Why does my computer lag randomly so badly?

Answer 1

There is usually a reason for your computer lag, here are some possible reasons.

INTERNET LAG:

1. Your Service provider is bad

2. You have a bad internet adapter in your computer

3. You have a bad Internet plan

4. You have several computers on your home network

5. You are downloading something, and its slowing down the Internet

6. Malware is consuming your bandwidth.

COMPUTER LAG:

1. Your computer is old, and cannot keep up with newer software.

2. Your computer has viruses or other malware, and cannot function.

3. Your computer has broken/melted parts.

4. Your hard drive is fragmented or is having trouble so is slow...

5. You have lots of programs running, and taking up memory.

6. Excessive things are loading on startup.

HERE ARE SOME FIXES:

1. Get software to remove malware and spyware.

This includes Malware Bytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, AVG, and others. Advanced users can use Hijack This, but care must be taken to only remove what doesn't belong on the list.

2. Get utility software.

This includes programs like TuneUp Utilities, System Mechanic, Norton Utilities, Fix It Utilities, PC Utility Kit, and others. CCleaner (AKA Cr*p Cleaner) is good for finding and removing system clutter.

Advanced users can get Autoruns from Microsoft to delete references to missing files, stop programs from loading on startup, remove unnecessary shell hooks, and more. Another advanced trick is to get a partition management program like EaseUs Partition Master (home license is free), creating at least 2 partitions, and putting just your operating system and installed software on the first partition. You would put all your media and personal files on any partition other than the first one. The front of a mechanical hard drive is the fastest, since there are more sectors on the outer part of the hard drive platters. Movies, archives, text files, photos, and music are not as speed critical as your programs and operating system and can be placed later on the drive.

3. Run a disk defragger

Go to the start menu -> All programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

Or from My Computer (Computer in Windows 7), right click on the drive in question, go to Properties, then tab over to Tools, then run the defrag program from there.

If you don't like the one that comes with Windows, a good free one is Defraggler by Piriform. They also make Ccleaner.

4. Upgrade your hardware.

Either do it yourself or take it to a shop. Depending on the quality of your computer, and how much better you want it, you can choose to pay anywhere from $10 for ram to $7000 for high a end gaming grade system! It depends what is lagging. If it is an old computer and you don't want to buy a new one, you can sometimes buy better parts from eBay and other auction sites. Sometimes you can find a faster CPU that will fit on your board, like getting the fastest Pentium 4 which is compatible with your board to replace a Celeron. Other times, a new hard drive may help you a lot. A SSD drive typically has faster read times, and can be a good addition in machines which support them.

One advanced hint here is that sometimes computer issues and lagging is caused by a buggy BIOS. Some motherboards take a very long time too boot because of incompatibilities between the system BIOS and the video card. To fix that, you'd either try another video card or flash the BIOS to the latest version. Also, flashing the BIOS can also occasionally allow you to use more versions of the CPU, fix CPU problems, allow more brands of RAM to be used, improve stability, and sometimes improve performance. Do not flash the BIOS unnecessarily, as there is a slight risk of destroying the motherboard, but figure out what version you have and see if the manufacturer has a newer version, and see what it fixes or changes to see if you need it. You would want to flash it when there are no storms nor excessive heat, and preferably with a backup power supply.

5. Reformat the boot partition and reinstall everything.

This is a last resort attempt at a fix and should be tried last if at all. If you cannot do this yourself, it may cost around $60 for a shop to do it. If you have data, ask them to back up your files first, or do that yourself.

Answer 2

As an educated guess, it is one of the following. But do not fear, I offer ways to fix them!

1:You have a virus. Run a boot scan using something not sold at best buy.

2:You have too much on your hard-drive. Clean up things you don't need.

3:Every time you click a link, your computer opens a new tab. Close the old ones.

4:You have way too many processes going on, among them: Iphone compatibility RTP compress (1, 2, 3, and 4), HP EzPrint Client, GenERIC virus scan (paranoid mode), etc. Just use task manager to close some of the ones you can identify and know you wont use until your next reboot. (use the processes menu)

If it isnt any of these then ask a tech-savvy relative to look at it; they will promptly do one of the things above properly.

Good Luck!