Computer Lagging: 5 Likely Reasons Why It’s Happening

Featured article by Catherine Hernandez, Independent Technology Author

Computers are magical devices when they’re working well, which is why it’s so frustrating when they’re breaking down. If you’ve got computer lagging issues, click here to find out why.

There’s little more irritating than a laggy computer.

Our lives are built into our computers nowadays, making it doubly frustrating when our machines start acting up or getting slow.

There is some science behind the phenomenon, so you’re not completely crazy if you feel like your computer’s been slowing down over time. But knowing the science behind the failure doesn’t make it any easier to stomach: you want to be able to fix the problem.

Read on, and we’ll cover the five major causes of computer lagging issues and what you can do about them.

1. Your Computer Needs A Break

With the convenience of the sleep function, most of us rarely ever power our computers all the way down. Instead, we’re addicted to the ease of opening our computer and having everything be open and ready to go.

It’s nice for us, but that kind of behavior can be exhausting on our machines. If your computer is suddenly running slow, it’s probably because you haven’t rebooted in a while.

Rebooting and restarting your computer clears the cache and RAM memory of your computer. Not doing so can really clog up your system, as tasks and memory build up over time. A clean reboot can have your system working again like new, and is the easiest solution possible.

2. Your Hard Drive Is Stuffed Full

Your hard drive stores all the information and files on your computer. Free hard drive space is simply space that has been yet to be used and is open for new information to be written.

Over time, one can easily begin to reach the capacity of our computer hard drives. If you’ve moved past 20% remaining on your drive, it might be the cause of the lagging behavior you’re experiencing.

Free space does more than just making room for new files. It allows swap file space for virtual memory. Programs need this memory to run smoothly, and as your hard drive fills up, smoothness can suffer. Clearing off unneeded and old files from your drive should fix things easily.

3. Too Many Programs

The current workforce multi-tasks like no other generation in the history of the world.

But sometimes slow computer behavior is the result of trying to do too much at once. If you have a number of windows and programs running, you can begin to clog up your system’s memory.

Background programs that launch at startup, including anti-spyware, may be taking up huge amounts of background energy without you realizing it. Consider not running these in the background if you want to decrease lag time.

4. You Have A Virus

On the flip side, you might need to run those anti-spyware programs right away if you think the lagging might be as a result of a virus. Harmful malware can be the cause of many computer issues, with lagging being prominent among them.

Getting rid of a virus can vary in difficulty depending on the case. You might need to bring your PC to computer repair professionals to sort out the problem.

5. Your Operating System Is Out Of Date

Many of us ignore the constant pings for updates and fixes that our computers lob at us, but they may be the reason that you’re running slowly.

Make sure you have all the latest updates installed for your computer and that all your web browser plug-ins are up to date. These might be causing the problem.

Why Is Your Computer Lagging?

There’s a number of reasons that a computer may be running slowly. Computer lagging issues are one of the more common problems that plague PC users, but hopefully digging into the frequent causes above can help locate the source of your problem.

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