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Speeding
Up Your Computer
Why
do computers seem to get slower and slower with age? Well, we've got
some grand conspiracy theories that we...ahem, should probably not talk
about here so rather we'll only mention what we can prove. When you add
new programs and new devices like printers or external drives or
cameras, etc. to your computer you introduce new drivers, services and
start-up programs. These programs may be buggy, may conflict with each
other or may just be slow. Moreover, applications are hungry for more
and more memory and the more of your RAM they take, the slower your
computer will become.
Quantify
- Measure - Test
Our
approach to slow computer problems is to be methodical and
quantitiative - that's what every Best Practice we know from
consulting, engineering and business tells us. Here is what
we do:
- Time-to-Internet
- Using specialized software that monitors the applications, services
and driviers running on your computer, we measure the time from
power-on until your internet connection is
usable. We have found that this is a pretty good proxy for the overall
speed of your computer. This creates our Baseline against which we will
later test our
speed-improvement results.
- Take
Out the Trash -
Over time,
computers often build up a considerable number of programs and services
that are running but are unneccessary or unused. These programs take up
memory and processing time and result in slow computer operations. By
removing all of these programs, we can get a good idea of how fast your
computer can
run (remember how fast it seemed when it was new?). We can then add the
programs you really use later.
- RAM
Check - Often, computers run slow because they
don't have enough memory. Insufficient RAM causes Windows computers to
"page" programs out to their hard drive, this really slows things down.
We check your computer's RAM usage to see if this is occuring and make
a recommendation whether additional memory will help.
- Security
De-borking - Security software,
espicially the security suites that often come pre-installed on modern
computers, have their hooks into almost every aspect of the operation
of your computer. If they get corrupted or misconfigured,
these programs can have a profoundly negative impact on your computer's
speed. We always review the operation of these programs to ensure they
are helping, not hurting your computer experience. (Rather than
referring to your computer as "slow" you can impress your geek friends
by referring to your computer as "totally borked"
- get started today,
receive a 5% discount on services at Hartland Computer by using this
term)
- Get
Organized - The Second Law of Thermodynamics
says that sytems move from a state of
orgnization toward a state of
disorganization. This law applies equally to the universe, the desk in
our office
and your hard drive. When programs get scattered across your hard
drive, as they do with use, you experience a gradual decrease in
performance. Windows has some built-in utilities to help with this but
they only go so far. We've seen speed improvements of 20% and more
using our tools and techniques.
- Check
This Out - After we've preformed these steps
and any others that are appropriate, we'll measure the results and
provide you with them along with our Baseline measurements so you can
see, as well as feel, the results. The normal response of our customers
is, "Wow".
Call Us Now. Don't
put up with your slow computer for another day.
Phone:
859.536.4107 ( 9am - 9pm x 7)
Email:
computers@crosbydrive.com
3900
Crosby Drive, Lexington, KY, 40515
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