My computor has been acting really slow lately what could it be?
970909
If you install a lot of programs, try the following to get rid of "startup items" that install themselves in your startup menu. \n\nGo to Start\nClick on RUN\nA little box will pop up - in it, type:   msconfig\nClick on the startup tab at the top\n\nThen unclick everything except your antivirus, spyware and system tools.  \n\nClick Apply\nClick OK\nAnd it will promt you to restart.  \n\nYou'll have all sorts of crap in there, such as Adobe updater and garbage that you can get rid of without fear of leaving your system vulnerable - and you'll get your speed back. \n\nGood luck!\n\nSpybot and those programs are good - but only if you have a virus.  I suggest you run spybot, and then try what I posted above.  Spybot will take system memory to run, too, causing your system to run even slower.
706717
Here are my recommendations.\n\nA major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.\nYou need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.  \n\nOne way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP.  It is slow but does the job rather well.  Go to:\nStart > Programs > Accessories > System Tools   and then click on System Defrag to run the tool.  It will take several hours so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.\n\nA great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the tech and user reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.\n\nAlso, another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool.  Go to Start > Run >   type in msconfig in the box and click OK.\nThis will bring up a window with several tabs at the top.  Click on the “Startup” tab.  It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources.  Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running.  Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name.  Clicking on it will remove the check mark.  Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.  Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.\n\nAnother good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM Pro. It is free and is available from www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time.  I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also.  Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.\n\n What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.\n\nHope this helps
1062435
Buggy RAM?  Was it all of a sudden?  Try running spyware tests.  Could be hidden programs task manager doesn't see.  You say you "sometimes" have the problem.  Any triggers that might set it off consistently?\n\nHave you considered reinstalling windows?  Might help.  Good luck.\n\n--An addition to Jerry's suggestion.  If the fan is kaput, the whole system will slow down.  I had a fan that was stuck from time to time.  Once I figured it out, my sys was back to normal.  Thank goodness I figured it out before the CPU fried.
650356
If your machine ran faster a while ago (like just after your got it), it's importatn to look back on your use of it. If it began to slow down after you added that program (<whatever> it was), or after you changed a graphics card or some such, ... that may give a clue. You don't suggest such a thing, but it's worth trying to think about. \n\nIn general, if your machine is a Windows machine, it is particularly subject to infestation by malware. These are viruses, Trojans, spyware, and so on, which have been silently installed on your machine. Use a good antivirus program (recently updated) to detect and remove them from the entire machine. And use at least two spyware programs (also recently updated) to identify and remove spyware programs. (Two, because not all spyware programs, even the good ones, catch them all.) Examples of well respected programs for Windows (all available in limited freely downloadable versions, include: AVG antivirus, Avast antivirus, Spy Bot, Spy Catcher, AdAware, ...). But you say you've done that. \n\nAll of this, even if successful, may leave the Windows Registry in a messy and clogged state. There are some 'Registry cleaners' available, but if this is the cause, you may be better off by making a backup copy of all your data files, then reformatting the hard disk, and finally reinstalling Windows. This will result in a clean Registry. Using a Registry cleaner is not likely to do as well, though it may be enough.\n\nIn all, remember that, for Windows systems, the rule of thumb is reboot, reinstall, then reformat.  \n\n=========\napplication slow down\n\nIf one particular aspect of your machine (eg, Internet use, heavily computational tasks, heavily disk loaded tasks, ...) is the slowdown winner, this may give a clue. sow applications suing a specific hardware driver may indicate a defective or damaged drive. Removal and reinstallation may clear the problem. Indeed, a cold restart may be enough, since it will clear memory and then rebuild the system (including the drivers) from copies on the hard disk. slow doewn after a system which has had more and more simultaneous processes added to it (virus scanning, spyware scanning, firewall operation, ...) may be due to insufficient system RAM (add more), or too small virtual memory assignment (under Windows), or to conflict between DLL packages. Some applications include DLLs which replace existing ones, with bad effects on existing applications. Reinstallation of the existing applicationa will replace the  then existing, possibly making the new application exhibit problems.   \n\nFinally, it may be that your hard disk has become too fragmented for reasonable response and is spending much of its time thrashing instead of actually reading / writing to the disk. Defragmenting the hard disk may help. Recent bundled Windows defragmenting programs work adequately, but some of the commercial programs are quicker and more flexible.\n\n===========\nrecords\n\nKeep good notes about what you do. Something like, suspect overly fragmented hard disk. Applicaiton foo takes 4 minutes to complete. Defragmented hard disk on 0x/0y/0z at a:bc. Application foo takes 2 minutes. Good improvement, but not enough since application bar still is very very slow. \n\nThe purpose of this is to be able to pass on to someone else if necessary, what you've tried and what results there were, if any. And to keep straight in your own mind what you've done. Experience speaks when I say that it will help, even when you can't see now quite how.
