background constantly keeping my hard drive defragmented. It's called SmartDefrag from IObit. I posted a thread about it and you may wish to read what I had to say. Click here to read more on SmartDefrag.

2. Since I mentioned programs that run in the background like the SmartDegrag, this brings me to our next issue. When you install programs, many of them will be set so they run when the computer is booted up. The thing I hate about this, is that sometimes the program may not tell you that it will do this when you install it. These programs that run when the computer is booted up may be eating up memory and CPU processes that could be slowing down your computer. Usually you can see these programs on the right side of your task bar over by your clock. A common program in Windows that does this is Microsoft Messenger. It's meant so that when you boot up, the program will automatically run so you don't have to run it your self in case you forget. Now if you like to chat with Messenger a lot, you may want this to happen, but if you don't use Messenger or any other program that starts up, why have it running using up system resources when you can turn this feature off. Some programs have a setting that you can go into to have it not run on startup, but some don't and even worse, some programs startup and you will never even know they are there. To find these programs, I like to use a tool in Windows called 'msconfig.exe'. This is the Windows system configuration tool. To run this from XP, just click the start button, and then in the run box type msconfig.exe and hit enter. In Vista or Windows 7, just click the start button (the round windows button on the task bar) and then in the search box, type msconfig and press enter. You will find that a new window opened up called the System Configuration. From this window, click the Startup tab. This will now show you all the programs that will startup automatically when the computer runs. This is where I like to go through and uncheck all the programs I don't want to run when the computer boots which will help make the computer boot faster and run faster.

You may have to use google to research what each item is and weather it is needed or not, or just uncheck all the third party programs you know won't affect Windows. You can kind of get an idea from the image above. After you make the changes, you will have to reboot. After the reboot, you will get a message that the system configuration has been changed. Just click the OK and check the box that says something like don't warn me again. If at anytime, you uncheck a box and Windows does not boot up properly or something doesn't work right, then you can go into safe mode and just run the msconfig again. Select each box one at a time until the problem is gone. This will let you know for sure which programs the Windows system does require for proper boot. This is why I do a little research and make sure I am only unchecking programs I know won't affect Windows. After this, you will probably notice that your computer is booting faster and running better.

3. Wow, this is getting long! I still have a couple other suggestions if neither of those helped. Another thing that can cause the system to run slow is the operating system. As different patches, and updates, and changes are made to the operating system, things can slowly get messed up. Remember, people write these programs which is a lot a math and code, and they do mess up from time to time. An easy way to solve this is to re-install your operating system from time to time. Think of it as fall or spring cleaning. This pertains to Windows and Mac users. Most of the time, a re-install of the OS will dramatically increase the speed of the computer. The reason for this is that the hard drive is formatted before the install which means there is no file fragmentation, there are very few programs that boot up at startup as you haven't installed all the programs yet that do this, and the Operating System is clean of errors or bugs as it is back at it's stable condition. Now before you try to do this, please make sure you back up all your data as a clean install will erase everything. I usually do this at least once a year, but sometimes more depending on how often I use the computers, or if my entire family is on the computers. Usually the more changes that happen to it, the more often I do a clean install.

4. Now this is my favorite fix of all for slow computers but it mostly deals with people running Windows Vista. If you have Vista, buy Windows 7. Stop using Vista as soon as you can. It's one of the worse operating systems ever made in my opinion besides Windows ME. Windows Vista is big, clunky, and wastes way too many system resources. The good news is that Windows 7 is the best operating system Windows has ever made and I'm not the only one saying that. Just spend a couple minutes on google researching Windows 7 and you will be convinced. It will make your Vista machine feel like it has gone into overdrive. It's very fast and very well built. If you are use to using Vista, you will find that Windows 7 has pretty much the same look at feel to it as Vista except that it just runs and works a lot better. If you have 3 or more computers, I recommend you get the family pack for $150 which gets you 3 copies of Windows 7, otherwise they run about $100 a copy. Check out Amazon for prices, and they should be able to ship it overseas. I think AAFES has it in the catalog, but I'm fairly sure they are selling it for $10 to $20 more. Maybe it has to do with shipping charges. Anyway, Windows 7 works great too on some older computers. I replace a few of my XP machines with Windows 7 and noticed a big improvement on speed and usability. I've also written a little thread about it Here.

5. The last thing I can suggest is to purchase more memory, specially if you have between 1GB or less. Memory has gotten very cheap and it is one of the best things you can do to help increase the speed of your computer. I would suggest you check out Newegg.com or TigerDirect.com for prices. I've seen the prices for AAFES and they are usually 2 to 5 times more expensive than normal computer stores. If you do purchase something from either of those 2 stores, please go there by using the ads posted on this site. This is a small way you can help provide support to the KMCTechGuy site.

I know this was long, but I also know that one or all these points will help you increase the speed of your system. If you are having any problems understanding this, need more help, or have a suggestion, please let me know. Hope this helps.