In the office where I work, I hear others say “my computer is running slow” all the time. There are perhaps a dozen people in my office and most have more than one computer. Also, we are almost exclusively a personal computer shop, very few Macs.

Having dealt with the problem successfully, myself, I’m now considered the office expert. So now when people say “my computer is running slow,” they look to me to help them deal with the problem. No worries, I’m happy to help.

Here is the process I use to help them get their computer running faster, or even like new. First, I obtain a ‘history,’ kind of like a doctor would with a new patient. My first question deals with how old the machine is. If it’s really old, say three years or better, I suggest they replace it with a newer version. The reason is that as time moves ahead fewer and better application software products are built. These newer products make use of the latest hardware capabilities. As a result, if you are trying to run a new program on an old PC, you are in essense, asking it to do something it was never built to do.

Next, if the computer in question is less than three years old, I ask the user if he or she has kids. Granted, on the face of it, it seems like an odd question at this juncture. But hear me out. If the user has kids and the children have access to the computer (for example a laptop) and they have used it to play games, then the computer is likely loaded with all kinds of malware, spyware, viruses, advertisements, you name it. Games deliver a huge payload of unwanted electronic “junk” that gums up the works. This results in your computer slowing down as it labors under the load of all this additional processing.

The RX here is to first remove the games and stop letting the kids play games on the computer.

If the games have been removed and the kids are no longer downloading and the computer is still running slow, the next step is to do a virus scan. In order to do a virus scan, you need to obtain access to software specifically designed for the job and run it on your computer. The first time you run the software you will be surprised by how many viruses it finds. Computers that have been operating for any amount of time typically will have picked up dozens of viruses or more. Not all viruses are able to do damage to your computer, but some do. Most of the time they just gum up your computer and that starts to slow it down.

Okay, if you remove the viruses and your computer is still running slowly, the next step is to see if there is any spyware on your computer. If so, it may be responsible for the slowing performance of your computer. Spyware is designed to steal information from your computer, without you knowing. In order for spyware to do its work it needs to take processing capacity from the computer. This results in slower performance because the computer processor now has more work to do. The processor has to do its normal work and the tasks assigned to it by the spyware.

If clearing out all of the spyware does not result in your computer picking up some speed, the next thing to do is check the registry. The registry is a central part of the Windows operating system. It’s kind of like a master file in that it controls many aspects of the operating system and the computer. The registry file can become corrupt, as any file can. It can also be hacked by spyware or a virus. You need to run a registry check and repair program to find the problems and repair them.

At this point, the only things left to do are to make sure your operating system is fully patched and up to date and to run a hardware diagnostic. Your Windows operating system will tell you when there is a patch available that you should run. All you have to do it click to run it and wait for the download to complete. As for the hardware diagnostic, you will need to find a software program that is designed to run such a diagnostic for your PC. In all likelihood your computer came with a diagnostic when it was new. It may have come on a CD, it my be loaded onto the hard drive and it may be something you can get from the manufacturer’s website.

There are lots of good application software products on the market that do some or all of the thinks listed above. They can usually be had for well under $100 and they work well. Do a Google search and read some reviews. You don’t need the best repair product, just one that will do the job and most of them will do that.

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