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There are a thousand things that could make your Computer go slow. When you
first purchased your Computer (Notebook or Desktop), it would have appeared to
be lightning-fast. This is natural - you are yet to load programs and your data
onto it! As you begin to load programs - Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, your
favorite Browser (if it isn't Internet Explorer), your AntiVirus and AntiSpyware
programs, your favorite Music program, etc., your Computer progressively loses
speed. This is perfectly natural, unavoidable and not a cause for worry!
However, if you are losing hair because your Computer takes ages to open up an
application - or, having opened up an application, suddenly decides to quit or
reboot - and this happens fairly regularly - you do have cause for concern -
grave concern!
We classify all Slow Computer problems into the following four broad
categories: if you are lucky, your problem will disappear without too much
effort, money or anxiety...
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Easily preventable problems that have simple, trivial solutions
We all have bad hair days - when you realize that your desktop wasn't quite
plugged into the power supply, after half an hour of 'coaxing' it to start
up! If your are not patient, your Computer had better be super-strong, to
survive your attempts at 'coaxing it to start' :) We will not be discussing
such problems here as we believe there are higher powers at work that
periodically cause human beings to overlook the trivial solution to such
vexing problems! :)
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Easily preventable problems that do not have trivial solutions
While no one is responsible for Category 1 kind of problems (barring the
'higher powers at work' of course), you are the sole person responsible for
this category of problem. If you have not updated your OS or AntiVirus or
AntiSpam solution for a while, you are susceptible to problems that are very
easy to prevent - but a huge bother to solve! This category of problem does
not usually require hardware to be purchased. However it is devastating in
that you stand to lose all your data in one fell swoop...
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Running Problems that are near-impossible to predict or prevent
A thousand things that go wrong fall in this category... loose cables and/
or cards inside the Computer cabinet (especially in the case of desktops
that have been recently moved), humidity/ dust accumulating in the CD/ DVD
drive, stiff Keyboard, unresponsive Mouse, Computer slowdown after
uninstalling programs, etc. For some of these problems, you may prefer to
replace the affected part(s), instead of merely replacing the faulty part.
Check out our section on
Stopped Computers to troubleshoot
such problems!
-
Break-down problems that too are near-impossible to predict or prevent
This is the category of problems that cost you money: a spoilt Hard Disk,
SMPS (that is your Switched Mode Power Supply, or the power unit of your
Computer), or the Motherboard itself. Brand-new Computers aren't spared of
Category 4 problems - which is why the warrantee period and terms are so
important for you, the purchaser of the Computer. If your Computer is dated
(anything over 3 years could be included under the 'dated' appellation, with
respect to computers!) it may be smarter to upgrade it or even dunk it for a
new, faster, sleeker model! For example if your 120 GB Hard Disk is now
trash, it is wiser to go in for a 240 GB Hard Disk: its a cinch that 120 GB
Hard Disks aren't available anyways and that if they are, they do not cost
any less than a 240 GB Hard Disk!
The following Tables present some of the most common Computer slowdown Problems,
their most likely causes and the best solutions. No one is immune from Computer
problems. But you could save yourself money if you check up these tables, before
calling in your 'friendly neighborhood Computer-man!'
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