The document provides a comprehensive guide on troubleshooting and optimizing a slow computer. It discusses various methods, including cleaning temporary files, managing startup applications, defragmenting disks, and addressing potential hardware issues. Additionally, it highlights the importance of maintaining antivirus software and monitoring system temperatures to enhance performance.

1. Computer Is Slow: What Are You Doing? How to Speed Up Your Computer | Antivirus
As a rule, every computer user experiences a slow computer. At the same time, the
most trivial and simple tasks are not carried out as quickly as before. But it is
necessary to put in a new operating system and to return to the previous cycle. What
do you do in this situation?
Simple users try to solve these problems simply by reinstalling OS. Usually, such a
measure helps for a while. But this process is long, you can restore the speed much
faster if the problems are associated with the program. If the hardware is damaged,
installing a clean system won't help until other measures are needed. In this case and
in another, the computer is slow. What to do to solve the problem, read the article.

2. Therefore, to return the electronic friend in order, you must perform a series of
actions. Remember that all measures need to be applied in a complex so that the effect
is the maximum.
Temporary files
In case your computer is slow, it is advised to first clean Windows 7 of unnecessary
files completely. The operating system creates them independently in the work
process but does not always delete them. To view them, you need to configure the
display of hidden files and directories.
Open "My Computer" and press the ALT button on the keyboard to display the top
menu bar. In it, select "Tools" - "Folder Options". In the Properties window, find the
checkbox responsible for displaying hidden files, directories, and system files. After
that, keep clicking "OK".
Go to the "Users" directory (there may also be "Users" or "Documents and Settings"
options), which is located on the system disk shell. Here you will see several folders,
which are named as usernames in the operating system.
Each directory hides each user's desktop, settings, "documents" section, shortcuts in
the "Start" menu, and various system directories.
Over time, these directories can form large audiences, especially if the computer is on
a network and each user uses their unique login/password to connect to the computer.
Over time, this trend will lead to two problems.

3. Slow operating system.
And all this happens, even if the users have not saved any files. However, Windows
adds new items as it works to the temporary storage to meet its specific needs. As
planned by the developers, the temporary file storage directories should be cleared
immediately after the computer is turned off, but this is not always the case, and there
is "trash" there.
Navigate to any user's directory and follow the path "Appdata / Local / Temp". As a
rule, here you will see a large number of files of small size. But due to its presence,
the records related to it are stored in the MFT (a table that helps the operating system
find a specific file). And as the number of files increases, so does the schedule, which
slows down the system. In addition, just look at the folder "Appdata / Local /
Temporary Internet Files" and "C: / windows / temp"
If your computer starts to slow down, first boldly clean up these three clues.
Garbage removal is completed. Now uninstall all apps that you don't use at all. Keep
in mind that this is the main rule for fast computer operation - on the C: drive is only
the basic system and software. Remember, Documents and Desktop are also on the
system partition. Do not clutter these directories with heavy files.
startup
Auto-download cleaning of unnecessary applications will not be a necessity when
optimizing the system, because every running process reduces the speed of the
computer. Click "Start" and choose "Run." Here at the input line type the command
"MSConfig".
In the configuration window, go to the "Startup" tab. All checked items show
applications and programs running in the background immediately after Windows

4. starts up. Like any system component, it takes up RAM space and uses all other
computer resources. The automatic download list is displayed in several columns:
Start-up item (stating the name of the file or product).
Location (the registry key responsible for operating the item).
the manufacturing company.
The date of the separation.
Uncheck everything that you think is unnecessary. Find the tray on the taskbar. There
may be too many icons that you never click on, and due to unnecessary programs
working, the computer is slowing down. The main thing is to leave in the
startup antivirus program and the items of the manufacturer "Microsoft". The fewer
resources in real-time, the better the applications will run and run.
XP- Antispyware
If the computer is very slow, then you can not only use manual methods to solve the
problem, but you can also use automated methods. The XP-AntiSpy utility is
completely free and works on all modern operating systems (except for Windows 8).
The application automatically disables unnecessary features of the operating system.
It has a full Russian translation. If you don't understand the menu item in the program,
just hover over it, and a hint will pop up with a comprehensive description.
To use any parameter, just select it. After final preparation, just press "Accept". When
done, restart your computer.
Defragmentation
Oftentimes, users cannot understand why the computer is starting to run slowly, but
they do not even remember the regular maintenance. If the computer slows down, do
not forget about an effective way to improve local data access - defragmentation.

