Sick of waiting for your slow computer to process large files? Tired of it bogging down every time you open more than one or two programs? Need a way to speed up your computer before it drives you crazy?
We get it. Really, who hasn’t experienced that frustration?
Whether you’re just trying to edit your report, upload your latest charts, or edit a crucial graphic for your presentation, a slow computer is one of the most frustrating problems you’ll deal with. Especially if it’s one you face day after day.
Fortunately, there are four general solutions you can use to speed up your computer:
- Checking you device/ user habits
- Computer upgrades
- Push to the Cloud
- Modify Windows 10
Like anything else, each method offers pros and cons you’ll need to weigh.
Let’s take a look at common reasons for a slow machine, and what you can do to resolve it.
Check the device itself
Before taking drastic action, take a few minutes to evaluate the situation. Check your device to determine if there is some underlying issue slowing it down.
These entail problems such as:
- Malware infections (adware, cryptojacking, etc.)
- Software and hardware conflicts
- Incorrect or corrupted hardware drivers
- User habits (200 browser windows + Zoom call, etc.)
While malware and viruses aren’t always easy to spot, user habits can be. Often, it doesn’t even need to be something as drastic as 200 tabs open to cause problems.
Many programs, such as video or graphic design programs, need substantial resources to operate properly. In these cases, even a few open tabs or simultaneous programs can bog down your computer.
Fixing existing problems improves performance and may eliminate the need for a change.
Consider an upgrade
To speed up your computer, sometimes you just need to upgrade it.
The installed memory, CPU, graphics card, or network card may be old or poorly performing. In this case, an upgrade of the component or the full system can rapidly improve the user experience.
Although it’s easy to buy new equipment, the expense also hits your capital-expense budget. There may be higher-priority devices that need to be purchased for IT, and that “slow computer” may have several years of life left in it. At least, according to the depreciation schedule.
While most everyone gets excited over the prospect of something newer and faster, budgets don’t always allow it.
Utilize cloud storage
Alternatively, outright replacing a slow computer, you can push the workload to the cloud. Then, you could subscribe to a desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) or virtual desktop instance (VDI).
The cloud-based computer offers tighter control for IT and can be modified to fit your needs. It will perform the heavy computing in a cloud environment, instead of the beleaguered local machine.
IT teams can deploy a virtual desktop quickly using a template, which also ensure that the DaaS device deploys fully hardened and updated. The cloud-based hosting also makes the device very resistant to hardware failure and easy to recover.
Of course, the downside is now you’re paying for a subscription in addition to the existing hardware, increasing costs. Additionally, a DaaS fully depends upon quality access to fast internet. As a result, this isn’t always a solution for an employee that needs to work while they travel.
Try a modification
When you can’t speed up your computer with an upgrade or pushing to the cloud, you can still adjust settings in the Windows operating system that might improve performance.
Again, although many of these will speed up your computer, these too, come with downsides. As always, you’ll need to decide if they’re the right choice for you.
For example:
- Simple Setting Changes:
- Change Power Settings from ‘Power-Saver’ to ‘High-Performance’ or ‘Balanced’
- But, Power Saver remains the best option for laptops while traveling, to maintain longer battery life
- Shut off Unneeded Windows Features: Tips & Tricks, Search Indexing, extra graphics (shadows, animations, visual effects), Transparency, Game Mode
- However, this may lower usability
- Changing One Drive settings: stop synchronization
- Shifts workload from constant, low background data transfers to sudden and disruptive data flows
- May not actually speed up your computer
- Change Power Settings from ‘Power-Saver’ to ‘High-Performance’ or ‘Balanced’
- IT Oversight Required:
- Disable startup programs
- Uninformed users might disable required IT or security software
- Restore to a previous restore point
- May open security holes from latest updates
- Use ReadyBoost USB flash drive to extend computer memory
- Requires USB access, new software activation
- Does not improve computers with SSD drives
- Clean out, or defrag the hard disc
- Users need to make sure data is not required (legal hold, regulated data, etc.)
- Unneeded data should be deleted – not dumped onto a shared server to cause additional headaches for IT
- Defrag should only be done after deletion.
- Clean out registry:
- Dangerous if done wrong
- IT needs to make sure required agents (endpoint protection, data monitoring software, etc.) are not removed.
- Remove bloatware:
- Requires 3rd party tools to be installed
- May try to remove required software
- Does not help for SSDs
- Disable startup programs
As you can see, plenty of options might help your situation. On the other hand, plenty of them might actually make it worse.
Depending on how you use your computer, and what IT level you’re comfortable working with, not all of these options will work well.
Accelerated Assistance to Speed Up Your Computer
You should never make changes to your PC recklessly, no matter how frustrated you become. Yet, computer ‘experts’ often cause headaches for IT by stripping out software designed to protect enterprise systems and enforce compliance.
If your help desk is facing a backlog of slow computer complaints, consider reaching out for help before employees start causing even bigger problems for your IT department.
Simply contact Ideal Integrations at 412-349-6680, or fill out the form below, and our experts will provide an overview of options to fit your company’s needs and help improve user experience.
Why suffer through a slow computer when you don’t have to?