Common Performance Killers

I’m sure there are a lot of you out there wondering why your computer was so fast when you bought it, yet it runs so slow now. There are several causes for this and while not all of them will apply to you, checking for them will not take a lot of time and may gain a lot of your original performance back.

First, let’s discuss a little bit about the weaknesses inherent in the Windows OS, and why it slows down over time.
It seems like every version of Windows starting with Windows 95 slows down more and more the longer you’ve had it on your computer.  Microsoft has changed a lot of the internals of Windows since then, and yet it still slows down. This should point us in one very good direction: something that has remained the same causes the slowdown. If that were the entire truth however, the problem would be easily solved and quickly corrected. Each version of Windows technology has had it’s own weaknesses in addition. In this article I am going to discuss the weaknesses in the Windows NT Platform, which would be Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista and 7.

Culprit 1: The Windows Registry (all versions of Windows)

Feared by all but the most geeky of Windows users, the registry is basically a database that holds all the settings for Windows and just about any software you install on your computer. The problem is that as the registry gets larger, it takes longer to find the information that is needed and thus software can take longer to load. Upgrades and uninstalling software can also leave information behind, like an orphan left on your doorstep wrapped in a blanket. These orphaned settings can cause Windows to have to look several times for a setting that is still valid on your system.

If you are a regular on my blog, you will remember that I discussed a free tool that you can download to clean temporary files off of your computer, called CCleaner. If you haven’t installed CCleaner yet, I’d recommend it as you’ll find I refer to it a lot for solving problems.

There is a utility build into CCleaner that will clean these old and incorrect settings out of your registry, thus reducing it’s size and improving system performance. To use this utility:

1. Open CCleaner, and click “Registry” on the left side.
2. Click the “Scan for Issues” button to have CCleaner find any and all errors in your registry.
3. When the scan has completed click the “Fix selected issues…” button on the right.
4. Click “Yes” to backup changes to the registry, then click “Save.” Almost done now…
5. Click “Fix All Selected Issues.”
6. Click “Close.”

Now CCleaner will have cleaned up your registry! Congrats!

Culprit 2: Excessive Hard Disk Usage (NT Platforms)

The Windows NT Platform uses a file system called NTFS to keep track of where your files are located on the hard drive. While this system is much more resistant to errors than previous methods, it does seem to suffer a performance degradation as you add more and more files to your computer. The size of these files does not seem to matter as much as the number of them do. 100,000 small files would cause a larger performance hit than 10,000 large files. Certain types of computer activities seem to add large numbers of small files to your hard drive more than others. Video games are a large contributor of small files, and large productivity suites such as Adobe Creative Suite can also contribute.

There are certain steps you can take to reduce the number of files on your hard disk, and improve system performance:

• Don’t install more than one video game at a time.
  If you can avoid installing multiple games at one time the number of files can be greatly reduced, preventing performance degradation.
• Keep your temporary files cleaned out.
  Using a tool like CCleaner to keep your temporary files cleaned out will also reduce the burden on your hard drive.

Culprit 3: Startup Programs

One of the things I hate most is programs that startup automatically when I turn my computer on. These can include Instant Messengers, reminder applications, etc. These programs significantly degrade system startup time and overall performance. When Windows is loading there is a lot of things trying to happen all at once, and having a program load during this period can throw a serious wrench in things. Each of these programs consume precious RAM (memory) that your computer needs to perform quickly. Consider uninstalling these programs, or checking their settings to see if you can launch them manually when needed instead of automatically loading when Windows boots.

Culprit 4: Disk Fragmentation

I considered not covering this as most NT based versions of Windows handle this problem automatically, but it only works if the computer is left on 24/7, so I’ll tell you how to handle it yourself.

Disk fragmentation is what occurs when a file is split up onto several places on your hard drive. This occurs because Windows will place your files in every small section of free space it can find, regardless of if the whole file fits there or not. This causes your hard drive to have to go several places to get something you want to use. While your hard drive runs around gathering all the bits up, you sit there frustrated wondering why your computer is so slow. Luckily there are two easy ways to deal with disk fragmentation.

To reduce disk fragmentation:

• Purchase and install a utility like Diskeeper. Diskeeper manages your hard drive for you, keeps it neat and tidy without being noticed. If you can afford to drop a few bucks on software, this is the method I highly recommend.
• Run the built-in defragmenter. This is the least expensive option, but will require regular intervention from you. Open “My Computer” from the Windows Menu, then right-click on your hard drive. Click “Properties”, then click “Tools.” Click the button that says “Defragment Now” and the defragmentation program will load and you will be able to defragment your disk.

Summary

I hope that this article will help you get the most out of your home computer, and that maybe it will be a little less irritating once you are in the habit of performing proper maintenance. Soon I will be covering the other sleeping performance beast: spyware. Stay tuned and hopefully I’ll have something up soon.