Computer Running Slow? Help in Texas

What's usually slowing it down

The drive is nearly full. Once free space drops under about 10%, the computer has no room left for the scratch files it makes while it works, and everything drags. Of the five, this is the simplest to fix.

A long list of programs launches at startup. Over the years one program after another adds itself to that list. With twenty of them starting at once, the first few minutes after you switch it on are the worst.

The browser is the real problem. Forty open tabs and half a dozen toolbars will bog down a machine that is otherwise healthy. On plenty of computers, that's the whole story.

It still has an old spinning hard drive. That's likely on a machine past about seven years that has never been upgraded. Here, and only here, a part is the fix: a solid state drive. A Local Nerd can tell you if yours is one of these, and a hardware repair shop does the swap.

Something you didn't ask for is running. Usually a 'PC cleaner' or a 'driver updater' that rode in with another download and never stops. Now and then it's a virus.

When a Local Nerd comes over

Step one is finding out which of the five you have, since each has a different fix. After that comes freeing up space, trimming the startup list to the programs you use, cleaning up the browser, removing whatever installed itself, and finishing the updates that count.

Before your Local Nerd leaves, you see what changed, so the slowdown doesn't sneak back. Most of these take about an hour.

And if the computer is past helping, you'll hear that plainly, before your hour goes into polishing it.

Worth a try on your own

Give these about ten minutes. Now and then one of them clears it up completely, and you won't need a visit at all.

Restart it properly. Choose Shut Down, give it ten seconds, then turn it back on. Closing the lid or letting it sleep isn't the same thing.
See how much room is left. On a Mac: Apple menu, About This Mac, More Info, then Storage. On Windows, open File Explorer and select This PC. A bar that's almost full is very likely the whole problem.
Clear out Downloads and empty the trash. Years of downloaded files can add up to tens of gigabytes nobody remembered.
Quit the browser all the way, then open it again with a single tab. If everything feels quick after that, the browser was what was slow.
Testing a laptop? Plug it in first. A lot of laptops slow themselves down on battery power.

What a Local Nerd won't take on

Hardware repair, meaning anything that calls for new parts or a soldering iron. It's better you hear that before you book.

Screens, keyboards, batteries, charging ports and drives are hardware repair, and that's not something we do. When a part is the answer, we'll tell you and send you to a shop that fits parts.
Files on a drive that has already died need clean-room work at a specialist lab. That isn't ours either.

What you pay

A visit at your house takes $39 to book, and that $39 is subtracted from what the visit costs. The hourly rate depends on how far your address sits, in a straight line, from downtown of the city it falls under: $110 an hour inside 25 miles, $130 an hour from 25 to 50 miles, and $145 an hour from 50 to 75 miles. Nothing is added on top for travel.

A remote session begins with us calling you at the time you chose, and it is $39 for 30 minutes. For help a few times a year, there is Nerd on Call: $14.99 a month, with two remote sessions and one in-person visit included every year.

Payment is by card. Local Nerds can't take cash or checks, so nobody will ask you for either at the door. The FAQ has the rest of the detail.

Want to talk it over first? A Local Nerd will call you at no charge, and you aren't signing up for anything.

Where Local Nerds come to you

A visit can reach as far as 75 miles from downtown of each Texas city with a page below, and every one of those pages lists the towns it reaches. To see what your own address gets, put it in the ZIP checker. Remote sessions don't depend on where you live.

Questions we hear a lot

My computer was fine last month. Why is it slow now?

A sudden slowdown usually has something new behind it: the drive just got close to full, an update is still working away in the background, or some program came bundled with one you chose to install. A computer that got slower bit by bit over years is more often down to the startup list and the browser.

Should I buy a new computer?

Probably not yet. Most slow computers still have years in them. When one really is done, your Local Nerd will say so and explain why.

Would more memory speed it up?

Sometimes, but start somewhere else. More memory does nothing for a computer that's out of disk space or buried in startup programs. When hardware is the fix on an older machine, a solid state drive usually helps most. We can tell you whether yours is a candidate and point you toward a shop that installs them.

Does somebody need to come to the house, or can it be done remotely?

A remote session handles most of it, and is often all it takes. An in-person visit makes sense when there are several devices, when the computer is too slow to keep a screen share going, or when you want someone right there beside you.

What does a speed-up cost?

Much of it fits in a remote session. In person it's billed by the hour, and the hourly rate goes by how many miles your address is, in a straight line, from downtown of the city it falls under. The three rates are listed under What you pay. Most take about an hour.

Are 'PC cleaner' programs worth paying for?

No. They usually slow a computer down more than they speed it up, running all the time and charging a subscription to flag problems that don't exist. If you're paying for one now, your Local Nerd can show you what it's really doing.

A slow computer almost never means buying a new one.