It often gets annoying when you are working on something important and your PC slows down. There could be many factors behind this. One of the reasons for your PC slowing down could be installation of extra software. Software requires some amount of memory to get started. Thus, the more number of software you install on your PC the more memory they need.
For an individual who uses computer for most of his jobs might certainly require separate software for each job. This does not imply that he needs all the programs installed by the software. While installing software one must carefully go through the installation process and see which programs are being installed along with the software.
So what is important and what is not?
Most of the software you use, provide you with three options during installation –
- To install the complete software
- To install the most commonly used programs in the software
- To choose the programs you want to install.
It is advisable to choose the third option if you use advanced software as you would have a better idea of which programs you want to install. If you are a new user, the second choice is better as that option installs programs that are commonly needed by new users. The first option is advisable only if you want to study the software or know its complete usage.
Also, software comes with additional programs that you might not need at all. For example, when you download a YouTube downloader, it comes with additional anti-virus software. You do not need this software if you are a typical PC user as you would have advanced anti-virus software already installed on your PC. It is important to take care to check what is getting downloaded along with the software and if it is something you do not need, avoid them.
What if we need all the software that is installed?
There might be times when your PC gets too slow because of installing too much software but you need all of them. A solution to this problem is to increase your RAM memory. Whenever you start any software, it gets loaded onto your RAM memory. Thus, the more software you have, the more RAM memory you need.
You can check the specifications of software installed on your PC and find out the maximum amount of RAM required for the software to run smoothly. If you do not have enough RAM memory for software to run, your PC tends to run slow. Even if you manage to start the software, you cannot use any other application while running that software. If you try to do so, neither of your applications would work and your PC may hang.
For example, Oracle database software requires 1 MB of RAM to get started while a Visual Studio can do with 512 MB. This means that your PC needs minimum 1MB RAM if you are using both of these software. If you try to run Oracle using a 512 MB RAM it won’t work. Anti-virus software that uses powerful scanning tools also requires more RAM memory to scan your PC completely and effectively.