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Prev Page <-- 7 Possible Causes for Your Slow PC Performance

Increase Slow PC Performance

What version of Windows is running on your computer?

Slow PC performance is often attributable to running newer applications on an older version of Windows. Because computers are getting faster and faster, and are becoming greater and greater resource hogs, they require more memory, disk space, etc. Likewise, the newer the application, the greater chance that it expects to have access to these resources.

Let's determine what version of Windows you have on your computer as follows:

1. Click the START button located on the toolbar at the bottom left of your window
2. Right click on "My Computer" or "Computer" and choose "Properties"
3. You will be presented with a window that indicates which version of "Microsoft Windows" you have. You'll most likely see one of the following (listed from newest to oldest):
4. • Windows Vista (newest)
   • Microsoft Windows XP
   • Microsoft Windows 2000
   • Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition
   • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
   • Microsoft Windows 98
   • Microsoft Windows 95 (oldest)

Recommendation:   If you're running a version of Windows older than Windows XP or Windows Vista, your machine is most likely quite old. This means that most new software will require more memory than is physically available to Windows, so there will be a lot of swapping to disk, which can dramatically slow down the machine. In this case, considering purchasing a new computer or upgrading your existing one.

If you're unsure where to start looking for a replacement computer, I'd recommend checking out:

• Geeks.com - this is an excellent place to look for amazing computer hardware bargains due to excess inventory, closeout and highly-discounted equipment
• PCRush.com  - these guys have a great selection of desktop and laptop computers. Click on "Computers", "Desktop Computers", and you'll find some great deals on PCs

How much physical memory does your computer have?

It's important to understand how much physical memory your computer has, as this will be useful in determining whether any newer applications you have installed might be having trouble running.

To determine the amount of physical memory, do the following:

1. Hold down and press to bring up the Windows operation menu.
2. Select "Task Manager" or "Start Task Manager".

The windows task manager provides information regarding currently running applications and services and system performance.

By switching to the "Performance" tab, you will see a section called Physical Memory. Windows Vista provides the total number of megabytes of physical memory. In Windows XP, the number is provided in kilobytes, so divide the number indicated by 1024. Take note of this value.

Recommendation: If the number of megabytes indicated is less than 512, chances are you may have problems running the majority of new Windows applications available. These applications will require more memory than Windows has access to, resulting in a great deal of disk swapping. There's a great company on the web called Edge Tech Corp that can help here. They have all types of memory for most makes and models of computers. It's easy to do, and comes with full install instructions. Click here to visit Edge Tech Corp's site.

How much free memory is available to applications?

Windows task manager can also provide you with information regarding the amount of free memory available to applications. This can be determined by doing one of the following depending on your operating system:

• Windows Vista users can click on the [Resource monitor...] button on the performance tab. This will display the resource monitor window which contains an item called Memory that shows the percentage of physical memory available to applications. From this you can determine the number of megabytes of free memory, based on the total amount of physical memory available to the operating system.
• In Windows XP, the performance tab of Task Manager includes an Available item under physical memory that indicates the amount of free memory for applications in kilobytes; so it is necessary to divide this number by 1024 to determine the number of megabytes.

Recommendation:  If the amount of physical memory available for applications is less than 15% and you have no applications open at the present time, chances are you'll most likely need to go back to your computer retailer and ask them to upgrade the memory on your machine. Most computers available today shipped with a minimum of 2 GB of RAM or 2048 MB of RAM. As I mentioned in the previous section, there's a really great company on the internet you can visit, it's called Edge Tech Corp and they can be very helpful. Edge Tech Corp has all types of memory for almost every make and model of computer. The website is very simple to follow, and your shipped memory comes with full install instructions. Click here to visit Edge Tech Corp's site.

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