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A dirty ol' laptop, in need of some attention. Mister Softy via Flickr/Creative Commons

Has your computer slowed down over time? Here's why, and how to fix it

All computers will slow down over time, due to more programs being installed or the system simply becoming clogged up. However, there are ways to make it and nice speedy again.

THE HONEYMOON PERIOD after buying a new computer, where all programs run fast and everything seems to work perfectly, can sometimes only last a few months.

For some it could last years because we all use our computers for different tasks and activities, which means there isn’t one single reason that pinpoints why this slowdown happens.

The thing is, when you first get a new computer and boot it up it works lightning fast. That’s because it doesn’t have anything on it. Regardless of whether you have a PC or Mac, over time as you download files, install software, and go online, your computer gets bloated with files that hog system resources. In addition, there are many other things that contribute to a slowdown. We explored some of the major causes.

Software and hard drive corruption.

We started by speaking with Rachel, a tech expert with Tekserve. She told us that software and hard drive corruption are two reasons why your computer may slow down over time.

Corruption can be caused by a host of things but it’s mostly bugs in the operating system, corrupted RAM data, static electricity (from carpet or other fabrics), power surges, failing hardware, and for Windows users, normal operating system decomposition with age.

Two other huge culprits are not having enough RAM (memory to run programs) and simply running out of hard disk space.

Constantly seek more RAM

Not having enough RAM causes your hard drive to try to compensate for a lack of memory. The computer will constantly seek more RAM taking away resources from other tasks.

Another thing users fall victim to is installing unnecessary software. This will fill up your hard drive, causing you to run out of space at the price of speed.

There are useful free programs that help you easily identify what is taking up space on your hard drive:

  • For Mac users try: OmniDiskSweeper, a free program that breaks down exactly which files take up the most space.
  • For PC users try WinDirStat, a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool.

But what if you don’t have a lot of apps or programs on your computer and it’s still going slow?

If you’re updating your software regularly, that can contribute to a slowdown because the updates themselves take up more space and require more system resources. Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker points out that, “in theory, if you did a clean install and never updated any of your software, everything would run as fast in year four as it did on day one. But that’s not exactly a feasible—or secure—way to use your computer.”

If you have a spinning hard drive, once they get older they simply start to slow down as they reach the end of life. It’s important to note that all spinning hard drives will die eventually, it could be tomorrow but it could also happen 10 years from now. It’s just the nature of their design.

A spinning hard drive, or HDD. Pretty, isn’t it? (Image Credit: Numinosity/Flickr)

A simple solution to prevent slowdowns caused by the hard drive is to install a solid state hard drive (SSD) in your current computer or buy a new computer with one. Solid state hard drives take advantage of flash memory, which is found primarily in tablets and smartphones. Without going too deep, a SSD’s flash memory doesn’t have an arm like the above hard drive to write data, instead it relies on a processor making it much more reliable. You can read more about the difference between a SSD and HDD here.

We also can’t ignore that fact that for PC users malware and viruses can also contribute to a computer slowing down. A huge misconception with PC users is that you need to load up on antivirus software to keep your computer fast. This is simply a myth, dismissed by Whitson Gordon too.

Gordon recommends that before you run out and buy pricey antivirus software you should first:

Start by learning a bit more about viruses and what they do … Your first line of defense should be safe browsing. If you’re downloading shady files, clicking on internet pop-ups, or opening links from unknown email, you’ll greatly increase your chances of getting one. But if you’re even mildly responsible, it’s unlikely you’ll ever get an infection.

You should still download antivirus software though, and there are many free options available.

Besides checking what is taking up space on your hard drive and practicing safe browsing you should also:

  • Regularly clear your cache, internet browsing history, and temporary Internet files.
  • Empty the trash can.
  • Check which programs are running at start up and also see what background services you are having load after a set amount of time.

We have to face the fact that as time goes on, our computers will get slow. It’s a natural progression. The Internet and software capabilities evolve by the minute. These new innovations require more power and space to keep up with the pace. Sometimes it might not even be your fault that your once zippy computer is now crawling but its just a sign of the times.

Do you have any tips to keep your computer in good shape? Tell us in the comments below.

