When my computer runs slow I try to diagnose it so that I'll know what's wrong and then try to find solutions. There are various causes that would make computer systems run slower than tolerable. One of which, to begin with, is slow start-up. If I find that my computer runs perfectly fine except during start-up, then I would conclude that there are simply too many programs that are loading, one after the other, during start-up. If so, then I would be able to fix this problem by myself with ease. How? Just click the "start" button found on the lower left portion of the screen, click on "run" type "msconfig" at the dialog box and click "OK." A window will then appear. On the top portion of it click on "startup." A list will then appear - a list of all the programs that are set to run during start-up. There should be some programs that I would find unnecessary during start-up, so then I'd uncheck them, and leave checked the necessary programs such as firewall and anti-virus. The rest, I'd manually run only when I need them.

Putting that aside, what if my computer runs slow because of a spyware problem? And how would I know if it's a spyware problem? I'd say it's a spyware problem if my computer occasionally lags - slowing it down, if I find that my settings have been changed, and that I get forced to another site when I do my browsing in the net. These are clear signs of a spyware threat. To fix it immediately I'd try downloading free spyware programs like Ad-Aware and AVG - these are good anti-spywares. I'd be cautious of free downloads, though, because they may very well be where spywares come from in the first place.

Now what if my computer runs slow due to registry errors? And how would I know if it's such a problem? One of the symptoms of a registry problem, aside from the computer's slow performance, is that programs crash. Another symptom is the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death - this may sometimes be a minor problem, but if it recurs occasionally then it's become a big problem, and it is sometimes because of a registry error. To fix a problem like this I would download a registry cleaner, since I don't know how to trouble shoot. Registry Mechanic, from what I've read, is a good registry cleaner. However, I'd be careful of free downloads, as I mentioned earlier.

What if the problem is virtual memory? This means that my RAM's capacity is too low, and my computer runs slow because of this. Whenever I run too many programs simultaneously, and the system slows down, then I'd know that this is, in fact, the problem. There is no immediate solution for this but for me to upgrade may RAM, and make sure that it is compatible to my current computer. A 128 Megabyte RAM would do, the way I run my computer - I usually open BitComet, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Media Player for music, about three internet windows, and my usual RPG Game; these all run simultaneously.

Lastly, what then if my computer runs slow, even though none of the above applies? I would then try defragmenting my hard drive, since I know that I frequently download and delete files. This might just solve my problem. To defragment, go to "My Computer" and right click on the hard drive. Choose "properties," then "tools," and then click "defragment" - easy as that. The set-back here is that defragmenting would take quite a while, depending on the amount of data stored. But if this solves my problem then I'd say that it was worth doing.