How to Speed Up Your Computer At Home

Your computer is slow and you're not sure why or what's changed.

A slow computer is a common concern, but there are several possible reasons.

First, make sure it's your computer and not the internet. If your Internet is slow, you can learn how to fix that here. How do you know? If your computer is only slow when you're on the Internet, your computer should not be the issue.

After you tried restarting it (learn why that usually works here), and you still find the computer is slow, there are steps you can take at home before bringing it in for a repair. 

1. Dust Bunnies
You would be surprised how much dust and hair can get trapped inside of your computer. If you have a pet especially and if your computer sits on the ground, it is inevitable that dust bunnies will make its way into your devices. That can significantly bog down your computer. Computer generate heat, so there are air vents and fans to help cool it down. If the vents are blocked from dust, it can cause your computer to overheat and can simply slow down the effectiveness of the hardware.

What you can do: Get a bottle of canned air and try to blow it out. You can also grab your standard vacuum hose and suck out what you can. Review your warranty before removing any panels on your computer.

2. Old Hardware
If your computer is getting old, it cannot work as efficiently as it used to. Think about an old, vintage car, it can't drive as fast as newer cars or play BluRay movies. It's much harder to retrofit an old device to keep up with the evolving technology. As your computer gets older and the software sizes increase, your computer may not be able to compute everything you are asking of it.

What you can do: Clean old files and applications to clear up as much storage as possible.

3. Infection
If neither of those things increase your computer speed, your computer may be infected. Viruses can severely impact your computer's speed and function.

What you can do: Get a trusted antivirus software, like Protech. Try it for free for 14-days. 

If none of the above speeds up your computer, call your nearest computer technician service like Small Town Tech. 

What do you want to know?

Tune in on KSDM 104.1 FM, KGHS 1230 AM, KGHS 95.3 FM on Wednesday at 8:40 am for the next episode of Tech Talk. 

Send your tech questions to info@smalltowntech.shop.