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Why is my Computer running slow?


As a professional IT consultant, I can tell you that slow running computers are the most common complaint amongst my clients.  The funny thing is, 99% of the time it’s a small issue and can be easily fixed.

There are 6 major factors that affect your computers performance

  1. Cookies
  2. Fragmented Files
  3. Bad Registry Files
  4. Spyware
  5. Viruses
  6. Hardware







How to Delete Cookies


Cookies are small pieces of code that are automatically downloaded when you visit a website.  most of them are useful and help you interact with the website.  After weeks of internet surfing, the number of cookies on your computer starts to build up. The problem arises when your web browser tries to read the cookies relevant to the site you are visiting, and has to search threw thousands of cookies.  There are bad cookies too, like tracking cookies that monitor you and track where you go on the internet, but we’ll deal with them later.
Cleaning out your cookies never hurts, and is the first step needed in maintaining a good computer.  Here’s how you do it:

  • Open internet explorer
  • Click on Tools
  • Click on Internet Options
  • In the center of the form that pops up, you should see some buttons labeled “Delete Cookies” and “Delete Files”.  Click on both of these buttons.

How to Defragment my hard drive

Defragmenting your hard drive is a much overlooked issue.   Many slow computer issues are related to fragmented files.  What happens is, your hard drive is constantly spinning; and when you save a setting, or a document that file may inadvertently be split up and saved on multiple sections of your hard drive.  (AKA “Fragmented” ). 
The issue arrives when your computer needs to read that file again, and has to check multiple sections of your hard drive.  This gives the appearance that your computer is running slow when in fact it has to do twice the work.  The fix, lucky is very simple, and should help you clean your computer:


  • Right click on your start button
  • Click on explorer
  • Navigate to and right click your local Hard drive (usually drive C)
  • Click on properties
  • In the Tools tab, look for the button labeled Defragement Now
  • Click on the Defragment button.
  • Notes: all the red lines you see are fragemented files.  If there are just a few red lines then your computer is probably ok.  if there are alot, then you need a defrag.



The windows registry can also cause issues with your machines performance.  During the duration of your computers life, there will be hundreds of setting changes.  Everything from the background setting of a specific user, to the location of all your word documents is kept in the registry.  Absolutely everything on your computer is kept track of by the Registry. 

Obviously this is a prime place for clutter, broken links, and even fragmented files (yes it happens in the registry too).  Here’s the problem:  the registry is very large, and very difficult to troubleshoot.  Even experienced computer veterans are nervous when editing the registry.  There is no going back once you change something in the Registry.  There’s no save, no undo; once you change something, it’s changed for good…and if you happen to change the wrong thing, you can kill your operating system in just a few clicks.

Trust me on this, DO NOT mess with the registry, unless you have detailed instructions on how to do it.

Luckily, there are registry cleaners that can do all the nasty work for you.  Cleanup the registry, and you will notice an improvement in your computers performance.   I use The Registry Toolkit.  It’s a well rounded program with some good bonuses, and it’s really easy to use.  Best of all, it will create a backup of your Registry before it does anything to clean it. 

A good registry backup is an invaluable tool.  If in the future you get a virus that kills your registry, you can use the backup to restore your registry and save your computer.   The cool thing is (for me) is I get to charge $120 an hour when someone brings in their computer that needs a registry fix.  At the risk of me losing business, I’ll advise you to get the toolkit cleaner. It will save you money if (or when) your computer gets infected.





Spyware can be a big issue.  Spyware is, what it sounds like: software that spies on you.  Most spyware is in the form of tracking cookies and is simply designed to watch where you go on the internet and report your movements to marketers.  And in some cases, that’s ok.

However it does take up room on your computer and uses your internet connection and your processor power to run.   Tracking cookies in large numbers can cause major performance issues.
While tracking spyware has its uses, it is horribly abused.  Identity thieves online can use it to monitor what sites you go to and then create phishing sites to try to steal your credit card numbers and personal information.  

You can get spyware, from simply going to a website; you don’t have to download anything to get a tracking cookie infection on your computer.  For those reasons alone, I always assume spyware is bad. Better safe than sorry.

Ad-Ware is much worse than spyware.  Ad-ware is code that automatically downloads other programs to your computer.  You can see the obvious risk in this.  Imagine giving the power to download (Trojan viruses, macro viruses, registry viruses…all the bad ones) to your computer to someone else. 

In some cases, ad-ware can slip threw an antivirus firewall, and start downloading viruses to your computer.  Unfortunately, you cannot clean spyware and ad-ware without the help of a program or tool.
Time for the good news: You do not have to spend money to get adware and spyware removed.  I have found a combination of some free software on the internet that works wonders.

