Tag Archives: computer slowness

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part III

Computer Security, Technical Tips,

This is the third article in this series. In case you missed them, here’s the first and second.

Malware

Malware, or malicious software, can be defined as a program designed to harm your computer or grant unauthorized access to it. One of the possible reasons for your computer being slow is malware running in it. In fact I’d dare say, if your computer is running at normal speed and it slows down all of a sudden, most likely it’s due to a malware infection. Conversely, not all malware slow computers down. At least not noticeably. In any case it holds true that one of the signs of an infected computer is sluggish performance. Probably the worst cause of a computer slowdown is malware, because not only will your computer be slow, but it won’t be totally under your control anymore! What to do? Naturally the computer needs to be disinfected. I’m assuming you have an anti-malware solution in place. Run a full scan. If nothing is found but you still suspect your computer is infected. you can try free online scanners such as Panda’s, Trend Micro’s, BitDefender’s, Kaspersky’s, Microsoft’s, Eset’s, to name a few. These can sometimes detect what your installed antivirus missed. Note that depending on the nature and severity of the infection, the malware might block access to security companies’ websites to prevent detection and removal. So if the above links don’t work, that’s probably the reason why. Once all the normal basic routines are unsuccessful in removing a resilient infection, it’s time to contact an expert to get the computer cleaned up. This is when the handling enters the realm of advanced manual malware removal techniques. Look for my soon-to-be-released article on how to best prevent getting infected in the first place and what is the best product to achieve that. Due to how relevant it is, that will be the next article to be published, and after that I’ll continue with the rest of this computer slowness series. Update 7/29/09: Here it is.

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part II

Technical Tips

This is the second in the series of articles on computer slowness and what to do to speed it up. In case you missed the first, you can find it here.

Bloatware

Bloatware is another cause for computer slowness. There are two definitions of bloatware – both apply in the context of this article.

The first one is software (programs, applications) that come pre-installed in your computer when newly bought, mostly consisting of trials, that you didn’t necessarily asked for or will use. Nothing wrong with them except they tend to use computer resources and to that degree, they will slow it down.

Why? Contrary to common belief, a computer’s Central Processing Unit (its “brain”) cannot run multiple applications at the same time. It cannot execute more than one program at a time. In fact, it cannot run more than one instruction (command) of a program at a time. This is true of even the recent computers that come with “dual cores” that you might have heard about. Each CPU can only execute one instruction per time unit. How does the computer create the illusion of running multiple applications simultaneously?

Akin to a versed juggler, a computer can keep several balls in the air at the same time, so to speak. With several applications opened, it divides its capacity to execute programs by alternating among them. The priority of the programs running can be established so the computer executes more or less relative commands of one  before it goes to the next program. So it goes something like this: Application A: execute one command, jump to Application B, run one command, jump to Application C, run two commands, and so on. The trick is that a computer can execute commands and alternate between applications so fast that it gives the illusion of simultaneity.

What does all this have to do with bloatware or computer slowness? obviously the more applications installed and running in a computer, the less each individual application will have the computer’s “attention” and so too many programs running “at the same time” will slow down the execution of each program. So what can be done about it? I’ll circle back to that in a moment.

The second definition of bloatware is related to the “inside” of the programs (applications, software) themselves. Modern applications tend to heavily use computer resources and have features that are not needed, partially because programmers rely on modern computers being faster and being able to deal with sloppy programming as described above.

So what can you do about all this? On the first definition, uninstalling the bloatware is the obvious answer. Careful though if you’re going to try that yourself – make sure you are certain which programs are bloatware and which are essential programs your computer needs to run properly.

Computer savvy users will go as far as re-installing the computer’s operating system from scratch (a clean install)  to get rid of all the bloatware that comes with an average new computer. This is one of the reasons why (but not the only one)  reinstalling a computer’s operating system from scratch will always deliver a faster computer.

On the second definition, not much you can do about it, other than maybe pray. Seriously though, just be aware of the concept and try to choose applications that run lean on computer resources. Ask an expert as needed.

Getting rid of bloatware is another step towards operating a fast computer. Contact me if you need help doing it.