The slowdown had been gradual, but it eventually became obvious. Sometimes things performed better than others. For example, I'd be typing along just fine, then all of a sudden I was a whole sentence ahead of what was showing on the screen; I'd have to stop and wait until it caught up. The optical mouse on my desktop seemed to have a mind of its own. Instead of working smoothly, it jerked. I'd scroll down, then have to wait for the cursor to move. The last straw came yesterday afternoon when I had to submit a job report. The report itself was mainly yes/no check boxes, but I also had to upload18 photos. It took me almost two hours to finish it!
Last night I did a thorough spring cleaning of both computers. Even though I always keep my virus software up to date I checked again to make sure it was. I ran the disk cleanup utility and made sure all my browser plugins were up to date. I deleted a couple of old programs I didn't need any more (and had forgotten was there). Thankfully, that took care of the issues. Now both computers are humming along.
Five years ago today: Can You Believe It?
Very cool that you got things running proper. Hot dog.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are quite the techie Kathy, good work. Disk cleanup sounds a good idea.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago when I had an older computer I remembered to do a disk cleanup on a regular basis. Now, though, since my desktop is newer and working well I'd forgotten about it.
DeleteWell look at you! That's so cool that you are able to do that, Kathy. I try to stay on top of my plugins but I don't have a clue how to run a disk cleanup utility. How do you do that?
ReplyDeleteIf you have a newer Windows-based computer, look on the control panel under performance information and tools, then open disk cleanup (on the left hand side of the screen and do what it tells you to. Or find a computer geek to help :-)
DeleteSpring cleaning for my computer - that is something I've never thought of doing. The slow down seems to occur so gradually that sometimes I don't notice how much longer things are taking to process. I'm going to follow your lead and clean things up!
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the 'so gradual' part. All of a sudden you realize that instead of chugging along you're just inching.
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