Before you continue, I want you to make a decision.  You can either buy a adware/spyware removal software package (I have NoAdware listed).  Or you can fallow my guide below and learn how to do it manually.  Doing it manually does take more time (a couple of hours, depending on your system). But it’s free.  If time is money to you, then I advise buying one of the programs I have listed to do it all for you.  If not, click here to skip down to my How To Clean your Computer of adware and spyware tutorial.



NoAdware quick review: 
Good program, useful automated features like real time protection
Knowledgeable and responsive tech support
Free Scan before your download it.
Inexpensive software package




Ok, first of all you need some tools.  Here are my favorite tools that I use to clean my computer, you’ll need to download all of them for this to work (each one scans your computer for different malicious code).

  • Cleanup with Adware 2008

  • Spy-Bot Search and Destroy

  • McAfee Stinger

After you have downloaded them, install each one on your computer. NOTE: when installing Adware 2007, it will ask you for a serial number (that you’ll have to pay for).  Just press cancel to activate the free version of Adware 2007.

Once you have them all installed, go through each program and find the update button.  Make sure you check for and download all updates on every program before running the scans.

How to Use Free Tools:  Use Ad-Ware 2008 to clean my computer

Adware is a great tool; it will find all spyware and most adware. 
  • When you start it, you will have the option to check for updates.  Do this before using Adware 2008. Take note that when you press the update button you cannon run any scans until the update is complete. (so be patient )

  • Once all updates are downloaded and installed, click on the scan now button and start a scan.  I normally do the quick scan, unless I believe the computer is infected with viruses, then I run the full scan. (basically if there’s no major issue with your computer and you’re just trying to beef up the performance, then the quick scan is all you need).

Once the scan is complete you will be shown what spyware, adware or cookies have been found. Make sure to select the spyware/adware and remove them when the scan is done. 

How to Use Free Tools: Use Spy-Bot Search and Destroy to clean my computer.

Be careful with Spy-Bot, it’s designed for advanced users. In some cases it will target friendly programs and label them as spyware and want you to remove them.  This might, in turn, kill some of your applications that you are running.  If that happens then a simple re-install of the application should correct the issue.   However, on the flip side, Spy-Bot will get a lot of the malicious programs that ad-ware will miss.  Spy-Bot is very powerful and effective. 

  • Start Spy-Bot, and you’ll be given an option to check for updates (just like ad-ware2008).  And just like ad-ware2008 make sure you download and install all updates before using. 

  • Next, Spy-Bot will want to make a backup of your registry.  This is a very important step to do when using Spy-Bot to clean your computer, as I said earlier this is a powerful program and will sometimes turn on you.  Do this, and make sure you save it in a spot on your hard drive that you will know how to navigate to later for a restore if you need to. 

  • Once you have an updated version of Spy-Bot, and have made a registry backup, you will notice a button labeled “immunize” on the very top of the program screen.  Click it and let it immunize your computer from known threats, then scan your computer with Spy-Bot. 

After the scan is complete, you can select and delete the threats that it found.


How to Use Free Tools: Use McFee Stinger to Clean My Computer.

Stinger is a nice, small program that will scan your computer for any threats Adware2007 and Spy-Bot may have missed.
There is an update button on Stinger that you should press and accept all downloads from.  Once it’s updated, run a scan. 
I’ve never had any problems caused by stinger, so a full registry backup shouldn’t be necessary (but if you want to backup the registry, use Spy-Bot to do it, it never hurts).

Repeat the steps above for all 3 programs as many times as you need to in order to remove all the programs and spyware from your computer.  If you don’t have enough time to spend on running those three programs over and over until your computer is clean, I advise you to sign up for one of the spyware packages I have listed here.







The spyware removal tools listed above are great tools. But nothing can beat a solid antivirus.  There’s really no way around it, if you don’t have an antivirus program, it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN you will get a nasty virus.  I strongly suggest that you get a good antivirus software program.  Don’t just look for a cheap substitute.  Make sure the virus program you have has constant updates, good tech support, and an easy to use interface.

I used to use Norton antivirus, it was a solid program with good tech support and a very large antivirus database. I didn’t like, however, the fact that if you wanted additional features for Norton (like real time spyware protection) you would have to buy additional versions.  I really wanted an antivirus program that packaged everything together in one product. 
That’s when I found MacroVirus on-call.  I kinda stumbled upon Macro Virus on-call, and have been a fan since.  With a 5 star rating, and excellent 24/7 tech support, MacroVirus on-call surpasses all others in my opinion.  It’s simple to use, and you can download it directly to your computer, and even comes with a trial evaluation period, so if you don’t like it, you can get your money back.  Fallow my link if you want to learn more about Macrovirus on-call