Tip #5: Speeding Up Your Computer - Exploring The Internet
Everybody hates slow computers. I think most people have bought a new computer because their old one slowed down of them, including myself. But it turns out there is often a reason they slow down, as well as a solution.
Speeding Up Your Computer
Whether you are on Mac or Windows there are three quick things you can do to help speed up your machines: Close apps with a high CPU usage, delete temporary/junk files, and delete unnecessary applications. Here's how to do that on Windows and Mac.
Windows
Task Manager
Found at: Windows Search Bar→ “Task Manager”
On the top left, make sure “Processes” is selected. Underneath, you will see application names on the Left, some you’ll recognize, others you won’t.
On the right, you will see CPU, Memory, Disk, & Network respectively. What we will focus on is the CPU.
Your CPU is your Central Processing Unit for the computer, in other words the brain of the machine. All the applications you see under the CPU are the things the computer is running, or ‘thinking’ about. If a task is taking up too much ‘brain power’, or you feel it shouldn’t be running at all, right click it and end it.
The number one reason computers slow down is simply because it is doing too much at once.
You can close just about any application that has your user name attached to it. Try not to close anything that starts with “Service Host”. Other than that, if a task is taking up too much ‘brain power’, or you feel it shouldn’t be running at all, right click it and end it.
If you accidentally close a Service Host application, don’t worry about it, just restart the computer and it’ll open back up automatically.
Its also good to note which applications open automatically as soon as you start your computer. Too many of these is often why it takes so long to startup.
Disk Cleanup
Found at: Windows Search Bar → “Disk Cleanup”
The second reason your computer could be slowing down is because there are too many junk files hanging around – it gets harder to move around a room as it gets more cluttered. Launch the disk cleanup, and it will automatically find and calculate how many unnecessary files are on your computer, such as stuff in your Trash bin, temporary files, update remains, obsolete software, etc.
But the disk cleanup is limited in what it can delete, so if there is software that works, but you don’t use, you will have to delete that yourself.
Deleting Unnecessary Apps
Windows Search Bar → “Control Panel” → Programs → “uninstall a program”
That brings us to our third tip,
deleting unnecessary applications. Games, old software, multiple
versions of the same application, etc. All of it can go.
Just open up Programs, right click what you don’t want, then click uninstall.
Fresh Install
Windows Search Bar → “Reset this PC” → “Get Started”
If all else fails, you are ready to sell it, you’ve backed everything up and you are ready to toss it, try resetting it one last time, and start fresh. It might just work. Perhaps something was installed that shouldn’t have been, that you couldn’t find. With a fresh wipe, it’ll be gone and may just fix whatever the issue was.
The most extreme version of turning it off & on.
For more Windows tips check out this article: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/12-tips-to-speed-up-windows-10
Mac Computers
Mac makes things a little more
difficult to fix, but in exchange, usually you don’t have these
types of problems. But if you do, the same applies:
Activity Monitor
Launchpad → “Activity Monitor”
You will see CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network at the top. Click CPU.
Your CPU is your Central Processing Unit for the computer, in other words the brain of the machine. All the applications you see under the CPU are the things the computer is running, or ‘thinking’ about. The number one reason computers slow down is simply because it is doing too much at once.
On the left you will see application names, some you’ll recognize, others you won’t. On the far right, you will see which “User” is using the application on the system.You can close just about any application that has your user name attached to it. Try not to close anything with the “root” username attached to it.
Other than that, if a task is taking up too much ‘brain power’, or you feel it shouldn’t be running at all, right click it and end it. If you accidentally close a root application, don’t worry about it, just restart the computer and it’ll open back up automatically.
Its also good to note which applications open automatically as soon as you start your computer. Too many of these is often why it takes so long to startup.
Clear Cache & RAM
To do this manually would take a while, so some people recommend installing the app CleanMyMac. I tried it out and hypothetically the process is easy:
Website: https://cleanmymac.com/
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac-x/id1339170533?mt=12Select
“System Junk”, and click “Scan”. After that just hit “Clean”
and you’re done!
...But apparently it costs money to get a full clean of the computer. About $35 for a year subscription. You could do that, or, when you finish the scan, the App shows you every single garbage file that it will delete, and if you right click and press “show in Finder” it takes you right to it. You could then just press delete.
...that will still take a while, but it's better than finding them manually so I guess it works.
There is also MacCleaner Pro, but apparently that also costs money. https://nektony.com/mac-cleaner-pro
Windows is definitely better in this instance. But then again, on Mac you probably never had to do this before.
Deleting Unnecessary Apps
App Store Apps
If you open Launchpad and hold the “Option” key, you will notice all the apps “jiggle”.
While they are ‘jiggling’, you will notice an X in the top left corner of certain apps. These are apps that were downloaded from the app store, and thus can be deleted simply by pressing this X.
Internet Apps
Applications that you downloaded off the internet will have to be deleted differently.
Go to Finder → Applications
Right Click the app you don’t want,
and select “Move to Trash”.
More on deleting apps (written
by Apple): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202235
For more Mac tips check out this article: https://macpaw.com/how-to/speed-up-mac
Hopefully that helps with any problems you were having, and about wiping a mac, it is not a quick process, so I didn’t write about it.
But if you are interested… https://www.wikihow.com/Wipe-a-Mac-Clean
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