We depend on computers too much these days and it's a common observation is that they are a lot slower than when we first bought them. And they are a lot hotter than they used to be.
How could that be? Here are some tips that will definitely make Windows computers run
as fast and as cool as they used to be. I use computers between 5 - 15
years old and they are always fast and reliable!
1- Make sure you remove bloatware that find their ways into your computer over the months as you install stuff and don't even notice how these uninvited stuff enter your computer!
Go
to the control panel, run "uninstall programs" and remove for all the software you do not need and did not even know about. Do this once every
1-2 years.
Then go to the Task Manager (Windows 10) and look for Startup and disable all the stuff (you do not want to have) that want to start up when you boot the computer up.
2-
Every 2 years, your computer needs dusting. Most people don't do this and don't know how to do it. It's really bad for laptops and All-in-one
computers as dust will collect and block the airflow that takes the heat away from the computer parts. The computers run very hot and the fans go very noisy and wear down quickly.
This
is a hard job especially for laptops and most people don't know how to open them up. Even those who are confident enough to open laptops up tend to blow the dust away and put them back together. This does not help much! The dust tends to hideaway between the fan and the heat sink. Even some amateur technicians don't always look at this! The only way is to remove the fan, clean it and reveal the dust sitting at the heat sink blocking airflow. Then clean away the dust with a toothbrush
and finally blow them away with a hair drier. Some computers have 2-3
fans inside! All of them must be looked at to find the dust and clean them.
Generally, this is too hard for most people so it's best to send to a computer shop for a professional cleaning job.
3-
Some computers get to 5-6 years of age starts to become unstable. Some times the OS crashes for no reason. There is often nothing wrong. They just need deep cleaning. The trick is to open them up, unplug the cables and spray the contact points by an electronic cleaning spray bottle, blow-dry by a hair drier and replug the cables back. Again, this is daunting for some people so get the computer service people to do it.
Make sure you ask them that is what you want otherwise they just do dusting only.
4- If your computers have a mechanical hard disk, upgrade to an SSD disk! SSD disks are not quite cheap and they are 5 - 10 times as fast as the old mechanical disks. Suddenly the computers seem to run a lot faster than when you bought them.
5-
Why is that some old computers are 10-12 years old and still run really well and fast and cool? Generally, it's because of the cleaning and upgrades to SSD as described above. However, another thing is that owners spent decent money to get decent quality to start with. They have 4
cores and at least 8GB of memory to start with. This is why when one buys a new computer now, avoid the 2 cores + 4GB memory cheap laptops that are even slower than a decent computer at 10 years of age!
BTW, old Japanese plasma TV and Led TVs generally do not break after 5-15 years. The repair shops would cheat people by saying they have to replace parts ... Just open them up, blow the dust away, deep clean using an electronic spray bottle (buy at Bunnings), blow dry and put them back. They work like new again!
Always
do the cleaning yourself or take your devices to somewhere you can trust to do the cleaning. Electronic devices like computers and TV need dusting every 2-3 years and a deep clean every 5-7 years. House with carpets and those near noisy/dusty streets need more frequent cleaning.