Kevin Smith

Weird Wide Web: A Bebo comeback, Amazon art and a very silly app >

More: IBM’s ‘Deep Thunder’ system could be used in Dublin to predict flash floods >

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gaius Gracchus
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:59 PM

    I always open task manager when I get a new laptop every 4 years or so and do a screenshot of what’s running on it on the very first day, helps see what shite has been added over time

    242
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    Mute gumbridge
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:35 PM

    Ccleaner

    217
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    Mute John Murray
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:26 PM

    Agree. Probably the best free utility there is. CCleaner should be on everyone’s desktop – that and Malwarebytes.

    100
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    Mute BooHoo2U
    Favourite BooHoo2U
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:08 PM

    Back up your files then do an F10 reboot/reset

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    Mute Philip Adams
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:42 PM

    Ccleaner is god. It’s free and powerful. ‘Nuff said.

    38
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    Mute Vinnie Bonar
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    Aug 17th 2013, 9:37 PM

    I use Avast. Great free antivirus

    22
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    Mute James Byrne
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    Aug 18th 2013, 12:24 AM

    Slim cleaner is also free software for tidying up your computer

    4
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    Mute A.G
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    Aug 19th 2013, 12:44 AM

    I use slimfast myself.

    8
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    Mute Ryan Miller
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    Dec 3rd 2014, 5:54 PM

    Ccleaner & Avast… 5 years and my laptop still runs perfect.

    1
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    Mute Alan Lawlor
    Favourite Alan Lawlor
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    Aug 17th 2013, 9:00 PM

    I got a call telling me my Pc was not working well and I found their advice very helpful.
    The website they told me to go to to download their extra special software has made my browser extra exciting with all sorts of lovely flashing toolbars.
    I no longer have to type any urls to visit porn sites as it reads my mind and opens lots of windows for me to choose from.
    I also found their payment plan extra helpful as again I did not even need to set up the funds transfer to their bank account in Nigeria – they took care of for me with their software (although I have found it a bit pricey).
    Best of all, it takes care of keeping me in contact with all of my friends in my contact list by automatically sending them lots of emails. Although I do not understand why some have replied to me in such an abusive way. One retorted he was angry as to why I would suggest he needed viagra and another said he did not want a Thai bride?
    A bit confusing but I am happy that my pc boots up now before bedtime on Fridays since I only hit ctrl-alt-del on Monday morning.

    138
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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:16 PM

    I refuse to believe that, who wouldn’t want a Thai bride?

    55
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    Mute N O'C
    Favourite N O'C
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    Aug 18th 2013, 1:30 AM

    I got a call like that too about a problem with my Windows. They told me to open my Browser, so I picked up a magazine and had a flick through it. Then they said to open a new window, go to a website, and enter an address. I thought this was a bit odd, but I opened the kitchen window like they asked, then climbed out in search of spiders in the back garden, to find some webs. Brought one of my wife’s dresses with me, as they seemed to think I needed it. Got back on the phone, and they asked me what I could see. Told them I could see my wife’s dress hanging on a bush in the garden.

    They seemed rather confused with that, and started shouting about windows on a computer. I told them I didn’t have a computer. They got really upset and hung up the phone. Not really sure why.

    On the upside, never had any problems with my double glazing after that…

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    Mute Tom Brennan
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    Aug 18th 2013, 2:33 AM

    @N O’C

    LMFAO! Brilliant. Slow claps…

    Wish I could green-thumb more than once!

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    Mute Martin O Donnell
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    Dec 4th 2013, 11:42 PM

    Brill man…very funny

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    Mute Morticia
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:34 PM

    Or you could just switch to Linux and save a lot of time and money.

    99
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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:45 PM

    I did that myself and haven’t looked back. Really good on low end netbooks.

    55
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    Mute Johnjoe Nugent
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:58 PM

    Linux was great for a while but you’ll eventually need windows for something, eg. Image editing (can’t beat Lightroom) a dual boot is a great solution

    32
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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:03 PM

    Yeah it’s not great for serious multimedia work, but that said, most people would find the programs available absolutely grand for straight-forward editing.

