Why is my computer slow SO slow? Got time to ready the reasons why?

Then proceed....

There are a number of reasons why a computer will seem to be running slow. Much of the time it isn't really the computer that is the problem, it's you. "Me?" , you ask. Yes. It's true you may have actually brought this on yourself.

Are you using some really cool free software that you downloaded? Did you sign up for some Instant Messaging type of thing to stay in touch with your online friends, or check the weather, tell you the time in Bucharest, or something like that? The fact is that none of these programs are really free. They are helping themselves to valuable resources that your computer needs to run the way it's supposed to,which is, faster than the way it is now.:)

Without getting into the details , let me just say that you may be pleasantly surprised to find your computer perks right up after you remove one of these programs.

Another common source of "computer slowness" is isn't even the computer itself, it's the speed of your internet connection. Some reasons for the this type of problem are caused by the programs mentioned above or what is known as "Contention for the media". What? Basically there are too many users demanding too much of that precious network resource known as bandwidth. Huh? What's bandwidth? Webopedia describes bandwidth as: "The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytes per second. For analog devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz)."

It's easier to use the pipeline analogy. Picture your internet connection of one of many faucets on a large network of waterpipes. When too many demands are met, the amount of water slows to a trickle. Or picture a freeway at rush hour, the more cars there are sharing the road, the slower it goes. And so on.

What can YOU do? For starters make sure you don't have a lot of freebie freeloaders running in the background on your computer. Use the Add/Remove Programs utility in the Windows Settings/Control Panel to un-install the unnecessary stuff on your machine, then make sure you don't have someone in your house downloading Gone With The Wind on their PC, while you try to access the Internet.

What else? If your computer is over 3 years old, you may be unfairly comparing it to another faster, newer machine that you have access to. Perhaps it's just old, and no longer meets the benchmark standards the newest technology.

You may also have malicious software on your machine, Spyware, Viruses, Trojan Horses, or some other type of badware.

You can go to http://www.trendmicro.com and get a free online virus check, or dwonload a good anti-virus program like, Grisoft's AVG. That's at http://free.grisoft.com. Spyware, a type of attack that you get from surfing the web, can be cleaned up using Ad-Aware , the free scanner at http://www.lavasoft.de.