5. When the disk is used for a long time, it stops requesting files. By configuring
partitions, a single file can be distributed across the entire hard disk, but it cannot be
stored in a chained structure. Defragmentation eliminates this process by moving parts
of files to adjacent clusters.
To start the service, right-click on any local disk and click Properties. After that go to
the "Service" tab. Here you can see several points, click on "Run Defrag".
Everything is simple here. In the window, you can select the disk to defragment and,
in fact, give the application a command to get to work. No more. You can also
configure scheduled defragmentation. Before starting, the program will test the disk,
and if optimization is not required, it will say about it, and it will also warn the user if
there is too little capacity on the partition. Sometimes with so little space, it is
impossible to defrag, you have to delete something. Don't defrag if you're using a hard
drive, as this process can mess it up.
Defragment of the paging file
There is a great file in Windows called "pagefile. sys". This is the paging file. We can
assume that this is a RAM partition on your hard disk. There, Windows adds the data
it needs to run, but it's not important in terms of access speed. The system is running
this file all the time, so it cannot sometimes be defragmented by normal means. If the
swap file is fragmented, your computer is slow. "What do you do in this situation?" -
you ask.
To defragment the swap file, you need to use third-party utilities, such as System File
Defragmenter. After launch, a window will open in which the number of separate
fragments divided by "pagefile. sys" will be written. To improve the access time,
check the "Defragment" checkbox in the application, and as in any other program,
click "OK". After restart, the swap file is automatically optimized.

6. At the end of the work, the app will notify the user with the message "pagefile is
really one part". Also during operation, some registry hives will be optimized, which
will also help in increasing the download speed. No additional user action required,
OS will boot by itself
Viruses
If your PC slows down a lot, chances are some (or many) friends have settled into it.
Most often this happens if the computer often works on the Internet, if not rarely
external flash drives or portable hard drives are connected to it.
Most of the time, the virus is masked, so determining whether it is working is not
easy. Don't try to do this by opening the Task Manager. Malware always spends most
of its time in the active phase, looking for ways to spread itself or open security holes,
and this slows down the computer. If the computer is already infected, scanning for
viruses using the tools installed in the operating system will not help. One tip -
download a distribution kit that can create a bootable USB flash drive or CD, for
example, Cureit.
Use only products that have the most recent virus databases. Malware is always
optimized by its creators to ensure maximum disguise.
Antivirus protection
They got rid of viruses, should you really ditch your antivirus now, leaving it
completely unprotected? Of course, such drastic measures will not be required, but I
must say that antivirus programs often consume a lot of system resources for their
work, and as a result, the computer is very slow. The computer will be happy to
allocate more time to applications, but it cannot; The priority of anti-spyware
programs is higher. The program doesn't need to fight malware, and the antivirus
often performs full monitoring, checking everything and everyone. Powerful
computers rarely suffer from such issues but if your workstation is a moderately
powerful one, there's a reason for the analysis.

7. First, go to the software manufacturer's website and see if there are new versions with
which the performance issue has been resolved. Also, if you are using the latest
developments of programmers it will not be necessary to study the information
regarding the release of the program, the latest developments may have a beta or beta
version.
If updates are not required, and there are no complaints about speed from other users,
disable real-time protection in the antivirus. Work for a while without it. If the
computer starts to slow down much less, the cause may be considered. Ignore the
usual application in favor of another manufacturer.
Be careful, never cut or remove antivirus software when using the Internet. Before
deactivating an antivirus to work off the World Wide Web, a full virus scan should be
performed for all partitions of the system.
Remember - Windows usually starts up slowly when many of the described software
factors are entering at the same time, and often the hardware part is much less.
High temperature
If your computer is very slow, it would be a good idea to check the temperature of its
major components (hard disk, CPU, RAM, and video card). Due to higher
temperatures, computer components not only start to run slowly, but also to wear
faster, and sometimes a week or even a day of this work "burns" the device, requiring
replacement.
Stress tests are used to check the overall temperature and stability of the system. One
of these offers is the AIDA64 program. Simply click on the graph icon in the app's top
menu, select the devices that will display the temperature on the graph, then click the
"Start" button. Be careful, in this test, all computer components are loaded "perfectly",

