Most people love using Windows 7. That’s because it’s by far the nicest and the most productive Microsoft operating system to date. But there can still be glitches, errors, and lags. The good thing about Windows 7 is that it has lots of tools to troubleshoot and repair a slow computer. Here is a guide to where to find them and how to use them.
1. Problem Steps Recorder
Problem Steps Recorder is a great solution to get a detailed description of the problem, so that you can either review the report yourself or send it to a tech support team. Basically, this tool records everything happening on the computer that needs troubleshooting. It records all mouse clicks and everything that is pressed on the keyboard, takes screenshots, and then saves the report as a zipped MHTML file. This file can be easily emailed and analyzed. To enable Problem Steps Recorder, click on Start, type PSR and hit Enter. Then click on Start Record. To save a report, just stop recording your computer activity.
2. Troubleshoot problems
If something in Windows 7 starts behaving in a weird way and you have no idea why, go to the Control Panel, locate the “Find and fix problems” (Troubleshooting) option and you’ll be able to access the Windows 7 troubleshooting tools. They are easy-to-use wizards and can fix common problems, clean your system, check your settings, and lots more.
3. Discover bottlenecks
Under normal circumstances, Windows 7 easily outperforms Vista and XP. Nevertheless, your computer can still seem too slow from time to time. Most likely it’s an application or a process that’s slowing you down. Windows 7 makes it really easy to find bottlenecks with the help of Resource Monitor. Just click on Start, type RESMON and hit Enter to launch the tool. When it opens, click on the CPU, Memory, Disk and Network tabs to see which processes are hogging your system and using up your bandwidth. When you find the process that’s holding you back, you’ll be able to try to fix it right from the Resource Monitor. For example, if a process is locked up, right-click on it and select Analyze to see where the problem lies.
4. Repair your computer
If something goes seriously wrong and Windows 7 fails to start, it might be possible to repair your computer without the installation CD. Just boot your PC and press F8 during startup. You should see an option called Repair Your Computer. Select it and press Enter to see the recovery options Windows 7 has to offer.
These Windows 7 tools will help you troubleshoot and fix a slow computer in a quick and easy way. To prevent your computer from slowing down, use maintenance utilities like disk cleanup and defrag to keep your PC in top shape.
