We had a great time at the Wood Green Business Fair and a few people were asking our team for help with their system.

One interesting query was from Barry Hyam of Etchells Electrical who commented his Microsoft Outlook was locking up and system was running slow.

Although we don’t have enough details for a full answer, it is an interesting question as so many people have problems with slow computers these days. Often the solution is simple if time consuming.

The two most common causes

We find the two most common causes of slow systems is:

1. Insufficient memory (RAM) or / and
2. Malware (virus, trojan, worms, spyware or other malicious software) on your computer.

To determine if the RAM is the issue we find a general rule of thumb is that if you are running Windows XP then you require over 512MB RAM, 1GB preferred, but the page file also needs setting to take full advantage of the RAM increase. With 512MB or less, the computer WILL be slow.

Checking for malicious software

To check the second issue, click these links to visit either TrendMicro Housecall or Norton (Symantec) online scanner, and run a scan. The result will let you know what to do next (or use Twitter to @Ask _Ken of course).

Just a note when using Symantec link above, don’t click [download now] as this will add yet another program to your system which will make it run even slower, but click [continue to Symantec security check] then click [start] under virus check.

Hopefully this information will not only get Barry up and running but help others out there too.

If you need a hand…

If you have technical queries, then remember we are here to help, phone us on 01480 469 019, email us at sales@ktscomp.co.uk , or just bring your recalcitrant computer in for us to service!

You can also send us a question on Twitter   @Ask_Ken 🙂