Post by Firefox on Feb 16, 2015 17:40:22 GMT
Ever wondered what you can do to maintain performance? A leading Microsoft Engineer explains:
If you never install any software except security updates, and leave lots of free disk space, this issue will not occur. For insight into why Windows slows down over time, run the "msconfig" utility and view the services that launch at boot. You will typically find at least 5 or more updater programs for third-party software, several quick-launch services, and a number of other background services. All of these slow the computer. But on the other hand, they all perform a function and were installed by the user, so it is difficult to say which if any should be shut down.
This problem was a focus area in Windows 8 development. In Windows 8, modern-style applications cannot register startup services and do not use any memory or processor when not in the foreground, except very limited background processing, so this type of application will not slow your computer. Additionally, the Store contains an update mechanism, so there is less need for third-party updaters. Finally, Windows 8 itself runs many fewer services at startup and uses less memory.
Disk fragmentation is not an issue on modern Windows, which performs background disk defragmentation during idle time. However, if the disk is very full, defragmentation may never actually finish. Also, there can actually be hardware degradation over time, particularly in older flash drives.
Another problem is related to disk space. Programs and their data are typically only partially loaded into memory, with the remainder staying in temporary ("swap") space on the hard disk and getting loaded into RAM as needed. Data loaded on a hard disk is not equally fast to access: data loaded on the inner tracks is more quickly accessed. As the disk fills up, it fills from the inside out, so the swap space winds up moving farther and farther out and thus being slower and slower. If the disk is very full, the swap space will also be fragmented, further slowing the computer. Modern OSes have features to combat this, but they're only partially successful.
Yet another problem is that some users, in an attempt to speed up the computer, remove their antivirus, and then get infected with malware. Some malware is stealthy and if you don't have antivirus installed you may not notice it except as a general slowdown. Also, not all antivirus software is equal in its ability to detect viruses.
One final problem is that websites, and browsers, become more complex over time. As the average computer gets faster and web technology advances, browsers and sites become correspondingly more complex and therefore, on the same hardware, slower. Browser vendors make lots of performance improvements to help combat this, but fundamentally wringing performance improvements out of software is a lot harder than doing it in hardware. In particular, hardware graphics rendering is much more important now than it was a couple years ago, so computers without good graphics chipsets suffer noticeably.
This problem was a focus area in Windows 8 development. In Windows 8, modern-style applications cannot register startup services and do not use any memory or processor when not in the foreground, except very limited background processing, so this type of application will not slow your computer. Additionally, the Store contains an update mechanism, so there is less need for third-party updaters. Finally, Windows 8 itself runs many fewer services at startup and uses less memory.
Disk fragmentation is not an issue on modern Windows, which performs background disk defragmentation during idle time. However, if the disk is very full, defragmentation may never actually finish. Also, there can actually be hardware degradation over time, particularly in older flash drives.
Another problem is related to disk space. Programs and their data are typically only partially loaded into memory, with the remainder staying in temporary ("swap") space on the hard disk and getting loaded into RAM as needed. Data loaded on a hard disk is not equally fast to access: data loaded on the inner tracks is more quickly accessed. As the disk fills up, it fills from the inside out, so the swap space winds up moving farther and farther out and thus being slower and slower. If the disk is very full, the swap space will also be fragmented, further slowing the computer. Modern OSes have features to combat this, but they're only partially successful.
Yet another problem is that some users, in an attempt to speed up the computer, remove their antivirus, and then get infected with malware. Some malware is stealthy and if you don't have antivirus installed you may not notice it except as a general slowdown. Also, not all antivirus software is equal in its ability to detect viruses.
One final problem is that websites, and browsers, become more complex over time. As the average computer gets faster and web technology advances, browsers and sites become correspondingly more complex and therefore, on the same hardware, slower. Browser vendors make lots of performance improvements to help combat this, but fundamentally wringing performance improvements out of software is a lot harder than doing it in hardware. In particular, hardware graphics rendering is much more important now than it was a couple years ago, so computers without good graphics chipsets suffer noticeably.