Should I buy a new computer?

Is your computer getting slower and slower?  It used to take only couple minutes to start but now it takes nearly 10 minutes.  You tried:

• DiskCleanup to free up disk space;
• Disk Defragmenter to speed up data access;
• Error Checking utility to detect and repair disk errors; and
• Security software to clean your computer against malware, spyware and virus.

Nothing worked!  Every morning, you can enjoy your coffee and donut while waiting for your computer to start.  Should you buy a new machine?  Before you take out your credit card, you may want to try 1 more thing’; disable some of your startup applications.

Startup Applications

When you start Windows; some applications would automatically start with Windows.  It is not uncommon to see a computer with over 100 sartup applications (or 200+ at some extreme cases).  I bet you probably don’t know most of them if you go over them in System Configuration dialogue.  Do you need them all?  I highly doubt it!  You should seriously consider disabling them or even uninstall them!

You may want to discuss with your IT consultant on what application should be loaded during startup.  I can often disable 90% of them and regain the power of my client’s machine.

You can review your startup applications list by:

• Enter msconfig at command prompt.
• Select Startup tab at System Configuration dialogue.

It is very simple to disable startup applications; however, the bigger question is why these startup applications were installed at the first place?  Does your company have change management strategy in place?  Can your staffs install anything they want on their computer?  Do you know what applications were installed in your company?

Andrew Chan is the owner and founder of ALG Inc.