This is probably the most common call I receive for a computer repair service call.  While in some cases it requires the hands of a computer technician most cases do not.  When you notice that your computer is beginning to run slower there are a few procedures that you can perform and possibly save you a house call or a trip to the repair shop.  First,  make sure that your hard drive has been recently been defragged.  I know it takes a long time for the defrag process but if I come to your house you are paying me by the hour to watch your computer defrag as that is the first check that I will make.  Second, verify that you have ample free space available on your hard drive.  I recommend that the maximum usage of a hard drive should be less than 70%.  If you have less than 30% of the drive free then you have a choice of deleting some older programs that you don’t use or upgrading your hard drive.  I will post soon about upgrading a hard drive.  The third step I perform is cleaning out the Prefetch folder.  This folder holds all the bits and pieces of programs that you have used on your computer. 

You find the folder in My computer > C:drive>windows>Prefetch.

Delete all files in that folder do not worry they will repopulate when you restart your computer.  The fourth step is to delete all temporary internet files.  This is accomplished by opening Internet Explorer then clicking on the tools link at the top of the page.  Next click on Internet Options on the page that is displayed there is a button to delete all temporary internet files click on it.  This will remove all the files that your computer is keeping track of while you are surfing on the internet.  A personal recommendation is that if you have a high speed connection to make it so that all temp. internet files are removed when you close the browser.  This is accomplished by going to the last tab of the internet options screen called advanced.  Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will find an entry called Empty all Temp internet files when browser is closed.  Place a check mark in the box by clicking there and click apply then ok.  Be sure not to change any other settings as changes here could cause problems with your browser.  Even though this is being done in Internet Explorer it will cross over into AOL if you use that for surfing.   The fifth step is to upgrade all virus protection and adware protection and run a deep scan of the system.  A restart of your computer at this time should have things back in order. 

If you are still noticing that your computer is running slow then you might need a professional to look at your computer.  Problems that can cause a computer to run slow after the steps above include the following:

• hard drive is failing
• power supply is failing
• memory is failing
• fan is failing
• cpu is failing
• and various other gremlins in the machine

If you live in the Savannah area I would be happy to assist you on your computer repair needs.