Slow Computer?

Is your PC running slow?

The first things I check:
(1) Is there a horse blanket of lint and dust buried in my CPU or Video cards fan & Heat sink?

(2) Is my HD (C:) getting full? 25 Gigs FREE is the lowest anyone should allow their PC to go.

(3) Are too many files still inside my Temp directory. C:\Windows\Temp\ .
     Clean as many out as you can. They do not belong there. Every time you open a window or file, Windows
     checks each and every file in that directory (by opening/reading its header then closing) to see if it has anything
to do with the new window you are opening. If you a lot of files in the Temp directory it will take THAT long
before your new window opens. Stupid - Right?
     BTW: These delete a lot easier in Safe Mode. But you will likely lose your Desktop settings and need to rearrange icons again.

(4) Do you have more than one Virus Protection running? You "cannot" have more than one running. EVER.

(5) Is your Virus Protector stuck in some Protect Mode?
    Open Task Manager (cntl/alt/del). Click on "Processes. Click on CPU (twice).
    This will show what is using the most CPU time.
    You should see 99% System Idle, and a few processes taking 1 or 2 or 3 or 5% sporadically.
    What you should not see is your Virus scanner or protector taking anything if you did not tell it to scan.
    If it is stuck you will likely see it absorbing up 25% cpu timing.
    If so, Highlight it, then click END Process. That goes for anything else robbing that much CPU time that you
    did not intend to run.

If you suspect your Windows files may have become corrupt, and ONLY if you have the Windows CD/DVD that came with your computer (or if you have a recovery partition): (otherwise skip to final step)

Click START/RUN <enter>
In the DOS window type: SFC /Scannow
This will check, and replace any Windows System file that is found to be corrupt. It will not replace any drivers or other
important files.

The Final option to try to help a slow system is to Right click on drive C:.
Click on Properties,
then Tools,
then ERROR CHECKING click Check Now then Reboot.

Upon reboot it will check your HD drive and System file structure to make sure it has not become corrupt.