1043972
First of all, you will start to notice that your computer is running slower and messing up.\n\nI would advise you to run a virus protection system.  They can help clean out your computer and rid you of viruses.\n\n\nHope this helps!
697150
http://bartman1.blogspot.com/ go to this site and follow the if your computer runs slow
177111
Could be that you have a slow computer.  If it is more than a few years old, it is probably time to upgrade.\n\nThe following could be reasons your computer is slow:\n\nNot enough RAM (buy some)\nFragmented hard drive (defragment)\nToo many programs (uninstall the ones you do not use)\nVirus (http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym has a free scan)\nSpyware (download spybot and adaware)\n\nYou can also run a system cleanup if you have Windows XP - go to Accessories - system tools - disk cleanup.\n\nThere are so many things it could be.  Good luck!
402921
when does it run slow? if it runs slow at startup, check out what programs are running at startup (run>msconfig>startup tab)\n\nmake sure you know waht you're doing before messing with startup utilities\n\nif your computer is slow while its running, run some antispyware or antivirus software, it is possible you may have spyware or viruses slowing you down with extra processes and tasks\n\nto clean up some hard drive space you can get ccleaner (ccleaner.com)
674459
Get more RAM Memory, and try to keep it clean from spyware and trojans, there are tons of anti-trojan and anti-spyware software. The one I use is Zone Alarm Security Suite. It is great, It has an Antivirus, Anti-Spyware and a Firewall. \n\nOh, another thing, check the free space of your hard disk, if you are short of disk space, your pc will turn slow.\n\nRegards,\n\nFreddy Gonzalez, Dominican Republic.
150310
There can be alot of reasons why your computer is running really slow. You might want to get someone to come out to the house and take a look at it. If you have all of your information backed up you might want to reload the OS. Go to your computer manufacturers web site and you will be able to get the instructions from there.
122537
Your computer probaly has a virus or is as slow as mine
573346
check the CPU usage. if your ranning winXP, go to the task manager.\n\nit depends also on the size of your RAM!
124897
You might have a lot of programs running and have little RAM memory left. Or maybe you might have a virus. I recomend that you check for viruses and for your memory.
296167
May be problem with more heat in CPU or some problem with your RAM. U can fix extra fan or check yr RAM. It may be problem with one of your software. Virus or spyware is the most common things for it.
48344
Frequent causes for slow computers are ad & spy programs resident on your computer, and large amounts of files in your browser cache.  \n\nI recommend running Ad-Aware, Spybot, Windows Startup Inspector (assuming you are using windows), virus scan and cleaning your web browser cache (Optons --> Internet Options, Delete Temporary Files in Internet Explorer).\n\nThis should help dramatically.
932697
http://yanswers.blogspot.com/2006/10/pc-running-slow.html
1010797
first, try to defrag you haddisk - then try to cleanup you Harddisk ... both of them are in System Tools. Then scan you computer for virus or spyare... you can downlaod some free ware to scan you laptop\n\nafter you done things above and computer still slow - then u should upgrade you ram ..