Don’t Overdrive Your Drive!
By Jon Kenton
Q. My computer is not that old, maybe six to eight months. It is reasonably configured and seemed like a good performer, but over the last month or so, it has become noticeably slower. What can I do?
A. Number one: I hope you have virus protection installed, and that it is a good one that also checks for “Trojans” and “Spyware,” as these can really clog up your PC. Make sure all the virus files are fully up-to-date and scan regularly.
Generally, low performance has two causes: The first is that you are trying to push your processor too hard with complex software. It’s a bit like trying to get your family car to go 150 mph; it’s just too much for it. Second, you are overloading the memory and running out of resources. Using our family car analogy, it’s like loading it up with five people, luggage, and a trailer—it’s going to slow down, right?
There are a few areas you can check to help reduce the load, although it will depend on which applications seem to be slowest.
1. Check your browser’s temporary and history files. Look under options; you should delete and clean these out regularly.
2. Defragment your disks (look under the admin menus). As the disk is used, it becomes fragmented as it creates, copies, and adds and deletes files. Fragmenting will make you computer less organized and inefficient.
3. Look in the bottom-right icon bar. If you have a bunch of software installed, there may be many utilities that are “conveniently” pre-run for you. Individually, they don’t take up much space, but if you have a lot of them, they can add up. Check the ones you need and get rid of the rest.
4. If you know that you need to use an application that is pretty resource-hungry, close down as many other applications as you can.
Bottom line: You may need more memory. If you have recently installed some new software, check the specifications for resource requirements, specifically memory. If you are using a high-end graphics, photo, or video package, you will need at least 1GB, preferably 2GB.
Q. I have lots of photos on my laptop, and it’s tough for everybody to see on the small screen. The viewing angle is really bad, too. Can I use my big-screen TV as a PC screen?
A. Yes, probably. It will depend on your TV and its inputs and your laptop and its outputs. With most current TVs and laptops, there is usually a way. Here is what you should check:
Take a look at your laptop first. At a minimum, it should have a VGA output. It is a D style connector that is used to connect to an external monitor like a desktop PC. Some laptops also come with an S-Video output. If you are not sure which is which, check your manual or look up the specs of your laptop online. If you have one or both of these connectors, you then need to match it to an input on your TV. Again, look in your TV’s user manual and see what it’s got. Some TVs will have a dedicated VGA port (mine does); most should have a spare S-Video input. All you then have to do is connect them with the appropriate cable, set your laptop to use the external monitor, and away you go.
If you can’t find a match between your TV and laptop, there are a couple of other options, although they will require more than a cable. First, there are a variety of converter boxes out there that could help you match your laptop’s VGA output to an input that you do have on your TV. Search the web for “VGA to TV video converters.” Second, if you want to go the high-tech route, you could buy a wireless media player to hook up to your TV. This lets you stream photos, music, and video using the inbuilt wireless card in your PC to the box, which then displays them on your TV.