If you’ve used a computer for a fairly long period of time then there’s a good chance that you’ve felt it getting slower over time. If you’re using it on a fairly regular basis, it’s going to feel like it slows down over time. It’s just what happens.
But what exactly causes our computer to slow down? Is it something physical like dust build-up? Or is it something software related like a virus or our operating system? In this post, I’ll break down some of the most common reasons why your computer is running slow and what you can do to fix it.
Your Computer is Too Dusty
Did you know that a slow computer can sometimes be due to dust? As you use your computer, the fans blow air through it to keep the components cool. However, it can sometimes suck in dust which accumulates inside of it. This builds up on your components and makes them hotter. This can lead to your CPU reaching its max temperature, so it protects itself by reducing its power so it can maintain a stable temperature. Overheating like this can usually be solved by just cleaning out the dust in your computer, but you may need to replace the cooling heatsink and fans if it’s particularly old.
Get yourself a small portable vacuum, or can of air and clean it out. Don’t forget to clean your keyboard and mouse as well.
You have too many browser tabs open
A common problem that people have is opening too many browser tabs. You’d be surprised at how many people forget to close tabs when they’re not in use. Although modern browsers like Chrome are good at reducing how much memory they use, it’s still a good practice to close the tabs that you won’t use for a while and instead, perhaps bookmark them for future use.
Your hard drive is slow
Hard drives are what all of your data and programs are stored on. There are slow mechanical drives, and there are much faster solid state drives, such as an M.2 NVME SSD 2280. There’s a significant speed upgrade going from a slow drive to a fast one. Programs load much faster, Windows might instantly load, and you’ll spend less time waiting for large folders to load. Upgrading your hard drive is usually a great idea if you’re already running out of space anyway–just keep in mind that you’ll pay a premium for the faster and larger ones.
Your computer could just be out of date
We hate to come to this conclusion, but there’s always a chance that your computer is just out of date. Even if your computer was running great a few years ago, there’s a chance that more demanding software and games just can’t run well on your PC now. Upgrading is the best course of action, but you could also look at lowering settings (such as graphics in games) or closing down unnecessary programs when you want to do something intensive such as editing videos and images.
Computers can be fickle things at times, and it’s important to understand why they slow down over time and what you can do to identify and fix the issues.
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