Could this make my computer less laggy?

Question

Sometimes my computer can become laggy, like it may freeze for a few seconds when tabbing up or down a window. Sometimes programs may not respond if I have other programs open at the same time. I have a lot of pictures on my computer that I don't need anymore. If I deleted a lot of these pictures, would that help towards improving my computer lag? Or will it even make a difference?

Answer 1

Deleting old stuff always helps - if not with speed just with space.

First, do this to clean up everything (it'll take a few hours if you haven't done it before)

1. clean out Temporary Internet Files and cookies.  Go to Inernet Explorer, Tools > Options and delete history, cookies, and temp files (on IE7 it's Tools>Delete Browsing History)

2. run Disk-Cleanup and get rid of all the temporary files and other junk.  Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > SystemTools > DiskCleanup

3. Defragment you drive - this is like re-arranging a fileing cabinet so everything is close together instead of scattered everywhere.  Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > SystemTools > Defragment

Answer 2

I can think of several answers.

1 - yeah, making space on your HD can't hurt.  Your PC uses the HD for memory when RAM gets low, and the HD can be very slow.  Once you clean out the HD, you'll need to defrag - you'll need to get something like 13% of your HD clean before defragging.

2 - RAM, never a bad idea for an upgrade.  It's cheap, it's easy (insert your Las Vegas joke here) and you can find out what you need at the Crucial website.  Think of a computer running programs as a college student doing a research paper.  The student grabs the books off the shelves and arrays them at a study table.  The shelves have more room than the table, but the table is much closer, and the student can access what's in those books much faster.  Adding RAM won't turn your machine into Greased Lightning, but it will make its work noticeably smoother.

3 - In the words of Christopher Rock "Turn that S^&T off!!" You may have programs running in the background that you don't need.  Look at the system tray (lower right) to be sure you know what's running.

4 Spyware?  Viruses?  Bad guys like to slip all sorts of stuff onto your machine.  It's not like the 1990's when most viruses were for vandalism (flashing compromising pictures of Phoebe Cates on Magellan's birthday).  Today's viruses are stealing your info and working behind the stage where they won't get spotted.  When they're not stealing your personal info, they're linking your machine up with ther infected machines in huge swarms of "bot-nets".  Either way could make performance hits at least slightly noticeable.  Get good AV software.

5 - freezes (ironically enough) may be the result of overheating CPU's.  I had freezes on my Dell Dimension earlier this year, and the problem disappeared once I changed the heat sink - I spread some "Arctic Silver V" after removing the old stuff.  I won't go through the instructions here - there are good tutorials on the internet.

just some things that crossed my mind.

good luck.

Answer 3

Generally having a lot of data on your computer will not slow you down very much unless your hard drive is almost full.

If you are not accessing these pictures they should not slow you down.

You can improve your performance a little by defragmenting.

There are a number of things that you can do in general to speed up your computer. Details here http://www.ask-the-computer-doc.com/boos...