Fixing A Slow PC is Worth It
Welcome back to another Byte Me instalment and can someone please tell me where the last week has gone? This year is marching to a close faster than any I can remember so there is no better time than right now to make every day count. So where do you want to spend your day? Working is probably not the answer that comes to mind however we spend most of our waking lives at work, and many of us in front of a computer screen.
To be able to go home at the end of the day and feel like we have accomplished something is a nicety, however this is never going to occur if we are battling with our PC. In fact, fighting with a rogue PC is a battle that we are never going to win. You are its captive audience and you will wait until it is good and ready. A slow work PC will not only send you home discontent or disillusioned, but it will also cost the business way more in lost productivity than what a proper IT fix is worth.
This IT fix can be the proper setup of the network, the removal of surplus software and malware, or the upgrade to a solid-state drive (SSD), or the replacement of an older less powerful PC or all the above. Computers have evolved to the point that they are an essential business tool which should be fast and trouble free, rather than the focus of wasted time or frustration.
I often need to remind people that a computer does not have a personality and is not out to get them. It is simply a device that follows the laws of mechanics, electronics and physics which can be setup to run efficiently and fast or can be compromised with junk software and bogus settings so that they stall or crash or just run very slow. There are also a number of budget PC’s on the market that should never have been produced as they don’t meet any reasonable standard for power.
While talking about PC speed I need to bust some IT myths that many of our new customers are still getting wrong! User data such as documents and photos doesn’t slow a PC down, but rather installed software slows a PC down. A PC with 10 photos and 2 photo editors will run slower than a PC with 10,000 photos and 1 photo editor. If you decide to shift all your photos off your PC, then at least put a copy of them onto 2 separate backup drives.
Defragging your C drive will not speed it up! Windows 10 has this feature built in automatically and even then, it might help by 2 percent. Two anti-virus programs are not better than one – uninstall one of them immediately. Driver updater software from the Internet is NOT your friend – your drivers don’t need updating by this method.
Giving a rogue PC a rest for several hours or several days will not be any more effective than a rest for just 30 mins. If an occasional rest makes a difference, then it is suffering from a heat issue and either has blocked or broken fans or a failing hard drive. Neither of these conditions will fix themselves so a professional PC doctor visit is required.
Reinstalling the printer for the 10th time will not result in a different outcome to the 2nd time, so it is more prudent to look for a change. Moving from Wi-Fi printing to a USB cable is always a good thing if the printer is within range, however if you insist on getting it working across Wi-Fi then please call the printer manufacturer for help. This can only help result in them fixing their Wi-Fi drivers to be more user friendly!
Next week we have a few more IT myths left to bust so stay tuned and don’t put up with a slow PC.
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 49 222 400.
For more advice and assistance from Kerr Solutions, like and follow us on Facebook