little slow. Kind of puzzled me. And I put up with
it for a while.
But then it got a little irritating. While trying
to surf the web, I noticed that web pages were taking
much too long to load. This is always an irritant.
And, Internet Explorer was also taking its time
coming up.
Now, I'm no novice on the computer, but, sometimes
we humans can get a 'lapse of memory'. Anyway,
that's my excuse for forgetting one of the basics
of computing; and that is that the computer uses
up SYSTEM RESOURCES.
Every program on the computer, including icons,
uses some SYSTEM RESOURCES.
Whenever a program is started, it loads into your
computer's memory. Memory is a resource. Some
programs will release the memory it was using, when
you quit the program, and some will not. So, part
of a resource is not being made available to you.
Get enough of these, and guess what? Slow Downs!
Hang-ups (freezes).
I'm not an expert on the subject, but I did a little
experimenting with this. Here's what I found (remember,
this is only my computer, and yours may vary): After
about 3 hours of operation, I checked my available
resources; down to 58% free. So, from the right-hand
end of my taskbar, I exited the Resource Meter;free
resources now up to 60%. Exited the Pop-Up Stopper;
63% free. Closed Windows Help; 64% free. Closed
Windows Explorer; 66% free. Exited Download
Accelerator; 71% free.
So, from 58% to 71% is a saving of 13%. May not sound
like a whole lot, but it gives you a good idea as to
why your computer may be slowing down.
How do you check your free System Resources? Just go
to Control Panel>System>Performance. If you want to
check it often, then just right-click on the System
icon, choose 'Create shortcut'. It will appear on
your desktop, and you can drag it down to the left
end of your taskbar. Now it's available for quick
use. Or...
Use the System Resource Meter. Go to Start>Programs>
Accessories>System Tools, and click on Resource
Meter. The meter will pop up in your task bar (right
side), and you can keep an eye on it. When it starts
to turn red, then your resources are getting low.
But remember, it also is using up some of your
System Resources.
When you restart your computer, these resources will be
returned to you. But, as you again use the computer,
your computer will again use up the resources.
It really is a 'never-ending' story, and something we all
have to live with. But, if you'll restart your computer
every once in a while, you may find that it runs a
little bit faster.
Worth a try.
Written by: John Evans
