Why Computers Are
Slow - Part 1
By Cate Eales
Appeared July 24, 2008 on castanet.net
In the last few weeks I've seen some problems again and
again, but I've also seen some new and different ones. This week's column
touches on both types. The number one call we get for service here is, "My
computer is slow." We'll look at reasons for that over the next few weeks.
And I have a few other solutions for you, too.
Why computers are slow - Reason 1
There are three likely causes for computers being slow. There are fixes
for all three. We'll look at one today, and the others in future columns.
Without a doubt, the first most frequent problem is there is not enough
RAM in the computer.
Random Access
Memory provides temporary storage for data while the computer is
turned on. RAM is not the same thing as a Hard Drive, which provides
permanent storage, whether the computer is off or on. If you have 512MB of
RAM or less, and your computer seems sluggish, you should consider
installing more RAM.
For instructions on finding out how much RAM your computer has, how much
it can hold, and what kind you need, have a look at
this column or consider having
the work done by a professional.
Outlook Express only checks spelling in French
It took a little while to track this one down, but apparently many people
who are running Windows XP, Outlook Express 6, and Microsoft Office 2007
are having this problem. The absolute easiest way to correct this problem
is to install a third-party program called
Spellcheck for OE, available here.
More ways to shrink photos
Last month I wrote about why
it's good to shrink the size of the photos you send as email attachments
and showed you a couple ways to do that. As luck would have it, there are
two even easier ways.
Photo Gadget, available here, will do it in about three clicks. Shrink
Pic, on the other hand, runs in the background, detects when you're trying
to send a large photo, and deals with it for you.
You can get it here.
Both programs are free. Photo Gadget will work with XP, but not with
Vista. Shrink Pic works great on my XP machine, even when I use Gmail and
Yahoo!Mail. Shrink Pic claims to work with Vista, but I could not get it
working on my client's Vista Home Premium machine.
Get rid of the Vista Welcome Center
Are you a Vista user? Are you tired of the Vista Welcome Center showing up
every time you start your computer? You can easily stop that from
happening, and you can easily bring it back if you ever need it again.
To make the Welcome Center go away, remove the check mark next to "Run at
startup..." and close the Welcome Center. Next time you need it, click on
Start | Control Panel | System and Maintenance, or just type "welcome"
(without the quotes) in the start menu search box.
Thank you once again to everyone who wrote with questions, suggestions,
comments and requests for service calls. You can email your questions,
comments and suggestions to me at
cate@rlis.com. Don't forget, the archives are always available.
Point your browser here to go
there. If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email,
please visit this link. It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the
RSS Feed, click here.
Links
Spellcheck of OE
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/spelloe.html
Photo Gadget
http://www.xemico.com/photogadget/freeware.html
Shrink Pic
http://www.onthegosoft.com/shrink_pic.htm?referer=shrinkpic
RAM Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM
Getting Along With Your Computer - RAM
http://rlis.com/columns/column102.htm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives
http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618
RSS Feed:
http://rlis.com/rlis.xml
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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible
and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric,
and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions,
helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware
eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image
management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management.
Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your
comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit
the Real Life Internet Solutions website at
www.rlis.com.
©
Cate Eales 2008 – All Rights Reserved
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