Your Computer Could Be SO Much Faster
I'm not kidding. How much of our lives have we spent watching spinning icons? I'm imagining it's more than you would like - computer reboots can take several minutes. I've seen people go make a pot of coffee when they open Quickbooks the first time in the morning.
The fact is that, while our older computers get the job done admirably, they are capable of so much more. Unfortunately, no amount of defragmenting or removing applications will make much difference. The limitations are physical - specifically your physical hard drive. It must wiggle an arm back and forth across a spinning disk, intercepting the data as it flies past - if it misses that data it must wait for the data to come back around and be read before it moves on to the next order of business. This is time consuming as it happens hundreds of times each second. If you don't have enough RAM in your PC the problem multiplies because your computer starts using your slow hard drive as RAM.
What to do? You could certainly buy a new PC, but IF you have all of your programs working perfectly, and everything is just how you like it, there's another option: upgrade your current hardware. Replace that clunky hard drive and install more RAM.
SSDs are not cheap, but they have been coming down in price. Expect to pay under $0.50 per Gigabyte - a 500GB SSD should be under $250. I know that seems small compared to the 1-2TB we're used to, but it's worth the sacrifice. If you have more than 200-300GB of stuff it's likely media such as movies and music that you don't use every day - move it to an external hard drive, you won't miss it.
Upgrading to an SSD is the single most awesome thing you can do to your PC. SSDs are essentially RAM - there are no moving parts to wait for, so they are worlds faster. No longer will you wait forever to open Outlook.
This sort of upgrade is for the technically inclined - it's easier than changing oil and you likely won't get as dirty, but there's a small chance you could mess something up and lose everything on you hard drive. Many SSDs (Crucial and Kingston, for example) come with the ability to download Acronis True Image and clone your current hard disk drive to your new SSD. Be certain to RTFM (READ THE FINE MANUAL) before you begin - it will guide you through the process. Remember to always make a backup, and check that it's good, before any major upgrade. If you don't feel comfortable opening your computer please don't hesitate to call a professional (I know a good one!).
And while you have the computer open install that RAM - if you have 4GB try to go for 8GB. If you have 8GB try 16GB and feel the power! It's a big boost for an additional $40-$60.