HJDS Computer Services Computer Systems Support and Installation.

After running their new computer for a time, users often complain that their new machine has slowed down. It just does not run as fast as it did on Day 1.

Why does this happen? And, further, what can be done to speed it up again?

The problem is most likely to be in the Registry of your Windows operating system. OK, but what is this Registry?

The Windows Registry is a database which keeps settings and options for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It has information and settings for hardware, operating system software, most non-operating system software, and also your per-user settings.

There are two basic elements in the registry: keys and values

Registry Keys are very like folders – in addition to values, each key can contain subkeys, which can contain further subkeys, and so on. Keys are written with a syntax just like Windows’ path names, using backslashes to indicate levels of hierarchy.

An example might be (you do not actually need to read this if you do not want to– it will not solve anything):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows refers to the subkey “Windows” of the subkey “Microsoft” of the subkey “Software” of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.

The most common PC troubles are usually found at locations spread throughout your PC. Now that we know the cause, what is the solution to the problem?

You should get a SCANNER which allows you to scan for invalid registry entries that could be causing your PC to become creakily slow. This is software which will show you where the errors exist, and what potential problems they might cause.

Good scanner software will then repair the problem and your sloggingly slow computer will suddenly find itself running at top speed again.

The result is that you and your now lightning fast computer will be happy as clams in a mud bank. Well, that is just a saying … computers just ABHOR mud.

Disclaimer – This information is not meant to diagnose, cure, treat or mitigate any disease or condition. Before using consult your doctor or medical advisor. This information is not approved by any government agency – it is for educational purposes only.

Posted under Software

In today’s newer, larger operating systems, registry corruption is a very real problem. Because of this, the registry should be cleaned periodically. Some think registry cleaning is not a needed operation because in years past a PC’s performance never deteriorated due to registry corruption. However, registry corruption in Windows XP and Vista cause a significant drop-off in performance.

Registry files are huge and complex. Some of these files tell each command a computer operation is carrying out where it will find its next needed file. You can think of these files as pointers.

Registry Corruption Causes Slowdowns

When pointers from no longer needed software still exist in the registry, they point to files an operation doesn’t need or worse yet, they point to a file that is no longer in the registry. This means an operation will be sent out looking for something that is useless for its completion. So, all an unneeded pointer does is waste time. These types of pointers are a form of registry corruption.

Because Windows XP and Vista are so large, false pointers waste a lot of the computer’s time and resources doing operations that are in no way helpful. Such operations need to be repeated again and again until the right pointer has shown the operating system the correct path. Of course, this will make the computer appear to be operating slowly.

Registry corruption can make a computer slow down so badly it can no longer be used. Of course, this would take a substantial amount of corruption, but it can and often does happen. Registry corruption can also cause the computer to crash and be error prone. Even the blue screen failure has often been the result of corruption in the registry.

Viruses, Spyware, Registry Corruption May All Look the Same, But…

Registry corruption may make a computer behave in a similar fashion to the way a computer operates when it is infected with spyware or a virus. Like registry corruption, spyware and viruses can also make a computer slow down and be error prone. However, where registry corruption makes the computer preform unnecessary operations, spyware and viruses steal the computer’s resources.

Though your computer has many more resources than just the CPU, opening up your task manager and looking at your CPU history will give you a very good idea how much of your computer’s resources are being used at any one time. Sometimes it is possible the CPU will be at 100 percent usage when the computer is just sitting idly. This could happen because spyware was using all your CPU power to do its misdeeds.

If a lot of your computer’s resources were being used and you tried to get the computer to do any task, like open up your word processor, you would see your computer would open it very slowly, if it was able to do it at all.

To give a quick recap, we all need to keep our computers to be free of viruses and spyware. However, if this is all we do we still may have a computer that is slow and error prone and may crash on occasion. The reason a spyware free computer would behave like this is that it probably has a corrupt registry.

It is important, but not enough to keep your PC free of viruses and spyware. On occasion a computer’s registry needs to be scanned for and cleaned of corruption. Doing this will insure your computer will run without producing errors and it will always run at its peak speed.

Posted under Software