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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:07 PM

    The only thing you need to go back to Windows for is Internet Explorer, but you can download Virtual Machines from http://modern.ie
    Most popular applications are available on Linux (i.e. Adobe Reader, Firefox), alternatively there is nearly always a comparable open-source alternative, Lightroom > Darktable, Photoshop > GIMP, MS Office > LibreOffice.

    17
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    Mute Morticia
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:09 PM

    @Johnjoe Nugent,try GIMP for photos it’s quirky but just as good as photoshop and its free like almost all Linux software. Dual boot is certainly a good option as folks can get a feel for linux before giving up on windoze. In fairness I hear that Mac’s are the bees knees for professional photo work but that comes at a price. Linux is great for bringing back to life PC’s and laptops which have been knackered by malware and I have a whole bunch which were dumped because of careless browsing .

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:34 PM

    There are a plethora of multimedia tools on Linux that are as good as or better than proprietary solutions on Win/Mac. The problem is that they are not used in colleges so grads can only use the expensive commercial software.

    18
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    Mute Seán Ó Briain
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:10 PM

    Use Linux for my desktop OS, and have been doing so since Mandrake 7.2 (Still have the original disks!). Linux has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years. I remember I had to get someone to code a driver for my winmodem back in the day, just so I could get it online. There were driver issues with everything – audio, networking, graphics cards and so on. Nowadays it’s pretty much plug and play.

    I still use windows, but it’s mostly for gaming and multimedia stuff (Photoshop, Adobe Premier, etc..). I know there are alternatives out there for Linux like GIMP, but some they still aren’t good enough. (Although great for free software).

    Linux runs like a dream, and if it doesn’t – you can customise it so it will, irrespective of how much ram you have, or how fast your processor is. It’s also inherently more secure than Windows, although Microsoft have improved a lot since Windows 7.

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    Mute Wham Wham
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:18 PM

    I always find switching it on and off helps!

    51
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    Mute James Sheppard
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:43 PM

    Is your computer plugged in? Have you tried turning it off and on?

    24
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    Mute Donal06
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    Aug 17th 2013, 11:49 PM

    You mean off and on right?

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    Mute raymond grehan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:59 PM

    Flashcookies (supercookies) are slowing down your computer big time. These are stored on your computer and not in your web browser file area, so when you think you you have deleted everything from the net these are still there. Worse, they track your every move and act like a spy under your keyboard.
    http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/computer-security/what-are-flash-cookies-and-how-can-you-stop-them

    These are insidious.
    If you are using firefox, get the add on ‘better privacy’, install it, and clear and keep clearing these yokes. YOu will not believe how many of these things are stored in the flash folders on your computer.

    Other browsers have similar privacy aids. Do a bit of research.

    Also get ‘no script’ as an add on. Each web page you visit has loads of scripts running, the journal for example has the following…
    googleusercontent
    googletagservices
    googleanalytics
    facebook.com
    jrnl.ie
    googlesyndication
    doubleclick.net
    taboolasyndication.com
    mouseflow.com
    scorecardresearch
    googleapis.com
    thejournal.ie

    Allow thejournal.ie and jrnl.ie. The rest are like hungry cats hovering over your internet bowl of hot milk.
    I hope this helps along with the other good tips here.

    46
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    Mute Laura Clarke
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:09 PM

    Hi Raymond,
    Thanks for the info, just shared that on facebook……………………Laura

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    Mute Vinnie Bonar
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    Aug 17th 2013, 9:39 PM

    Ghostery is a real nice add on for blocking all those analytical scripts from google and whatnot

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    Mute Stephen Howlin
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:31 PM

    Raymond, which no script is best?

    6
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    Mute raymond grehan
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    Aug 18th 2013, 4:25 AM

    Hi Stephen, here is a useful page for script blocking

    http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-8-security-privacy-extensions-chrome-browser/

    Each browser should have a similar thing to ‘no script’ in firefox. Vinnie mentioned ghostery which works well I think in Chrome.

    all the best

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    Mute Adam Power
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:46 PM

    Saved article for future references!

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    Mute Mark
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:16 PM

    A monthly (or more often) defragmentation is also needed for PC users, CCleaner has a good version of it. Think it’s called defraggler if I’m not mistaken.
    But an SSD is the way to go and their dirt cheap on Overclockers.co.uk every week or so.

