Step By Step to Fixing A Slow, Freezing Or Crashing Computer
Step 1
Many times if you let your browser cookies and files build up it can cause your computer to slow down dramatically. The very first thing I would do is clear your cookies and files. This is pretty easy to do in Internet Explorer just go to tools, then click internet options then click delete under the browser history. Once you do that then you will see the temporary internet files in bold and click delete and also the cookies and click delete cookies. This not only gets rid of these cookies and files but will make any software you ruin later to diagnose your computer problems faster.
Step 2
Once this is done, run a spyware program like Ad-Aware. You can get it free for your personal use at:
Ad-Aware
Make sure you update the file definitions the first thing and then scan your whole computer. Lots of spyware programs will cause your computer to run extremely slow.
Step 3
The next thing I do is scan my computer with an anti-virus program. If you don't have one already I suggest you download AVG Anti-Virus free for home and non-commercial use.
Avg Anti-Virus
Again, make sure you have the latest file definition updates before you scan your computer. If the program finds any viruses, Trojans or etc then you can delete them if it wasn't done automatically for you.
Step 4
Whether you find a virus or not I would still do this step and run a free diagnostic scan of your computer. This will tell you exactly if your problem is in the windows registry or other problems you may be having.
You can download the free computer diagnostic software to scan your computer at:
http://www.registryrepairmadeeasy.com
Once you do the four steps above you should know what the problem is that is causing your computer to run slow, freeze or crash. The main thing is to know what the problem is before you spend your money on a solution to fit it.