Why computers get slower — and when one is genuinely finished
Give an older computer back most of its speed in an hour, and know which remedies do nothing at all.
A processor is no slower on its tenth birthday than on its first. There is no rust, no friction, nothing that gets tired. And yet the machine genuinely is slower — for four reasons, every one of which can be undone.
Key points
- Nothing inside wears out — things accumulate, and accumulation can be undone
- An SSD, more memory and a tidy start-up list are the three real fixes
- Cleaner programs, defragmenting and “resting” the machine do nothing useful
What to remember
- The start-up list is free to tidy, takes five minutes, and is often the difference between a two‑minute wait and a twenty-second one.
- Every genuinely useful item on that list is either free or under $40. Everything on the right-hand side is folklore or salesmanship.
- Slow to start but fine afterwards — disk. Slower the more you open — memory. Slow at one particular job — processor.
Try this
Look at what starts with your computer. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc and choose the Start-up tab. On a Mac, open System Settings, then General, then Login Items. Switch off anything you do not recognize or use daily — nothing in that list is required, and you can switch any of it back on at any time.
Practice: Why computers get slower — and when one is genuinely finished. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.