Computers do slow down with age due to all sorts of things; start-up programs, unwanted background programs, hard disk fragmention, memory (RAM) problems, etc. The solution would be to re-format the hard disk and reload Windows. However, I have to own up that I have never done that myself!
Hi Pete,
You are right. It is becoming a problem. My computer is 8 years old, and it has significantly slowed down in the past 6 months. And it keeps freezing too.
I can't re-load Windows because I don't have the disk.
Meepzorp
Windows Vista is space hog that gets worse with age. One problem is it accumulates temporary files forever. Here is the Microsoft recommendation to reduce these:
Cleanup 1
Remove all temporary files from your computer. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click on start
search box.
2.
Type %temp% and press Enter.
3. Delete all the files in the temp folder.
Note: Leave the files which refuse to delete.
Cleanup 2
Delete any temporary files that may be left over from CD and DVD burning. Go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Temporary Burn Folder
And delete the files.
Cleanup 3
Run Disk Cleanup from the location (Start) > All Programs > Accessories > System
Tools.
Cleanup 4
If you don't use Hibernation you can save space in hard drive space as the amount of RAM that is installed by turning it off. In a Run window,
type powercfg.exe -h off (note the two spaces) and press Enter.
Cleanup 5
A fix not mentioned by Microsoft is to go to the control panel, programs, and Uninstall programs that don't look like Microsoft or system programs, and which you don't knowingly use. Be careful - you can test if its safe to remove a program on
http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/. If you do uninstalls, it may leave temp files so consider doing it before 1 and 3 above.
If these don't
help, the problem may lie with very large dll files from previous versions of
software. Users report these potentially taking 20 gigabytes or more (Vista taking 35 gig rather than 15 gig) and it may be much worse with your older machine. The only way to deal with this is to reinstall windows, which you can't do as you don't have the disks. But you can buy, on
eBay, Vista original disks with product key for less than $50. And if you have the windows product key - it may be on a sticker on the machine - you can buy a repair and reinstall disk for less than $10. Or you can upgrade to Windows 10 for $119. Your PC probably has enough capacity to run 10 - it actually requires less than Windows 7. Be aware that bug and
security support for Vista stops in 2017 so I think you are going to need a new operating system or PC eventually.