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Factors Affecting Computer Performance

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Pharoah Chimparira
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19 views2 pages

Factors Affecting Computer Performance

Uploaded by

Pharoah Chimparira
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Factors affecting computer performance

You may be wondering why you computer is slow at times and there are other times when it
is fast in processing. This could be caused by a number of factors. They include: the speed of
the CPU, the space on the hard disk, the size of the RAM, the type of the graphics card, the
speed of the hard disk,, if the computer is multitasking, the defragmenting files.

1) The speed of the CPU


The speed of the CPU is also known as the clock speed of the CPU. The clock speed of the
CPU is the frequency of which the processor executes instructions or the frequency by which
data is processed by the CPU. It is measured in millions of cycles per second or megahertz
(MHz). If the Clock speed of the CPU is fast then definitely the performance of the computer
will be affected positively, in other words the computer will carry out processing functions at
a faster pace.

2) The size of the RAM (Random Access Memory)


The RAM is referred to as the active part of the computer. This is because the RAM has the
capability of storing data that the computer is currently using, because of the fact that it is fast
to retrieve data stored in the RAM. With the definition above, a large RAM size will mean a
faster computer performance and a smaller RAM size will result to slower computer
performance.

3) The speed of the hard disk


The hard disk speed is defined as the rate at which material and content can be read and
written on it. The hard disk speed of different hard disks is not consistent because they vary
by manufacturer, drive type and the use of the hard disk. It therefore means that the higher
the speed of the hard disk the faster the performance of the computer and vice versa.

4) Hard disk space


The bigger the space on the hard disk will result to faster performance of the computer. The
smaller the space on the hard disk will result in a slower performance of the computer. The
hard disk is filled with data this will use most of the memory leaving less memory for the
operations of the processor.

5) Multiple applications running on the computer


Multi-tasking tends to slow down the performance of the computer because memory is used
to support more than one applications compared to when one application has all the memory
to itself. This means that the more applications that are running the slower the computer will
perform. Likewise if less or one application is running the performance of the computer will
be faster.

6) Type of graphic card


When it comes to quality of pictures and animations graphic cards are the main factors. So if
a machine processes many graphics and it has a weak graphic card it will perform slower.
This means that the more powerful the graphic card is the faster the performance of the
computer.
7) Defragmenting files
Files that are broken or it takes long to read them will mean that the computer will have to
defragment them first. This will slow down the performance of the computer.

Hard Disk Fragmentation

Over time, all computer hard disks become fragmented. Fragmentation is when files are
stored in different “pieces” in different places on a hard drive, depending on what storage
space was available when the file was last modified. As the amount of free space on a hard
drive decreases, typically the fragmentation increases. Accessing files becomes slower
because the computer has to look around in different places on the hard drive to find the
different pieces of a file. To address this problem, a hard drive should be defragmented.
Defragmenting can also become a regular maintenance task for heavily used computers to
keep them performing well. Most computers come with a defragmentation program installed.

Tools. If no defragmenting program is found there, some free defragmenting programs are
available from www.download.com

Excess/Unused Files

As a hard disk becomes full, a computer’s performance is reduced. It takes more time to find
and access needed files, and defragmentation is not as successful due to a lack of free space
to temporarily move files to while they are being rearranged. For best performance, there
should be at least 1 GB of free space on the computer’s hard disk. Therefore, it is wise for a
computer user not to keep files that are no longer needed. Files that have been stored in
auser’s documents folder that are no longer needed (such as extra photos or older versions of
documents) are best deleted individually by the user. A computer lab manager should also
have a policy and procedure for regularly deleting old files created by computer lab users on
shared computers. In an educational lab, for example, the lab manager could announce that
student files are deleted at the end of every term, unless the student makes special
arrangements to preserve his or her work. Sometimes there are other files, such as temporary
Internet files, that are stored on a computer without the user knowing it. To delete these sorts
of files, perform both o

scans a hard disk for unnecessary files, and then (with the user’s permission) removes these
Deleting Browsing History. When using the Internet, the browser stores the recent
history of the web pages that the user has viewed, in order to make it easier to find and load
these web pages again. The browser also stores other small bits of information such as data
entered into forms and usernames or passwords if a user has asked a web page to “remember
me” (although this is not a good idea for shared computers). This stored information can be
easily deleted. In Mozilla Firefox, choose Clear Recent History from the Tools menu. In
Internet Explorer, choose Delete Browsing History from the Tools menu.

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