Working with a slow computer feels like going back in time of dial up, basically it sucks and you can’t be productive. Computers need regular maintenance to run optimally. If you want a long lifespan for your computer take time to take care of it. There are several reasons why your computer might perform poorly or run slowly, it can be both hardware and software related. Fortunately, there are computer repair services available for both laptops and desktops to cleanup and have it running fast like its brand new again, but also there are troubleshooting techniques you can do yourself to maintain your computer.

What causes computers to slow down:

• The exhaust fan is clogged up of dust and not cooling properly causing the motherboard to overheat and slowing down the processor
•  A hard drive at its full capacity can slow down computer
•  Spyware/Adware and viruses
• Having an outdated browser such as Internet Explorer
• Too small a Ram
• Software that is bulky, lots of baggage

What are some troubleshooting techniques to speed up computers:

If you have a computer that overheats, it can be due to a fan that’s clogged with dust or a fan that’s worn out and needs replacing. You can clean off the dust on your desktop computer and for laptops you will need to take it apart and use an air pressure duster to clean it. Also, you can place a small fan next to your computers exhaust fan to assist it. For laptops it’s also important to not place it on surfaces such as a bed, where the fan cannot get air flowing, proper ventilation will help the fan work less and the computer stay cool, preventing the motherboard and processor to overheat.

If you have a hard drive that’s at its limit, it will slow down performance. You can either upgrade to a bigger hard drive, remove programs that are not used often, and also put music and photos on a different storage such as a cloud service or another hard drive or usb storage. Defragmenting your hard drive will also greatly improve speed, it puts all information regarding each file in one space rather than spread out everywhere. This is a tricky process and requires the service of a tech.

Annoying viruses, spyware and adware will slow your computer performance and risk your privacy, best thing to do is scan for these nuances and install protection. Update your security protection regularly to stay protected from daily threats.

Certain web browsers can make your browsing experience a snails pace. All computers come with Internet Explorer which is not on the same playing field as speedy Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

If your wireless network is the cause of the slow speed, than you might need to call your service provider and ask for an upgrade. You can use speedtest.net to find out the speed of your internet connection.

If you open up and use a lot of programs all at once on your computer, than it is important to increase your RAM size for proper speed. If your RAM size is too small and filled up, the processor will have to read the data and program information from the hard disk which performs slower than a RAM.

Using faster leaner software can increase speed. The commercial softwares such as Adobe Reader, Photoshop which is a resource hog, Microsoft office, Outlook, and windows media Player are bulky sized software the way they were written. There are softwares out there that are free and smaller in size so they take up less memory space. Sumatra will read PDF files, GIMP is comparable to photoshop, replace microsoft office with Libreoffice, Thunderbird for Outlook, and LVG player for windows media player

Next time your computer slows down, use these troubleshooting techniques to have your computer perform well. If you don’t have the time or the techniques are not making any changes, than you can call Heroes and Geeks, they provide 24/7 onsite computer repair service in all of Los Angeles county. The service is available for all computer problems and computer upgrades. If you want your old computer running like new call Heroes and Geeks, and you won’t have to replace your computer to have it running like a new one.

Stay tech savvy, my friends.