a² + b² = c² – That must have something to do with it right? Naa, not this time, and I promise not to put any math in this discussion whatsoever. There is, however, an analogy that I have been using for years that hearkens back to the days of learning about science and the universe in school.
In the beginning…
Your computer was fast when you bought it, right? Your computer was created with certain specifications that will never change or diminish by simply using your computer, no matter how old your computer gets, and even if you get a really bad virus. This is what I call the “law of conservation of computer resources,” and simply put, it means that computer resources can neither be created nor destroyed.
If your computer is slow, that does not mean your computer is broken or needs to be replaced, no matter what the sales person says
Remember when you were so frustrated with your last computer’s performance that you wanted to tie a rope to it and toss it off the bow of the boat? Here you are again, only a year or two later with the same old problem – frustrated with how slow your once-fast computer has become.
There are many reasons computers slow down – but age is not one of them!
The parts of your computer that matter
Though your computer is made up of many parts and components that all work together, lets focus on the three that are relevant to this topic. They are the Processor (also called the CPU), Memory (also called RAM), and hard drive (often incorrectly referred to as “memory”).
Because computers are intended to assist you in real life, I often find it useful to compare these computer components to the items within our real life homes or offices.
Processor / CPU: This is YOU! That’s right, you are the processor in your home or office. You take in data all day and compute it, then you output it in some useful form. You make decisions every second of the day. Things like, “do I need to leave to pick up the kids now or later?” “How much money should I bring to the store?” Or if you are like me, “where did I leave my keys?”
Hard drive: The hard drive is your office filing cabinet. You keep thousands of pages of records neatly organized in your filing cabinet. Some people alphabetize by the category such as “electric bills” or “vehicle registrations” while other people file things away by “Super 7 Gas Receipts” or “Frank’s Auto Repair.” I bet you have more files in your filing cabinet than you could ever work on at one time, and you need a place to store them. The same is true with computing. You need to store your files for later use, and your hard drive is where that is done!
Memory / RAM: Your computer’s memory, or RAM, is like the desk in your home or office. It is a space that is a certain size, that allows you to take relevant files out of your filing cabinet, spread them out, and work on them in an orderly manner. It often makes more sense to work on batches of files all at once, like paying all of your utility bills at the same time or writing all of your Christmas cards at once. You put these batches of files on your dest, work on them until you are done with them, and put them back in the cabinet. Imagine if you didn’t have a desk? You would have to walk back and forth to the filing cabinet many times, process the files one at a time, inconveniently, and then walk each one back to the file cabinet.
This is where it will all start to make sense…
When you hit the power button on your computer, it begins a process called “booting.” Booting is a sequence whereby the computer starts with an empty desk, a closed file cabinet, and a processor (You) that is fresh and ready to work at full capacity. The processor works hard by making frequent trips back and forth to the hard drive to take files out and put them on the desk (that is indicated by the blinking “hard drive” light on your computer). A well-matched computer will have enough memory to open all of the important items with plenty of extra room for additional files that need to be opened along the way.
But unfortunately, even the best matched computer, with lots of processing power, memory, and hard drive space, can become overburdened with extraneous, unimportant files. When this happens, the computer needs to process an excess of data beyond the scope of its intended performance and its finite resources are consumed by tasks that are not benefiting you. This leaves you with the appearance that your computer is slow. And that is because, you are getting the last fruits of the system’s capabilities. You get the scraps left over after the spyware, trial ware, and even viruses consume your processing power. Even if you don’t have any malicious software on your computer, there is a very good chance that your system is bloated with unnecessary items in the startup which are taking up space on your desk and causing you to run slowly.
The good news is that you more than likely do NOT need a new computer!
In 9 out of 10 cases, you only need a simple software cleanup, NOT a new computer.
We have written proprietary software which has perfected a procedure which we refer to as a “Startup Optimization.” It is a process by which our software examines all of the items that your computer wants to open and then makes a decision as to whether to allow your computer to open each one – or not. If the task is suspicious, like it almost always is, we will not permit your computer to open it. In fact, we will take measures to ensure that it cannot be opened.
The net result is a computer that only starts software that it should, keeping malicious and unnecessary bloating files from bogging your system down.
If you can relate to the challenge of a computer that gets regressively slow over time, you are not alone. You can call us any time and we can help you out with that…the very same day. Just call 877GET-24IT and speak with a technician. If you would like you can email us at support@24it.co or look us up on live chat at www.24it.co.
