Reference number: CH000179

My computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?

Issue:

My computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?

Cause:

This issue can be caused by any of the below possibilities.

1. Hard disk drive is short on available disk space.
2. Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software.
3. Data Corruption.
4. Computer is overheating.
5. Bad Hardware.

Additional information:

If your Internet is slow this document does not contain information about this issue. See document CH000986 for additional information about why your Internet connection may be slow.

PC Solution:

Below are steps for Microsoft Windows that should help speed up the computer or determine why the computer is running slow.

Not enough hard disk drive space

If you have a hard disk drive that is 2GB or smaller, ensure that there is at least 200MB of hard disk drive space free. If you have a hard drive larger than this size, verify that there is at least 500MB of free hard disk space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files. See document CH000528 for additional information about regaining lost hard disk drive space.

Hard drive corrupted or fragmented

Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive.

Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.

Background programs

Remove or disable any TSRs or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. See document CHTSR for additional information.

Hardware conflicts

Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts, but if conflicts are present, resolve them.

Issues with Windows XP prefetch

If you have Windows XP try deleting all files in the prefetch directory. These are prefetch files and can lower system resources if loading programs no longer being used. See our prefetch definition for additional information about prefetch.

Issues in Windows 95 / 98 autoexec.bat / config.sys

If you are using Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 and do not plan on running any MS-DOS programs from MS-DOS, click Start / Run / type command and press enter. In the MS-DOS window type cd\ to get to C:\> then type "ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch" and "ren config.sys config.ch". This will rename your autoexec.bat and config.sys and help make sure memory is being optimized through Windows.

Computer or processor is overheating

Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating, excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues. Additional information about your processor temperature and was of determining how hot it is can be found on document CH000687.

Specific operating system basic troubleshooting

Try running through the basic troubleshooting steps for your operating system.

Erase computer and start over

 Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve your issues, it is recommended that you either reinstall Windows and/or erase everything and then start over. Additional information about how to do this can be found on document CH000186.

Hardware issues

If your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the above recommendations it's possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad CPU, RAM, Motherboard, or other component.