You have probably recognised things slowing down as the days get shorter and slightly colder. It is a natural thing to happen at this time of year which is why we have previously written about whether your business should be hibernating.

Whilst some things will naturally slow down, one thing that shouldn’t is your computer. So here are some of our tips to speed it up if you find that it’s slowing you down.

The easiest solution to an IT problem, and a well worn cliche for a reason. Restarting your computer will clear the cache of information it’s holding.

It can often be the random selection of files being held onto “just in case” that can slow things down. Restart and you’ll often find things working much more smoothly.

A close second thing to take action on before digging into more involved solutions, is to close the background apps you have running on your computer.

This works in a similar way to a restart will, but is action taken by you rather than the computer itself. Closing the things that are running in the background, especially if they are unnecessary, will help your machine focus on completing the task you really need it to do.

Of the slightly more involved action you can take to improve the performance of your computer, the first is updating your operating software.

Why does this work? Predominantly because software updates are around fixing bugs and optimizing performance. If you update your operating software you should find your device running more quickly and efficiently.

The second approach you can take is to try to free up disk space.

This too can be more involved but is worth doing periodically. Look through your files and delete things that aren’t being used, you could even move them to the cloud if you prefer. If this feels a bit manual, there are plenty of tools you can look at to help get the job done for you.

Finally, don’t forget to empty the recycling bin otherwise you’ve just moved files – rather than permanently getting rid of them.

Check for malware

Finally, it’s absolutely worth checking out whether your computer is being slow for more nefarious reasons.

In many instances a computer will be slow because it is old or overloaded with tasks that it is being asked to complete. Sometimes, the reason for slow running can be due to malware being deployed on the machine.

As always its recommended to ensure that you have good and up to date anti malware on your computer to prevent this from happening. If you do find that your computer is slow running its always worth doing a quick scan to ensure that nothing untowards is in the background.

If when reading this article you recognise areas in which your IT can improve, WebbyTech is here to help. You can see the full range of services we offer here, or contact us directly for a no obligations conversation..