If your computer seems to have slowed down lately, it can be very frustrating, especially if you are used to a fast machine and Internet connection. Some people just give up and buy a new PC. This is often unnecessary. Try these steps before you are tempted to toss the computer out the, err… window, so to speak!

A sluggish computer is usually a sign of or adware. So the first and most obvious thing to do is update your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, and then run them – one at a time of course. Update your firewall and Windows as well. What? You do not have a firewall? Please get one pronto.

Run the scans until your computer comes up clean. If the scans keep turning up the same piece of malware and cannot remove it, note the name, then look it up at a search engine. You will probably turn up a procedure or program to get rid of it.

If the scans turn up nothing, you may have a . Rootkits have been around at least since the bad old days of DOS; they are a very stealthy form of malware that hide in the root or kernel of Windows. They usually cannot be found by your anti-virus programs. Go back to that search engine and find a rootkit remover.

You can get rid of a lot of malware in one quick step by running CCleaner. Go here http://www.ccleaner.com/ and take the Quick Tour. Then download, install and run it.

There are three other possibilities you can look into. First, as you use your computer, files are written to the hard disk. Actually, parts of files are stashed wherever there is a bit of room for them. So a large file can end up scattered all over your drive, making it harder and slower to read.

This slows down your PC noticibly. To fix this, clean and defrag your hard drive by going to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup and then Disk Defragmenter.

Second, you may have too many programs that start with Windows. Some are necessary, such as your anti-virus program and firewall. Others, however, start themselves by default, without even bothering to ask you for permission.

To see which programs are firing up when you turn on your computer, click Start, Run, and type “msconfig” (without the quotes) into the box. Click OK. Click the Startup tab. The selected programs you now see will start with Windows.

Most of the names will be incomprehensibile. To identify them, plug the names, one by one, into a search engine. Those that are unnecessary can be deselected (not deleted).

Third, you may need more random access memory (RAM). XP needs 500 megabytes (MB), although 1 gigabyte (GB) is better. To get a satisfactory experience from , you will need 1 GB; again, 2 GB would be better here. RAM is not expensive these days, and you may even be able to add more memory to your computer yourself. Look in your computer manual, or on the manufacturer’s Web site. If you are squeamish about opening up your computer, take it into a shop.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:
= > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

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