If your computer is frustrating you because of how slowly it is running, there are a few things that you can do to help fix it, and to save yourself a lot of hassle. Follow several strategies in order to make your computer run faster and work better for you, before you spend a lot of money on computer doctors or a brand-new computer.

Back Up First

Save yourself plenty of time by backing up any files you want to save. This includes pictures, documents and other files that you have saved on your computer. Back them up to a jump drive, a disk or online storage. This might also help you fix your slow computer, because as you are going through this process, you might find some things, like old pictures or documents, that you can store on a jump drive or disk and completely erase from your computer. This might free up space before you even begin, and it might start to help your computer run faster.

Get Rid of Programs and Viruses

There are three main things that might be causing your computer to run slowly. They are viruses, malware and spyware. These are slightly different programs, but all amount to the same thing: trouble. They all cause programs to be running on your computer at all times, which slows your computer down. Run a good virus-protection program--either one you have purchased or one you get for free online, like AVG. Then run a spyware and malware detection program. You can find these online, for free. Good ones include Ad-Adware by Lavasoft. Run these programs, and then set the defaults on them to run once a week and automatically delete viruses or malware.

Protect

Protect yourself in order to make your computer run faster and to avoid programs that will cause it to slow down. First, install a program like Spyware Blaster, which will run on your computer all the time and constantly seek out and destroy any malware that it detects. Set your virus-protection program to run all the time, and have it scan your computer once a day. You can set it to do this in the middle of the night so that it doesn't disturb your computer usage. Avoid sites that have automatic downloads. If you are ever asked to click on something or download something, make sure you know what you are downloading and make sure you want it before you click yes.

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Debog: Fix a Slow Computer