Six of the Major Causes and Solutions for a Slow Running PC

There's nothing more frustrating than when you're trying to get something simple done, like check your email or visit Twitter, and it seems to be taking longer than ever to get the PC fired up and programs running.

Not only is it a waste of time but also electricity...let alone the sheer frustration that makes us more impatient each night that we sit gazing at our PC screens almost forgetting what brought us here.

Whichever way you look at it, a slow PC is no fun...and even more of an issue when you use your PC for work purposes which, let’s face it, counts for a large percentage of us.

Luckily, there are a lot of fixes that can be done to accelerate the speed of your pc. Some work more effectively than others, but here's a top 6 list of things you can do to get your PC back up and running at lightning fast speed once more...

#6. Defragment Your Hard Drive

PCs have this nasty habit of scattering files across the hard drive, particularly when new programs are installed. Over time, these files get lost or your PC takes longer and longer to find them when doing tasks like running software or starting up /closing down. This task will put everything back in its place and give your PC a break from the hunting. This can also free up disc space, which boosts memory capacity and the ability for your PC to "think faster".

#5. Scan Your Hard Disk

PCs get damaged when not shut down properly. When this happens, a scan comes in useful to check for errors and make any repairs possible.

#4. Scan for Viruses

Viruses inside your PC are always a common culprit for crashing/slowing down various programs on your computer...and sometimes affect everything from internet to email, Paint to media players. There are plenty of antivirus programs out there and you should never be online without one running in the back ground. If you do have one, check it is up to date and run a scan from its control panel just to check for viruses.

#3. Uninstall Unneeded Programs

Visit your control panel and go to "add or remove programs". Locate any programs that you rarely use and will likely never use again, and get rid of them. This function will also show you how much disk space they are hogging up and that alone may surprise you. You could be slowing your PC down drastically simply having redundant programs lying on your C drive.

#2. Stop Programs from starting on Windows boot up

More and more software developers sneakily code their programs to start up when you boot up Windows. This is usually an option that can be turned off inside the specific software control panel responsible...so if you have lots of unwanted programs starting up when you turn your PC on, they can changed not to do so, giving your PC more speed during launch.

#1. Repair your registry

One of the major reasons for your computer slowing down is the messing up of your windows registry.

The registry is basically a huge memory bank of system data about your PC, from files to system settings, display options and everything in-between.

Notes are dumped in the registry every time a setting is changed, or when software is installed or removed.

If your browser window takes ages to open, or it takes your favorite software program longer to load than it does to cook an evening meal, then you're likely suffering from a beaten up old registry.

This can even happen to relatively new PCs, so don't rule this out if your new machine is crashing, freezing, or taking ages to do anything at all.

So, if you haven’t checked your computer registry, then make this your #1 priority! A word of warning however - even the smallest error in messing with your registry can cause a complete meltdown of your computer.

That's why software programs have been specifically designed (and have become hugely popular) to scan and repair your corrupt registry for you.