Does Your Computer Have a Secret Dirty Past?
FEB 26 2013
by Andrew Samson
'I thought I knew everything about my computer. We’re like best buddies. Wherever I go, my laptop is there. It knows everything about me — my private thoughts, my social security number, the amount of time I waste watching videos on YouTube. I never thought my computer was capable of hiding secrets from me.
Then, one day, I found out I was dead wrong.
I’d noticed that my computer had been running slower than usual. Web pages weren’t loading properly. Processes that it used to perform quickly were now taking forever. I couldn’t figure out why, until I decided to take a look at my computer’s registry—the database where it stores all the files needed to run its operating system. That’s when I discovered that my computer’s shocking dirty past! There were hundreds of programs that I’d downloaded years ago that I thought I’d deleted. But here they were, taking up space and clogging up my computer.
It was like an episode of Hoarders, and my computer was the weirdo clinging to every last shred of information that I told it to throw away!
Why did this happen? As I learned the hard way, when you delete a program from your computer, that doesn’t necessarily remove all the files. Every time you (or your kids) load a program or game, new instructions are placed in your system’s registry. However, when you remove the program, these instructions usually remain on your PC. So every time you run your computer, it tries to execute these instructions. Since the program can’t be found, your PC winds up doing a lot more work than needed, causing it to run slower than a 90-year-old rickshaw puller...'
More:
http://firsttoknow.com/does-your-computer-have-a-secret-dirty-past/?utm_source=d_e&utm_campaign=does-your-computer-have--24187&feedkey=d_e
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FEB 26 2013
by Andrew Samson
'I thought I knew everything about my computer. We’re like best buddies. Wherever I go, my laptop is there. It knows everything about me — my private thoughts, my social security number, the amount of time I waste watching videos on YouTube. I never thought my computer was capable of hiding secrets from me.
Then, one day, I found out I was dead wrong.
I’d noticed that my computer had been running slower than usual. Web pages weren’t loading properly. Processes that it used to perform quickly were now taking forever. I couldn’t figure out why, until I decided to take a look at my computer’s registry—the database where it stores all the files needed to run its operating system. That’s when I discovered that my computer’s shocking dirty past! There were hundreds of programs that I’d downloaded years ago that I thought I’d deleted. But here they were, taking up space and clogging up my computer.
It was like an episode of Hoarders, and my computer was the weirdo clinging to every last shred of information that I told it to throw away!
Why did this happen? As I learned the hard way, when you delete a program from your computer, that doesn’t necessarily remove all the files. Every time you (or your kids) load a program or game, new instructions are placed in your system’s registry. However, when you remove the program, these instructions usually remain on your PC. So every time you run your computer, it tries to execute these instructions. Since the program can’t be found, your PC winds up doing a lot more work than needed, causing it to run slower than a 90-year-old rickshaw puller...'
More:
http://firsttoknow.com/does-your-computer-have-a-secret-dirty-past/?utm_source=d_e&utm_campaign=does-your-computer-have--24187&feedkey=d_e
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