As we mentioned in our last column, slowdown is the most common problem we encounter.  In that column we dealt primarily with software issues.  This month, we’ll focus mostly on hardware.  Your computer has a set amount of resources that are determined when you first buy it.  There lots of bits and pieces that make up the hardware of your computer, but there a key few that specifically affect its speed.

The Processor is the main “brain” of the computer.  It has a set speed that is measured in GigaHertz (GHz).  The number roughly specifies the number of calculations it can do per second.  The higher the number is, the faster the computer is.  That initial speed will not change over time, and it is not usually feasible to replace your processor with a faster one down the road.

The RAM could be described as temporary storage... the short-term memory.  Your computer has a certain amount of RAM, measured in Megabytes or Gigabytes.  Every time you double-click an icon to start a program, that program is loaded into RAM.  When you close that program and start a new one, the new program is loaded into RAM and takes the place of the previously running program.   As we mentioned last month it is often possible to add more RAM quickly and cheaply, and the resulting increase in speed is significant.

The Hard Drive is the storage locker on your computer.  Hard Drives are measured in Gigabytes.  The number of Gigabytes determines how much storage space you have.  That space is occupied by your Operating System, your programs (MS Office, Internet Explorer, Skype, etc.) and, most importantly, your personal data, which usually consists of documents, pictures, music, and records.  Hard Drives can be upgraded or replaced if need be, but that will not likely affect your speed very much.  They are generally only replaced due to hardware failure or inadequate capacity for your personal data.  One key misconception about hard drives is that if you have a lot of data then your computer will be slower.  This is not in fact true anymore.  Computers used to have very small hard drives and were constantly filling up, and the only time the hard drive will slow down your computer is when it is filled very close to its capacity.

Let’s also look at some speed-related mythology – red herrings and the grains of truth behind them:

Red Herring 1:  Having a large number of pictures, music, documents, icons on the Desktop, etc. will slow your computer.  As stated above, your computer’s speed is not affected by stored data until it is very nearly full.
Grain of Truth:  Data saved within a program can affect the speed of that program... but only that program.  A prime example of this is your e-mail program, such as Outlook Express. If you have a lot of messages, attachments, folders, calendar items, to-do lists, etc. that program can be slow to load and sluggish to use, because the data is saved right within the program, unlike the majority of programs, which save files separately.

Red Herring 2:  Paying for high/higher speed internet will make your computer faster.  We hear many clients say that they have changed to a faster/more expensive internet service but that their computer is no faster.
Grain of Truth:  Faster internet service will make web content get to your computer faster.  The rub there is that if your computer itself is slow to begin with, then having internet traffic flooding in faster will not result in a better browsing experience.  (Internet experience is an especially confusing subject as related to speed issues, because there are so many variables interacting – computer, Internet connection, and the website itself.)

Red Herring 3:  I’ve got to get rid of all of those cookies, because there are so many of them that they are slowing things down.
Grain of Truth:  Cookies are not actually considered by most experts to be spyware.  They are in a mostly benign category and can actually make your browsing experience more efficient, by remembering your login information for sites and getting you back to your favourites more quickly.  While they may compromise your privacy in some circumstances, they are not actually a slowdown issue.

Write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 613-731-5954 to discuss computer issues, or to suggest future columns.