    29
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    Mute Craig Colley
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:51 PM

    Yeah, but don’t use a defrag tool if you have an SSD, doesn’t do any good but will age the drive prematurely.
    However with newer technologies that too is changing,

    23
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
    Favourite Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:31 PM

    Whoever said you don’t need anti-virus is seriously full of crap. You only need to visit a compromised website or a website with third party scrips embedded from a compromised provider. If you have a vulnerable browser, java, flash, installed then you get infected without even realising it. At least if you have AV with memory protection and on-access scanning you are not at such risk.

    As a security professional I find it incredible that a site such as this would advise people against taking a basic security measure. It doesn’t even have to cost you money – there are free solutions such as AVG, Avira, etc.

    28
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:39 PM

    And also, hard drive spinning speed does not slow down over time. What you are experiencing is likely fragmentation which is a filesystem issue – not a hardware issue.

    31
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:44 PM

    I just read that lifehacker article by Whitson Gordon that you bastardised. He did NOT say you don’t need AV. He actually said the opposite – that it’s essential! And to ensure that’s effective. I know the standard of articles on the journal has nosedived recently but this is absolutely ridiculous!

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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:45 PM

    Hi Barry. Thanks for adding to the advice. Just to say though, the article doesn’t say not to get antivirus software. It actually just addresses the misconception some people think you absolutely need it for a fast computer.

    21
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:54 PM

    Try reading it again Nicky. I quote “It’s not only important to have antivirus software installed, but it’s important to have the right kind.”

    The point he was making is that you don’t need expensive bloated crapware. You still need AV.

    17
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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:58 PM

    Yep. That’s the point he’s making, and this article doesn’t say not to get antivirus software.

    20
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:03 PM

    Reading the journal article it’s hard to see how it could be construed any other way. Irresponsible ‘journalism’.

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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:13 PM

    Thanks for the feedback Barry. I added a line into the article to make it more clear.

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    Mute censored
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:17 PM

    Well, I didn’t read it that way. But then, today is not axe grinding day for me.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:17 PM

    “You should still download antivirus software though, and there are many free options available.”

    20
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:19 PM

    Cheers Nicky

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    Mute Morticia
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:20 PM

    This is actually a very good article for the ordinary person reading the journal, you could tie everything up in knots if you were a chap in the business and trying to make a sale but for most people the item is valuable.Too much information will only pi** folks off and defeat the object of providing a bit of sensible help.

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    Mute Vinnie Bonar
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    Aug 17th 2013, 9:44 PM

    I’ve never experienced a single malware problem that ‘system restore’ couldn’t fix. Backing up any new files and rolling your system back a day or 2 is even 10 times quicker than a full antivirus scan. And free.

    1
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 9:55 PM

    Vinnie, how do you know if you have malware if you don’t have something to detect it? A lot of malware is hidden, whether a keylogger, botnet, etc. and you shouldn’t need to to lengthy on-demand scans as most AV these days have on-access scanning.

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    Mute Joerg Steegmueller
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    Aug 18th 2013, 1:29 AM

    Nicky Ryan is Kevin Smith??

    1
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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 18th 2013, 10:27 AM

    Nope! Just looking after the comments.

    2
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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:11 PM

    I used to make good money repairing computers, stop giving away these hints for free! But seriously run msconfig, go to startup and disable everything EXCEPT your anti virus. Most people are amazed at how many unnecessary programs run at startup and many continue running in background.

    10
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    Mute N O'C
    Favourite N O'C
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    Aug 18th 2013, 12:57 AM

    Good advice. Shutting down everything unnecessary in msconfig is like taking the roof box off your car, emptying the boot, and telling all your passengers to get out. You’ll be amazed at the performance!!! Also Ccleaner is brilliant. Uninstall all the programs you don’t use, then run Ccleaner, including registry cleanup (note the warning messages!). Also make sure you have at least 40% free space on your HDD. Also turn off all the auto updates for software and manually check for updates periodically. I’ve had PCs that took 10 minutes to boot up. Using these steps, got the boot times down to under 2 minutes.

