TechNotes #9: Need For Speed
Written by Matthew Stein Tuesday, 01 March 2011 18:40
One of the most common complaints about computers is that they run too slowly. You click on your web browser expecting to see your home page spring up, and instead you wait a few minutes for it to load. There are a few potential causes for this, but the biggest one is usually "bloatware."
Bloatware is generally one of two things: software with excess features that you don't want, or software that you just don't want period, but tries to install itself anyway. These types of programs aren't strictly malware (though there may be some crossover). These are the programs that someone—the company that built your computer, the company whose software you just bought or downloaded, the web site you visit regularly—thinks will really make your life better. Usually it's just a nuissance.
Some of the biggest names in software provide good examples. When you try to download Adobe Reader, here's what you see:
Adobe would like you to also download McAfee's Security Scan program. They're so sure that you'll want it, they've gone to the trouble of ticking the box for you.
If you try to install Java, you'll probably see something similar:
Like Adobe, Oracle has stepped in to provide you with the wonderful thing you never knew you wanted, and done it in such a way as to encourage you to just skip over it and not even notice it's being installed.
Adobe and Oracle are just two easy examples. Many downloads include other sponsored programs they'd like you to install. When you buy a new computer from any major manufacturer, you get lots of pre-installed software that you probably couldn't care less about. Even some new hard drives and USB drives come with their own special software pre-installed and ready for you.
The result of all these installations can be a computer that runs much more slowly than it should, toolbars that crowd out the content you actually want to see, and a general sense of annoyance and frustration.
So What Can You Do?
Getting rid of this kind of bloatware is done in two ways: removal and prevention.
First, you can remove programs you don't want and don't use. In Windows XP's Control Panel, use Add or Remove Programs. For Vista and Windows 7 users, it's marked Uninstall a Program.
Caution: Be sure you know what you're uninstalling before you uninstall it. There are lots of bits of software in your computer that are necessary, but you're not likely to recognize them. Google can be a big help in figuring out what's worth getting rid of and what you should keep. And if you're not sure, just ask someone who knows.
Prevention is the preferable route, as it involves a moment of extra attention in exchange for much less frustration. We get accustomed to just clicking "OK" when something wants to install. They show us license agreements, and options, and we just want the program to work, so we click "Next" without paying much attention to what the screen says. And that's exactly what the bloatware providers are relying on. They know most people will just click away and install the thing without even noticing it's there. An extra moment or two of attention can help you catch bloatware before it gets installed, and it only takes a second to uncheck the box.
Slow Startup
The other main cause of slowness is caused by software you actually do want on your computer. Adobe, Apple, Oracle, HP, Dell, and a vast array of others all provide useful software. They also add items that will start up when you boot your computer. The intent with some of them is to provide a service, like HP's Digital Imaging Monitor, which is what listens for input from a scanner or all-in-one. Some startup items check of program updates to make sure you're using the latest (often safest) software.
Others aim, ironically, to speed things up by loading a portion of a program at startup instead of when you click on the program. Adobe has been notorious for this with its "Reader Speed Launcher," the intent of which is to make you feel like Reader starts up very fast, when it fact it just moved all the work to startup so you wouldn't notice.
With all that, the list of things that want to start up with Windows can grow pretty quickly. And unlike with other bloatware, these aren't programs you want to just uninstall. The answer to speeding things up can lie in disabling or delaying startup items.
One handy tool is called Soluto. Once it's installed, it asks you to restart your computer. When you do, it monitors all the programs that start up and keeps track of how long they take to start. It then compares its results to a database of programs and gives you advice on what programs can be delayed, or even removed from startup, and gives you an estimate of how much time you'll save.
If you like to do this kind of thing on your own, there's a great program called Startup Manager which shows you all the programs trying to load when Windows starts. You can use it to disable the ones you don't want by simply unchecking them.
Caution: Once again, be careful what you disable or remove. You may find that some features you rely on will only work if the software is allowed to start with Windows. You can find information about startup items on Google. And if you're not sure what to do, ask.