8. and the program will not stop even if the temperature readings exceed the normal
range.
You can test your computer more abundantly, without taking a test, but simply by
leaving a window with a timeline for the duration of your work. You only need to
switch to it regularly to study indicators, especially pay attention to diagrams during
operations that require a large proportion of hardware resources. To find out what
work the optimum temperatures for a particular component could be, look in the
device's passport or go to the manufacturers' websites. Usually, these sources indicate
the most complete information.
If the computer is loading and running slowly due to overheating, try to blow out all
the radiators in the system unit, replace all dust filters, and change the thermal grease
on the mainframe and video processors. It should be noted that after a while, the
cooling fans may not begin to perform their duties as effectively immediately after
purchase, due to the wear of mechanical parts.
Hardware problems
If the computer is running slowly, the problem might be related to a breakdown of the
main and side components of the computer. Most of the time the culprits are strips of
RAM or HDD. You can check these components without much difficulty, but if
checking them does not reveal any problems, you will need to contact a service center.
To test your RAM, go to "Control Panel" via the "Start" menu and select
"Administration". In the menu that opens, double-click the icon that says "Memory
Checker". Choose between immediate and late restart. After switching on, the testing
process will begin before the OS is loaded. If errors occur while reading and writing
to RAM, this information will immediately appear at the bottom of the screen.
To check for the hard disk drive for "bad" sectors, open the command line by
expanding the "Start" menu and typing in "Command Line" in the search box. Enter

9. the command "chkdsk c: / f / r / x" in it. A restart is required to complete the test. In
place of C: any other section letter can be used, and it's a good idea to check them all.
Bad sectors can be marked as unused, and data from them are copied to the working
part of the disk, but if hard drives start to break down, it is better to replace them as
soon as possible. Recovering data from a failed drive is more difficult than one that
only gives the first signs of wear.
For experienced users who have assembled their computers themselves, it is advised
to try to change each device separately and see if the software component continues to
work properly. This method is very effective, but it requires another computer, so it
may not always be applicable.
Bottlenecks
It happens, we are working on really old technology with a huge order. You do not
want to throw away this equipment, it is mainly used for daily tasks that do not
require many resources, but if your computer is still slow (whether you have Windows
XP installed, which does not ignore resources or any system) Another run), remember
its configuration.
If a decent processor takes its place in the system unit, but only 512 MB of RAM
helps it to meet all user requests, most likely, you need to add a few bars of RAM.
There's also a reverse situation: the RAM is set to 2GB, but old man Celeron
Northwood is hard at the socket.
The equipment is old
Of course, this reason is often obvious, but it must be said. If the computer starts to
work very slowly, and it was purchased for a long time (3-5 years ago), then it can
easily become obsolete. Of course, if you have not updated the software at all, do not
run recent games on your device, or you are still running on an old computer OS, then
this problem will not affect you. But if you installed something new on the old device
then check if the device meets the system requirements that apply to the software.

10. Computer speed check
If your computer is already running fast, but you want to further improve the system,
determine whether it becomes faster or slower after changing the parameters it will
not work. The special programs used by it will save the overclockers to see the
slightest changes in the speed of the computer. These programs are called standards.
To check computer speed, you can use the AIDA64 application. There are several
bookmarks, they are mainly intended to test the speed of the RAM and CPU, in
addition to their results, you can take a look at the results of other users and those that
are the manufacturer of the reference software.
If your device is slow, you've made all the imaginable software optimizations and are
pretty sure that slow work is related to devise bottleneck, there are apps especially for
this case. They are called stress tests. During such an event, several graphs and graphs
are displayed on the screen, for example, the temperature of each unit, data exchange
rate, processor load, voltage. By comparing the results of a similar test on your device
and comparing them to reference tests, you can calculate which device needs repair,
replacement, or maintenance. Always follow the indications during these events, it is
best to stop the test if the processor overheating occurs during a low load or the
voltage value drops.
To check the speed of the computer and understand which component ineffectively
started working, you can use the tools built into the operating system. Press the
"Windows + Beak Pause"keyboard. Here you'll see a figure that denotes a general
PC performance record, and a speed check was done early on. Usually, without it, you
cannot use the aero theme.
Click on the link next to the number. A more detailed report will open. It will reflect
the estimates of all major components:

11. Memory (RAM).
Healer.
Hard Disk
Graphics (video converter).
Remember or write down all the values, since it is impossible to know the speed of a
computer at present without overwriting the estimates. Look for the link on the right
side of the window that says "Frequency of evaluation." Standard will start working.
At this time, it is recommended that you do not touch anything and do not use any
other programs. If one of the updated numbers is much smaller than the value from
early testing, this means that the machine has started to ineffectively perform its
duties. Because of this, the computer is slow. What do you do in this situation? The
answer is simple - change the element to a new one.