    Make sure to create a Restore Point before doing any of this, just in case.

    If you’re running windows xp, stick with it. If you’re running Vista, it’s junk – upgrade to windows 7.

    Hope this helps.

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    Mute N O'C
    Favourite N O'C
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    Aug 18th 2013, 1:06 AM

    For windows PC, Also look out for huge log files. Older versions of IE used to create them – use a pc daily for a couple of years and you could get a 10GB log file. If you find any, just delete them.

    Turn off Swap Files (where your pc uses space on your disc as RAM) then run Defrag. Once complete, turn swap files back on, let windows suggest the size, then select to set the file size manually, using the suggested size. This will create a permanent swap file in a single block on your disc, which makes programs run faster than using scattered blocks of varying size.

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    Mute Karel Lootens
    Favourite Karel Lootens
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:58 PM

    Clean up the register on PC’s using CCleaner
    for XP users, clean up your desktop… Put the files into my documents instead.
    Disable search indexing if you hoard mails.

    10
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    Mute Cian Prendergast
    Favourite Cian Prendergast
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:13 PM

    “Simply install a solid state hard drive”
    Seriously was that written by a block of cheese!!!!!!!!!!! &€@£%#%$$£><?$$!!!!!

    9
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    Mute Maria Clery-Breen
    Favourite Maria Clery-Breen
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:43 PM

    Thank you Kevin I am going to have a clean out today ,, hate using the netbook since I got the iPad , so much easier

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    Mute Joey JoeJoe Shabadoo
    Favourite Joey JoeJoe Shabadoo
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:47 PM

    Agreed.
    Before tablets we got a netbook for doing simple tasks.

    However it seems so much of the netbooks resources go into running itself there is little left over to perform any tasks.

    My android tablet simplified things greatly.

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    Mute Darragh O Meara
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:45 PM

    Mac Cleaner is an excellent app for Macs. I downloaded it recently and in the first run it sped up the system and reclaimed 5 gb of hard disk space.

    8
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    Mute Matt
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    Aug 17th 2013, 5:55 PM

    iPad or Samsung Tab?

    8
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    Mute Continent Simian
    Favourite Continent Simian
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:17 PM

    I’m trying to talk myself out of a new Nexus 7. I really have no need for one.

    If anybody sees me attempting to buy one, kick me in the nackers.

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    Mute sluazcanal
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:36 PM

    Don’t get a nexus 7, you will find that you use it alot and waste alot of time on it. You will enjoy using it so muxh that you will feel guilty. I hope that helps.

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    Mute Continent Simian
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:13 PM

    Feck you, sir. Feck you.

    :)

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    Mute Ciaran Morgan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:38 PM

    nstall a solid state hard drive (SSD) in your current computer or buy a new computer with one.

    So, the way to speed up your computer is to buy a new one!

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    Mute Jeroen Bos
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:52 PM

    Sometimes it is :-)

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
    Favourite Daisy Chainsaw
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:53 PM

    Revo Uninstaller. It’ll do a great clear out of all the crap that’s built up over the years.

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    Mute spfeno1
    Favourite spfeno1
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:27 PM

    Similar story but worse – HP Pavillion DV10 i5 processor – cost a great deal 2 years ago has just gone bust – will not boot up – tries to power up but to no avail – left it to a (reputable) computer repair shop who tell me the mother board is gone – #devestated – minded this like a newborn all the time and can’t understand how this would happen – not sure whether to
    a. get 2nd opinion
    b. just get replacement -

    If option b is there any techies out there with advice as to a good replacement

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:55 PM

    Google startup beep codes and see if that can help diagnose.

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:47 PM

    It can happen through no fault of the user. Hardware dies – some sooner than others.

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    Mute Bunny Johnson
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:24 PM

    I’ll have to get one of those spinning hard drives on the picture as all mine need electricity to spin. Yours must be magic

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    Mute Nicky Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:29 PM

    They are.

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    Mute Peter Forde
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    Aug 18th 2013, 1:27 AM

    Tablet is your only man…..f**k laptops

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    Mute Damien O'Reilly
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    Aug 18th 2013, 8:25 AM

    Enjoy Xp while you can. It’s unsupported from next year, end of an era. :-(

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx

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    Mute sonyvaio23
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:26 PM

    Is Linux like windows?

