Personal computers are great add-ons to any home offices as these office equipments help speed up the work and many office tasks. But there will be times wherein these office equipments can be the source of delays in production. This will usually happen when the computer starts to slow down and it starts to become a liability instead of an asset. But why do computers slow down and what are the causes of slow computer?

Computer experts often list many causes of slow computer. The traditional causes of the slowing down of the computer include files that are disorganized on the computer, often unwanted and those un-important programs and software within the computer causes problems on the computer as well. If you think that unused network drives do no harm to your personal computer, well think again.

These things make your computer suffer. And if there are a number of programs that run at start-up like a messenger system, then remember that these programs are party to the issues experienced by the slow computer.

Now that the causes of slow computer have been identified, then the next logical step is to address these issues. First up is to identify the programs that aren't and are rarely used. Check as well the programs that start automatically and if these programs never used or used rarely then these programs should be deleted from the system.

Often these programs are designed to run in the background so that once they are used, they will seem to start up quickly. Well these programs may not obviously slow down your personal computer but these programs can steal some memory from your personal computer.

Managing programs that run every time the pc is started cane be done by using the System Configuration Tool that is included on all Windows XP installations.

The System Configuration Tool can be started by clicking on the Start button, clicking on Run and by typing "Msconfig" on the space provided and by pressing Enter. When you check the Startup tab, there you will see the many programs and the software that runs every time your slow pc runs and loads.

Delete the ones that you rarely use or you don't need and click on Apply. To implement the effect, you need to re-start the computer. If the temporary files are loaded then this could be one of the causes of slow computer as well. So make sure that you clean up the Internet temporary files.

Aside from these recommended steps, there are others ways out there in order to speed up a slow computer and undo the many causes of slow computer. Another way is to run a defrag on the computer's hard drive. Just make sure that the drive is not compressed.

Cleaning up the disk can be done by clicking on Start, then the All Programs/Accessories and by selecting the System Tools. When you're there select the Disk Clean-up option. And just to make sure that there will be no more issues, make sure that you add more memory.

About the Author

Carolyn Capalbo is an expert military relocation specialist and real estate agent serving Northern Virginia real estate. Visit Just4Real.com to find updated market information about areas in Prince William, including Chantilly VA real estate