Ewing Family Pix

PC Desktop Consulting Services

I'm often asked:  "Why does my computer run so slow?"

    Click here to review possible reasons for a slow running computer 

 

In my business I do the following:

1.  Repairs and Upgrades
   1. Troubleshooting
   2. Repairs to Windows, all versions
   3. Board Replacements
   4. Motherboard upgrades
   5. Power Supplies
      
       
2. Computer Recycling and Custom Built machines
   1. 1 year Parts & Labor for all computers if they are returned to me for repairs.
       
3. Software installations, Configurations, Upgrades
   1. Troubleshooting
   2. Word Processors
   3. E-Mail
   4. Office Products
   5. Most software programs installed
       
4. Hardware installations
   1. New Computer installations
   2. Custom built PC's to your specifications
   3. New Motherboards
   4. Modems
   5. Hard drives
   6. Floppy Drives
   7. DVD Drives
   8. CDRom Drives
       
5. Help Desk services
   Phone and site support

 3-4 basic reasons for slow running computers:

                 (1)  Answer:  Basic speed of the computer.  Old computers may be running at less than 1000 MHz per second, today's modern computers run at 2-3000 MHz per second.  Typically, a computer 5 years old will run around 5-800 MHz, 8 years old around 2-400 MHz.  It will usually take a new motherboard and a new CPU chip to solve this problem.

                (2)  Answer: Speed of the Harddrives purchased about 10 years ago ranged from about 3600 revolutions per minute (rpm) to about 4900 rpm.  Today’s modern drives run nearly twice as fast, typically about 7200 rpm; however, the data transfer rates of these harddrives are doubling and tripling over the data transfer rates of the older drives.  Modern Caching techniques also improves the performance of newer harddrives.

                 (3)  Answer: Insufficient random access memory (RAM) installed in the computer (this is temporary storage during data processing).  This causes the operating system to have to write data to the harddrive for later retrieval and processing, then rewriting it back to the drive only to retrieve it etc...  If the harddrive is an older slower model, this write and rewrite process causes the computer to run slowly and seem to hang at times.

                  (4) Answer: Viruses and Spyware that has infected your computer.  If the computer used to run relatively fast but has slowed up recently, this may be the cause.

Options for repairing the above:

           (1)  Above:  Replace the Motherboard and Central Processing Unit chip with modern faster models.

                   (2) Above:  Change the current harddrive to a faster model, usually larger, and move the data and programs to the new harddrive.  You may also need to upgrade your operating system from Windows 95-98/ME to Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Vista.  I don't recommend using the "Home" editions of these operating systems; I recommend the "Professional" editions for more functionality and compatibility with modern software.  Except for NEW computers that are made and tuned to Windows Vista, I don't recommend this operating system be installed on older machines due to incompatibility problems with hardware and older software.  Typically, Microsoft's first editions of their operating systems don't run well on older machines until they have put out several "fixes" and "enhancements".  When Vista is about 1-2 years old it may be ok to install it on older machines, but it might be best, if you need its functionality, to either buy a new machine or rebuild it with Vista compatible hardware.

                    (3) Above:  Purchase and install additional RAM memory chips.  With today’s software requirements for memory, you should install approximately 1 GB of RAM.  Many new computers are being sold with only 256kb and 512kb.  Older machines may have 128kb or less.  It's not difficult to add additional memory; there are usually extra memory slots available.

                    (4) Above:  Obtain Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software, keep it updated, and run it at least once per week to eliminate infections. To prevent these infections from happening, I recommend Symantec's Norton Internet Security and related software.

If your computer is not running as fast as you would like, contact me and I'll stop by and take a look.  From my visit we can discuss your computer in more detail and explore your options.  This initial visit to the Reno/Sparks area is free. 

I do make weekly trips to Carson City, NV so it may be possible to do a no cost visit to Carson as well.  Alternative is to bring me your computer (less monitor, keyboard & Mouse).