Although the computer is a machine, it does require regular check-ups. Every once in a while, you need to check if the performance of your computer is as it should be. Even so, how can you improve it? This article covers the facilities you should pay attention to in a computer, how to check them, and some apps you can use.
Page Contents:
RAM
RAM is short for Random Access memory, and it serves as a short-term memory for storing application files during operations. RAM is like a secondary storage device that the computer uses to quickly access specific tasks on the computer. Have you ever wondered why your computer can turn off, turn on, and continue from where you left off? That activity you were doing before the computer turned off was stored in the RAM. It is easier for the CPU to access information from the RAM than it is from the primary storage device or hard disk. You can check how much RAM is installed on your device by:
- going to the home screen and clicking on the Windows menu icon.
- From the menu, look out for “My computer.”
- Right-click on My Computer.
How does the RAM gets Filled?
The more tasks you keep open, whether left in the background or running in the foreground, the more RAM they use. Since RAMs are not nearly as large as the hard disk, they easily get filled up. When they do get filled up, the computer will revert to relying on the hard disk again. inevitably slows down the overall speed of the computer. Normally, the RAM cleans itself every now and then, but sometimes applications get forgotten in the RAM. As time goes on, this clogs up space and would have to be cleaned ‘manually’ via the task manager or a third-party utility.
How to Clean RAM
There are three ways to keep the RAM as free and healthy as possible. First, you can free up space in the RAM by rebooting the computer. This is the quickest way to clean programs stored in the RAM. However, when you reboot, some stubborn applications will remain in the RAM. Hence, you would have to do it yourself.
Task Manager Method
To clean up the RAM from the task manager, you should follow these steps:
- Click on the window start menu.
- In the search bar, type in “task manager.”
- Open the task manager by clicking on it.
There are several tabs visible at this point, with numbers fluctuating. Navigate to the processes tab by clicking on it. You can check for processes running in the background that you don’t need and stop them.
- To stop the apps, right-click on it, and select “end task”.
This task manager can also check how much RAM is being used and how much is left.
- On the task manager, find the “Performance” tab and click on it.
CCleaner-Performance utility app
CCleaner is a third-party utility app that can help you manage your RAM by automatically clearing it whenever you want to, or it can do it automatically at intervals set by you. One of the advantages of CCleaner is that you can use it to clear re-occurring apps from the RAM that the task manager can’t handle. Another advantage of the CCleaner is its ability to avoid clearing important system applications. More often than not, when cleaning from the Task Manager, we tend to also clear out important processes that the computer needs to operate properly. CCleaner can identify such processes, skip them or relay a warning.
Hard Drive Organizer
The storage drive stores all system and application software of the computer. The hard drive cannot keep up with how fast the processor demands information and data, causing the whole performance of the machine to slow down. There are two types of storage devices; the Hard Disk drive and the solid state drive.
How hard drive affects the performance of PC
The hard disk drive operates like a compact disk; it spins. Data stored in the disk is spread throughout the disk. Hence the hard disk head must travel to and fro the spinning disk in search of data. Over time, the disk becomes fragmented. When data related to each other is scattered throughout the hard disk, the disk is said to be fragmented.
A fragmented disk slows down the speed of the hard disk, slowing down the communication between the hard disk and the CPU.
How to check hard drive space
To check the condition of your hard disk, you can either use the inbuilt Disk Defragmenter in settings or install a third-party app.
Follow these steps to check the health status of your disk;
- Click on the Windows Start button.
- In the search bar, type in ‘Disk Defragmenter’ (or “optimize drive” for Windows 10).
- Click on Disk Defragmenter to open the app.
- In the Disk Defragmenter app, select the partition of your hard disk that you want to be analyzed.
- Click on Analyze.
- Wait for the process to complete 100%.
- After the analysis process is done, it will show the percentage of fragmentation of the partition.
Utility to Defrag Your Hard disk
As the size of hard disks increases, it becomes difficult to defrag them using the inbuilt utility. Defragging from the task management can take a long time and would often crash. So it is advisable to get a third-party defragging app that you can customize to automatically defrag the disk at a time you would prefer.
CCleaner Defraggler
Defraggler is a third-party tool that Is very effective for defragging your hard disk. Defraggler is the product of Piriform, the company that manufactured other top-tier computer optimization applications like Ccleaner, Recuva, etc. One good feature of the defragged app is the simple and easy-to-use interface. Unlike the inbuilt user interface, you get charts instead of percentages and digits to illustrate the health of your drive.
Anti-Malware
Malware is very common these days. Your computer can become infected with malware when you interact with a malicious link or website, download a malicious file, or even click an ad on a malicious site. To properly define malware, it is a file or some form of code that can infiltrate your computer system and steal valuable data and information.
How does malware affect performance?
