Computers are machines and they slow down with time. But understanding what is making them work slowly can help you figure out how to get your PC to run faster on Windows or Mac operating systems. The computers that spend most of our time working on, need to run faster all the time.
Our daily lives now involve the task that we need to do in seconds or minutes. These tasks involve all kinds of features that modern-day computers make available to us. But if your computer is slowing down that means you are going to lose a lot of time on your daily tasks.
That will eventually lead to a loss of productivity for you. Instead of getting frustrated you should always look for the problem and try to resolve it. Business Wire is one of their studies mentioned that an average American waist 2 hours per week on computers that are running slow. In other words, 66% of Americans that the biggest frustration for them is their slow PC.
It does not matter if you are running Mac OS or Windows operating system, all pc slow down with time. For the good of all of us, there are many ways that can help us solve the slow PC problems. These ways show us what you should or shouldn’t do to make your computer faster on Windows or Mac. Before you even think of spending hundreds of dollars fixing your PC or buying for thousands of dollars, here are some of the best tips that can help you get your PC to run faster on Windows or Mac.
1. Closing System Tray Applications
You see that when you install some new software to your PC some of them by default start whenever you start your PC. That puts an extra load on your system which can be a cause of the slowing down of your PC. If you see your systems starting slowly after starting up check if you tray icon on the taskbar have applications running.
These applications open by default and then stay that way if you don’t close them from the tray icon. In the case of Mac, you need to see if any apps are running after you just start your Mac, if yes, terminate them or simply find and disable the option for these apps to run on startup.
Solution:
1- You can close these applications by clicking on the arrow that faces upward. After clicking on that arrow, you will see the applications that are running. Right-click on them and click quit to stop the process of these applications.
2- You can also go to settings and look for “Startup apps”. It will lead you to all the apps that run themselves on boot. You can choose to deny or disable the permission of running on startup.
3- You can also stop the apps by right-clicking on the taskbar and select task manager. Now you see all the apps running at that time. Select and click “End task” to stop the process of that application.
4- For those using an older version of Windows 7, need to look for system configuration instead of the task manager.
2. Checking Hard Disk Space or Memory
If your PC/computer with Windows or Mac is slowing down the first thing you should do is check if you have enough space on your hard disk. Normal PC’s performance needs at least 15% free space for them to work properly without slowing down.
There are many ways to know how much hard space is remaining. After you check the remaining space, if you have more than 15% free space, that means there is another problem slowing down your windows or Mac PC. If you do have less than 15% space remaining, then you need to free up some space on the hard disk.
Solution:
1- You need to start checking all the software you have installed on your PC. If you find any unnecessary files or applications that you are not using uninstall that application.
2- Make sure your empty recycle bin because all deleted files go there. It can also be achieved via disk cleanup. If you don’t want to use disk cleanup, you can manually delete all recycle bin files.
3- You can also find and delete temporary files that are stored in your computer or cache in other words.
4- Deleting temporary files or cache files after you uninstall all unwanted software, which can also be done with a disk cleanup. All temporary files can be found by typing “%temp%” in the run program.
3. Check if You have Enough Ram Memory
RAM or random access memory is a very important component of any running PC. That is where all your data goes to show up on your screen when your PC is running. But sometimes the lack of or lower RAM memory causes the PC to slow down.
In other words, when there is more software running at the same time the RAM memory can run out and cause your PC to hang. The data being processed by the RAM has its limits and when that limit is crossed your PC slows down. When your PC is running check how much data is being processed or which program is taking more data than it should.
Solution:
1- If you are running useless programs terminate them with the help of the task manager and end tasks.
2- If you need this software and you cannot terminate any of them. The solution is to increase your RAM memory.
3- Faulty RAM can also cause your PC to slow down or even cause sudden errors. If this is the case better gets new RAM and enough memory that you need.
4. Adjusting Power Options
Windows, as well as Mac both, come with different and important power options. If your PC is consuming too much power and slowing down, you should check if you have selected the right power plan for your PC.