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    Mute Jeroen Bos
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:51 PM

    It’s user interface and the way it works looks more like what you would see on a Mac. But that said, I am sure you get the hang of it in a day. It’s way faster than Windows and more intuitive. If it weren’t for the fact that I am dependent on Adobe Creative software I would be using it on all my computers.

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:15 PM

    For basic usage like web browsing etc they are similar, however the architecture is quite different Linux can be lightweight and work great on older computers unlike new windows versions.
    However Linux does still rely on a number of command line apps like apt get which can be off putting for new users but is actually really easy and powerful to use.
    You can download “live CDs” of Linux to try out without getting rid of windows first, try Ubuntu live as its the biggest mainstream Linux distro atm for end users

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:46 PM

    If you want it to be. The single greatest thing about Linux is that there are so many different options. For example, if you want very similar to Windows you could check out Zorin OS. Linux Mint is also quite nice alternative but a bit less like Windows. Once you get into it there’s so many options. Personally I use Debian on servers and Arch Linux on desktop. My mother uses Mint, my wife Suse, my son Edubuntu.

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:04 PM

    One more thing, if you wanna play games (real games) you’ll need to stick with windows unfortunately

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:07 PM

    Edward, check out PlayOnLinux. Not perfect but runs quite a lot of Windows games. And things are getting better – Steam and Desura clients for example.

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    Mute fizi_water
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    Aug 17th 2013, 11:05 PM

    Edward: there is graphical GUI for apt-get “synaptic”. For most command line stuff there is GUI now in Linux. It doesn’t however change the fact this system is so useless for anything else than server box. Unless you’re masochist.

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    Mute Edward Malone
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    Aug 17th 2013, 11:51 PM

    Indeed Linux is making great steps regards to games, actually installed steam just the other day but many many titles are missing OpenGL or perform poorly, just isn’t developed enough or supported like direct x and unless MS decide to stop the monopoly you’ll need windows for most games.
    Re Linux only for servers that’s not true.. It’s great for users for normal stuff and devs, I run a massive java app (talking 500k classes) on oracle 11g on Ubuntu flawlessly somehow don’t see that happening so easily with windows

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    Mute Marie Louise Ni Riain
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    Aug 17th 2013, 11:44 PM

    Clean up UR pc laptop like UR hse once a week!! Cant go wrong

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    Mute Seamus Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:30 PM

    Has anybody any advice for a HP laptop ? Start up takes about 10 mins.

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    Mute Chief PP In TeePee
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    Aug 17th 2013, 6:38 PM

    Would that Laptop be around 5 years old running windows Vista with 1 gig ram?

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    Mute Jonathan Ryan
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:08 PM

    Retire it!

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Aug 17th 2013, 7:48 PM

    Install 64bit XP if the CPU will take it.

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    Mute Continent Simian
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    Aug 17th 2013, 8:00 PM

    Unfortunately there is no legal way to get Windows XP these days.

    Even the illegal ways are very hit-and-miss. :-/

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    Mute fizi_water
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    Aug 17th 2013, 10:51 PM

    Linux is great if you’re masochist…

    Just stick with Windows or get Mac, even better choice.

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    Mute Robert Mc Avinue
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    Aug 18th 2013, 7:33 PM

    Call the IT Crowd.

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    Mute Cesar Zabala
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    Jan 22nd 2015, 2:36 AM

    More ram, clean out your cache, free up hard drive space and use a tool such as Ccleaner, which is free on the net. I got these tips from my “go to” pc guy over at fastnezzycomputerrepair.com.

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    Mute Richard Fitzpatrick
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    Aug 18th 2013, 8:32 AM

    Forget windows. Linux is great but unless you have an IT genius in the house it can be very daunting for the average user.

    Mac OS is similar to linux. Its fast, secure, easy to use, spend a little bit more on a mac and never look back.

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    Mute Lorraine Valentine
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    Aug 18th 2013, 2:45 PM

    I have a Macbook and it’s slowed down an awful lot lately and i am getting the spinning wheel of death… any advice?

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