PC Troubleshooting Questions and Answers - Slow PC

David writes in with a troubleshooting question.
Question: My Compaq Presario 2500 is slow and getting more so. Have used I-clean, and I subscribe to Symantec protection. Why is it so slow and what can I do?

Answer: There are many reasons your computer can be getting slow. It tends to happen over time if you aren't doing regular maintenance. It could also be caused by spyware on your system.
 
For maintenance purposes you can do things such as clear out your temporary files and temporary internet files.
 
You should run your disk defragmenter every so often as well. I usually like to do it once a month.

If you have unnecessary programs running in the background when you start your computer then you can check your startup items and stop these programs from starting with your computer.
 
Finally you should be checking for spyware that may be installed on your system. SpyBot and AdAware are two good free programs you can use to find and remove spyware.

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