Keeping a computer running smoothly and quickly is a never-ending job. It seems like no time after you take your brand-new PC out of the box, your computer starts acting up and performing more like the old PC you got rid of than the new one it is supposed to be. While this is extremely frustrating, it can be prevented if you know what is causing your PC's poor performance and how to fix the problems behind it or avoid them in the first place.

The nastiest things that corrupt your PC are the things you can't see. Nasty bugs like viruses, adware and spyware can wreak havoc with your system without you even being aware of it. At their most lethal, viruses can completely destroy your PC's operation, but normally they just work to interfere with the daily operations of your computer. Adware and spyware, on the other hand, stay running in the background of your PC and can slow it down considerably.

Here's a closer look:

· Computer viruses are PC software programs that you accidentally download to your computer through an email attachment or other type of download. Once installed on your computer, a virus can interfere with your PC's operation; record, corrupt or delete data; and spread itself to other computers through your network or the internet.

· Spyware and adware are software programs that you download onto your computer along with many other software applications. This software is then used to track your online browsing habits so that you can be “hit” with pop ups that you will be more likely to respond to. Not only is this software an invasion of your privacy, it also can compromise your data and affect your PCs performance.

Not only can things that you download from the internet onto your computer affect its performance, software that is already installed or software that you install through your CD drive can also create problems. You see, some software that you have on your PC stays running in the background even if you are not using the program. This can dramatically affect your PC's execution times, especially if there is more than one hidden program running. To see if you have programs running in the background, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time. The box that pops up will show you all applications that are running.

Other things that can affect your PC's performance include a hard drive that is too full, not enough memory to perform tasks and a fragmented hard drive. All of these problems can be solved by performing routine maintenance on your PC or purchasing a software package that does it all for you. If you choose to do it yourself, you will need to manually go into your Windows System Tools and launch each program. Here you will find several system optimizers to help you free up your disk space, defragment your PC, and detect and repair disk errors.

Even the process of adding and deleting programs can affect your PC's performance. When you install and uninstall Windows programs, they leave behind parts or applications that can slow down your computer. You may even unknowingly delete a file needed for other software applications. This can result in a minor glitch or a complete failure with some programs or even your whole system.

Keep Your PC Performing Like New

One of the first things that you should do to protect your PC's performance is install a firewall if you don't already have one and use adequate security software to prevent intrusions. You should also have additional spyware and adware detectors if your security software does not have them.

You can also purchase additional software that will keep your system optimized on a regular basis and take care of all of the problems that we talked about. This is an advantage over doing it yourself because it is very easy to forget to perform maintenance, and let's face it; who has time to manually perform all of these functions?

You should also get a free hidden error scan to see if your PC is operating with any hidden errors that can ruin your PC's performance. Since 94% of computers do have hidden errors, yours probably does too, but hidden errors are easy to eliminate with the right software.

With all of these things that can affect your PC's performance, there is no wonder that it continually loses efficiency over time. But you can prevent it, if you stay on top of it.