Why Is My Computer Running So Slow?

-- by Jon --

There are a variety of things that can make your computer run extra slow. This section talks about reasons why this can happen and possible solutions. I invite you to take a minute to read through this. A little understanding of how the computer works can be very helpful in this case.

You will notice written on the box of any computer software a minimum requirement for ‘memory’. The term memory can be confusing for those who do not know much of how the computer works, which is probably a good share of us. Many people get ‘computer memory’ confused with ‘hard disk storage’. Just a little explanation of the difference would be helpful.

Simply put, hard disk storage is storage on your hard disk drive. A hard disk has similarities to an audio cassette tape or VCR tape in that it can record information, erase it, then store new information when needed. The hard disk is similar to these except it’s a spinning disk much like a CD.

Computer memory is electronic storage with no moving parts. It is lightning fast. Your computer will ‘read’ information from the hard disk and then insert it into this electronic memory where it will run your software extremely fast and efficiently. This electronic memory is only used while your computer is running and therefore goes away when you turn it off. The hard disk is what stores your information even after your computer is turned off.

Now for the part that will help you understand why you needed to know these things... Your computer often does not have enough memory to hold all of your information at once. Therefore, when this memory gets full, the computer will start storing the information that is in memory but not currently being used onto the hard disk. It will then read some more information into the memory (this whole process is called ‘paging’). The less memory your computer has, the more often it must read and write to your hard drive and the slower it becomes. This is especially noticeable when your document becomes very large (See dividing your document, below). When you try to page down in your document, it will not be very responsive. It will pause and need to take time to read in more information into the computer memory from the hard disk before it will go on to the next page. This is especially true when you have photos inserted into your document. Check the box your software came in for the recommendations for memory. If you have less than recommended, it will probably still run, but it may be slow. If it takes a long time to save a document, then this could be part of the reason. If you have the time and patience, this may not be a problem for you.

Memory can be added to most computers. See your computer dealer or check on the internet for prices. If you are not sure of what kind of memory to buy, you probably should check with a computer dealer or other professional. Also, older computers will just run slower than the new computers. Buying more memory for these older computers may be helpful, but you may still find that it runs slow. You may wish to divide your document into smaller portions, doing a few pages at a time. So before you run out and buy a new computer, try working with smaller documents and maybe check with a computer specialist about additional memory. They can help you tell how much memory your computer now has and if the addition of more memory will be worth the money.

Dividing your document. When, on our older computer, the problems that came with working with a very large document became unbearable, we decided to split the document into two or more pieces. Before doing this, make a backup copy of your document. One way to do this is by marking the first half of the document, then under the ‘File’ drop down menu in the upper left hand corner of the word processor screen, choose the ‘Save As’ option. Then give the first file a new name. You can then mark the second half of the file and give it a new name under the ‘Save As’ option. For example our original “FamilyHistory” file was made into two files that we called “FamilyHistoryA” and “FamilyHistoryB”. We then proceeded to make “FamilyHistoryC”. Each file became a more manageable size.

Remember to back up your work regularly. More...