Thread: Does Excess Software Slow Down Your PC ?

Does Excess Software Slow Down Your PC ?

THE MOTIVATION TO write on this particular topic comes from personal experience. Since the days of Windows 98, I've tried out every flavor of Microsoft Windows. And with it a truck load of third-party software applications exploiting the operating system's shortcomings, plugging holes and generally 'enhancing' the overall Windows experience. But after the initial exuberance abates, you realize, as you see your C Drive's free space thinning down, that a lot of this installed software just lies idle. In some cases they stay unused for months on end, nibbling away at your system's resources. Haven't we all found ourselves in this situation at some point of time? To answer the question about too much software slowing down your PC, the answer is yes.

With the installation of new software comes its own space footprint on the hard drive. Additionally, some of them have services enabled to run every time you boot up your system that eat into your RAM. And if you have a bundle of different software installed all over your drive, and you aren't a fan of regularly defragmenting your disk, you have unknowingly started slowing down your PC already. A lot of programs leave behind their registry entries by not uninstalling themselves completely when you delete them from the Control Panel.

A messed up registry is another invitation to avoidable PC woes. That said, you can't do away with a handful of essential software an antivirus or Web browser are indispensable these days. From now on, before you install any new software, ask yourself if you really stand a chance to benefit from it. Having a large capacity hard drive and an abundance of memory won't save you from the nagging side-effects of software you shouldn't have installed in the first place. Work smart. Know your tools.