The computer that had stopped being worth using
Take a computer that has slowed to a crawl and do the two things that actually help — without paying anybody, buying anything, or replacing a machine that is perfectly all right.
You now know what every part of a computer does, what makes one slow down, and which of the popular remedies are worth anything.
Here is a machine that somebody was on the point of throwing away. It is four years old and there is nothing whatever wrong with it. Nobody is going to tell you what to press.
Key points
- Tell the difference between a computer that is tired and one that is finished.
- Install the update a machine has been putting off, which is the single most useful thing you can do to one.
- Find what has actually taken the room on a disk — which is nearly always three or four enormous things, not a thousand small ones.
What to remember
- Your own machine has both of those waiting in it. There is an update it has been putting off because you were in the middle of something, and there are three or four enormous things in Downloads that you have not looked at since the day they landed. On a real computer the room comes back for good when you empty the Recycle Bin — which is worth doing deliberately, once you have had a look at what is in there.
- Honestly — how was that?
Try this
Open the Downloads folder on your own computer and look for anything with the word copy in its name, or an installer for a program you already have. Those two kinds of thing are usually the largest and the least missed.
Practice: The computer that had stopped being worth using. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.