I get this one a lot. A customer will call me and let me know they think there computer is running slow due to it being full with too many photos, applications and files etc.
The truth is, unless your hard drive is failing and not addressing space allocation correctly, it doesn’t matter how many files you have on your computer, how many photos or how many programs, it should not effect the speed of your computer unless it is pretty close to 100% full.
It is not so much how many programs or files you have on your computer, as much as it is, how many are running at once, in the background or when your computer starts up?
This post does not really apply to Apple Mac or Linux based computer operating systems. It applies to Windows XP all the way up to Windows 10.
Be Careful Removing Junk
When you want to remove junk from your computer, it really depends on what you consider junk.
You must be very careful when you remove things because a lot of programs have dependencies. You might remove something you don’t want, that another program uses to run.
Over time, the more things you do on your computer, the more files and junk it accumulates.
A very good program for removing Junk files on your computer is called CCleaner.
CCLeaner is a free file to download and use. Once you have installed the program, simply click on “Run Cleaner” and the software will remove files you do not need associated with common junk files on Windows computers. It will not go into your Pictures and just start deleting files. It will go to places like in Internet Explorer and delete temporary files you do not need which might be slowing things down.
Uninstalling Programs
There is a right and wrong way to remove programs you no longer need or want on your computer. Unless these Programs are running in the background when your computer is starting up, or your hard drive is 95% full, there is no need to remove them.
Simply deleting the files in which the applications and programs sit on your hard drive will probably do more damage than good (unless you on a Mac computer).
The correct way to remove a program from your computer is to go into control panel and then into programs and click on the application you no longer want, and then follow the uninstall process.
Again be very carefully hat you uninstall. Other programs might depend on them and might not start up, or worse your computer wont start all together. Be careful!
Viruses and Malware
Most computers when they are running slow and people think it is because they have too many files on it, it is actually because there is some sort of malicious software on it like a virus, spyware, adware, malware etc.
Virus can run havoc on your system and not only infect programs, they can do everything from lock you out of your computer, spy and get bank details, to wiping all your data entirely from your computer or laptop.
Viruses slow computers down dramatically.
Failing Hardware
If something like your motherboard is playing up, your hard drive in not spinning right or one or your RAM (memory Modules) fails it can affect the speed of your computer and appear having a lot of files on your computer or running many programs at once is to blame.
Townsville Nerds can run a diagnostic test quickly on your computer to determine if you have any software vulnerabilities or hardware failure points on your machine.