Malware is software that may run in the background without your knowledge. They may trigger processes that consume your computer’s processing resources, making your laptop very slow. You might easily mistake the behavioral outcome of your device for faulty system software. Unlike the other problems mentioned in this article, it is very difficult to spot malware. One reason for this difficulty is that they are built to escape the inbuilt antivirus of your operating system. When the inbuilt utility, that is, the anti-virus of the operating system, fails to detect them, you will now have to try some third-party app. Most often, third-party apps have more sophisticated libraries that can be used to identify malware.
Using Inbuilt Malware apps
To use the inbuilt anti-malware of your windows operating system, you can follow these steps.
- Click on the Windows Start menu.
- Navigate and click on Settings.
- Scroll down and click on “Update and Security.”
- Click on Windows security.
In this menu, you are provided with several security features. We are interested in “Virus & Threat Protection,” which would protect your laptop or computer from malware in your system. To protect your computer from getting malware in the first place, you should click on “Firewall & network protection” instead.
Anti-malware Third Party Utility Apps
There are many anti-virus apps on the market that you can choose from, but here we would suggest those that are lightweight, almost free, and easy to use. Here is a list of the most lightweight Antivirus for Windows 10.
- Bitdefender
- Kaspersky Antivirus
- AVG Free Antivirus
- Avast Antivirus.
There are many more, but these are some of the best out there.
Stop Startup
When you boot up your computer, just at the right corner of the taskbar where the battery symbol is, you will sometimes notice a bunch of apps running there. Even though you never open them, apps are running in the background and start running as soon as your computer boots up. Applications like your anti-virus, pdf viewer, screen recorder apps, etc., will run in the background whether you open them or not since they run in the background and use part of the computer’s resources. Having too many of them can cause your computer’s boot-up time to increase and its overall performance to decrease.
How to check background applications?
Opening the tray on the desktop taskbar might not reveal all the applications running in the background. So, to identify all background applications, you would need to go to settings.
- Click on the Windows Start button.
- You can search for “task manager” in the search bar.
- Open task manager
- Locate Startup on one of the tabs to see all applications that boot along with your computer.
- From here, you can disable any app that you wouldn’t want to run in the background.
Advanced System Optimizer: Disable startup apps
Advanced system optimizer is a third-party utility that you can use to disable and prevent applications from running unnecessarily in the background. You can use this to force close applications and also disable them from running every time you boot up your PC. Advanced system optimizers can perform a wide variety of functions that would improve the general performance of your computer.
Drive Updater Utilities
Drivers are the communication modules that link your operating system and application software to the hardware components of your computer. Your operating system tells the drivers what to do, then the drivers inform the respective part of the computer. For example, it’s time to test your new machine if you have just bought a new printer.
You bring out the computer genius mojo! “Ctrl P”. After a couple of punches on the key combo, you realize that the newly connected printer doesn’t respond. What could be wrong? I just bought this system brand new, so it’s less likely that it’s faulty. You contemplate. You then dig your hands into the box once more for the manual. “Oh, there’s a CD in here.” You realize you’ve missed the most important step. Installing the drivers.
How drivers affect the performance of pc
Over time, manufacturers update the drivers of their machines as technology becomes more advanced. This newer update enables the machine to perform better, but to do this, you need to update the drivers. It’s been 4 years since you got your printer. Your computer is running Windows 10, but you are still using the drivers for the printer when your computer was Windows 7. This could affect how responsive the printer is, inevitably hindering its performance.
How to check for a driver update?
You can manually check for and update your computer’s drivers using the inbuilt utility called Device Manager. This utility manages all the connectivity to all parts of the computer. To check for and install drivers, you can:
- Click on the Windows Start menu icon.
- In the search bar, type “Device Manager.”
- Open Device Manager.
- Scroll to the list of devices listed in the window
- Locate the device you wish to update, then right-click on it.
- From the pop-up menu, click “Update Driver.”
- Next, click “search automatically for drivers.”
- if you’ve downloaded the drivers already, or it’s on a CD or drives;
- Then select “Browse my computer for drivers.”
AVG Driver Updater
The AVG driver updater is a utility developed by Avant Software that can scan your devices, search the internet or its database for updated drivers, and install the updated drivers on your computer. Installing drivers using the manual method can be a pain in the rear as you have to update them one at a time. Also, it is time-consuming since Device Manager is actually searching for updates via “Windows Update.” So most people install applications like AVG Driver Updater to make the process a lot easier and more automated. That’s right, AVG can scan your computer on its own, figure out what’s best for you, and install it too (with your permission, of course).
Conclusion
A computer is supposed to be faster than a man at accomplishing specific tasks. I wouldn’t want to wait for 5 minutes for a computer to calculate “5*6”. That defeats the purpose of having a computer in the first place. So, to ensure your computer is as fast as it should be, you must perform a regular check-up. Windows provides several utilities you can use to boost the performance of your system. If you feel Windows utilities are too old-school, you can always opt for a third-party application that would provide a fancy user interface and perform the operations automatically and faster.