Choosing the right power plan, whether it be “Balanced”, “High Performance”, or “Battery Saver,” is so important as it helps to improve the battery life. You can save battery and save a lot of bills if you choose the battery saver option. Adjust your power option to keep yourself safe from the headache of a slow PC.
Solution:
1- A PC user has the option to choose how much power their PC can consume at a given time.
2- All the power plan presets can be found when you click on the battery icon found in the right bottom corner of windows.
3- Similarly, you can locate the battery icon on the top right corner of the Mac.
4- After you locate the battery icon there you can find all the power consumption options.
5. Clearing Browser Cache and History
One of the most used software on our computers is Internet browsers. There are plenty of browsers that people use on their PCs. Almost all of them save the pages that you visit in the form of a cache and use that saved information to load pages faster when you revisit them.
This wastes a lot of storage and can slow down your computer if you leave it that way for a long time. Your internet history is also a kind of burden on your PC. Clearing history or cache can help your PC to run faster and perform processes quicker.
Solution:
1- Open your installed browser, if you have a chrome browser, go to History, click show full history, and then click Clear browsing data.
2- Make sure your select from the beginning of time to clear all browser cache and history.
3- For internet explorer, go to “tools”, “safety”, and click “delete browsing history”.
4- For Firefox, go to “library”, and “History”, Click on “Clear recent history”, then click “clear now”.
6. Check or Secure PC from Viruses or Spyware
One of the biggest reasons is when spyware or viruses access your PC. Spyware and viruses slow down your PC and all processes that take place whenever you use it. Spyware runs in the background without you knowing it and thus takes a toll on the performance of your PC.
There are many signs you can see on your computer that tells that you are threatened by spyware or viruses. Spyware enters your pc through third-party software. Windows and Mac are now providing pre-installed antivirus or spyware detection tools.
Solution:
1- As told earlier windows come with pre-installed spyware detection and removal tools, you can activate or deactivate them.
2- On Mac OS, you also get antivirus installed, but you still should enable “stealth mode” by going into your “system preferences” to secure your computer from any spyware.
3- Always scan your computer for viruses or spyware once a week.
4- Prevention is the key, so, do not use unauthorized third-party software. Also, do not visit websites that are not up to date.
5- Do not click on unrecognized links and ignore any suspicious emails with outbound links.
7. Check System Temps and Keep them Cool!
Any computer that is being overused gets overheated and in return, you get a slow computer. Most of the time people ignore this very basic thing that overheating is damaging to your PC. The pc overheats when you use software that takes a lot of space and memory and also needs a high-end graphics card to run.
Sometimes this situation arises when a person opens so many applications at the same time. It results in overheating of the pc. Another scenario is where people leave their pc on without using them and applications running. The longer a PC is underused more it loses its processing power because of overworking leading to overheating.
Solution:
1- First thing you need to do is change your habits of overusing the pc.
2- You need to make sure when using your pc or laptop is lifted up and there is airflow under it.
3- You can use the cooling fans for your pc to keep the temp at a minimum.
4- Always clean your pc and remove all dust and clean your pc and its component with swabs only, and make sure you don’t get your computer wet while cleaning.
More Bonus Tips!
We have given detailed information on many problems that keeps you from using your PC to its full potential. But here are some more little tips that you can follow to keep your pc in check.
Remove unwanted extensions from browsers: Browsers slow down your pc but when you install a lot of extensions you put extra pressure and removing these extensions can help your PC.
Run fewer processes or software at a time: Multitasking can ruin your productivity, similarly, running a lot of programs at the same time can also slow down your speed. Prioritize your tasks and software. Just like you would close all other applications when playing a RAM-intensive game, the same should be for everything else, especially if your computer is slow in general.
Things like your browser running can be intensive if you have multiple tabs open on a slow PC but having a few open for essential tabs should work fine. Whether you’re answering emails or filling up your online shopping cars just make sure you attempt the above solutions before powering up heavy applications in the background.
Final thoughts:
After you are done cleaning and performing all actions that can help, it is known that you would want to keep it that way. You can always schedule a monthly cleanup to keep your system in check. Use the list that we provided and tell us if one of these solutions helped you.