PC running slow, apps failing to respond?

We all know how frustrating it is to be sitting at a pc waiting for it to spring into life and complete an action. Or, you click on an app and it takes ages for something to happen. Its no fun, it makes any job seem like a painful task and you end up tearing your hair out with frustration. 

I guess for readers of this blog it may have been a bit like that recently. After a short burst when I started off I haven't been doing much posting recently. I've even started a few posts on Windows 8 which have been languishing as a draft for months. Sorry folks but normal service will be resumed shortly. I've been a bit like one of those slow machines, chugging along not getting anywhere fast, not running at my full potential. 

With slow PC's there's plenty you can do. My first bit of advice would be to check to see if your system can take more RAM. Use something like the Crucial System Scanner to see what is in your system and how much RAM is needed to max it out if possible. Bear in mind if its a 32 bit OS it will only support about 3.5GB so anything more than 4GB would be wasting your money. OK so its not free but RAM is fairly cheap at the moment and will generally make a big performance difference  Don't be afraid of fitting it either, its not hard job and there are plenty of videos on-line which show you how to do it.

Its no fun running low on resources. I haven't done any exercise since October, what with colds, a broken toe, dodgy coughs lasting for months with achy ribs. I'm starting to realise its had an impact on me and I'm not getting things done like I should have. Still I'm starting to feel a bit more normal now, so back to the gym soon and hopefully doing the Couch to 5K plan too. That should get me back to optimum working condition.

Other options which don't involve spending money include things like checking what programs are actually running on your PC, all those pointless things that load at startup for example. Have a check in your system tray to see what is running and what you actually need. Use MSCONFIG to disable things you don't need to speed up boot time and free up resources. 

Check your hard drive too, make sure its not running near capacity. Use disk clean-up or a program like Treesize or SpaceSniffer to check what's hogging your disk space and remove anything you don't need, just be careful what you delete. Once you have enough free space run a disk defrag to help improve file access. 

Guess that's what holds me and a lot of other people back too, half the time when I'm trying to get things done I end up doing the wrong tasks which ends up getting nothing much done at all. Once you take away the needless tasks you can actually focus on what needs to be actioned. 

Hopefully like giving your PC a spring clean this will give me a boost to get things done and be a bit more positive and pro-active in general. I've got plenty of good things to get busy for and make the best they can be, myself, my wife and family, my work. The move towards spring with the lighter mornings and nights also gives a boost with the temptation of sun looming on the horizon, its a bit like replacing the battery in a laptop you've had for a years now. 

Look forward to some more post soon dear reader, probably a bit more Tech focused but maybe the occasional fit-bit thrown in. Let me know if you notice any improvements after getting your kit in order if you've never tried it before. 

iPhone follow on

Since my original post on the new iPhone 5 there has been even more written and discussed on the successes and failings of the new handset. 

In short, yes the new iPhone is better. The screen size is more useful and the majority of apps have already had an update to make the most of the new screen space. The new handset is lighter, slimmer and possibly has a nicer feel depending on peoples personal preference. 

The one fly in the ointment which doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon is the maps issue. Perhaps apple could have saved some face if they had renamed it to navigation to emphasise the point of why the made the change. Here is a new app to allow iPhone users to access free turn by turn navigation which was missing from the native Google maps app but was present on the android equivalent. This would have lessened the emphasis on the mapping side of the application and its current shortfalls. They could even have kept the Google map app in place in this version of iOS for mapping whilst the Sat-Nav app developed and gathered enough map/search data in the background to make it more functional, then in the next iOS upgrade made the full switch and heralded it as the big shiny thing it would have then been. 


I read a good unbiased and quite well rounded review recently. I have attached a link as it is worth a look: 

Cult of Mac : Is iOS 6 holding back the iPhone 5?

One last thing for now, unless something spectacular happens, the next post wont be related to iPhones, so never fear we will be stepping away form the fruit based products. 

Much ado about nothing?

Oh well, the iPhone 5 got its official launch last week to a slightly better than mediocre response. Is this the first of the iPhone launches to miss the mark? 

It certainly isn't the set the web on fire, world beater that certain sections of the media may have expected from Apple. Quite a few commentators, myself included think its OK, but is that it? Apple could have taken the new iPhone and pushed the handset market forward again with a device that would still feel good to own in 2 years time (the length of most current contracts now). Maybe Cupertino's finest have become a victim of their own success and people were just expecting much more from them.

Image Courtesy of Mashable

Ok it has a slightly longer screen which adds an extra row of icons to the home screen but this still feels small against is main and current larger android rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note and the HTC One X.

Better camera features are always well received. In my opinion it's criminal when smartphone makers release a phone with a poor camera, there's no excuse for that. Certainly the iPhone cameras have always been very good and this one steps things up again. 

The new maps app which replaces Google maps with Apples own and brings free turn-by-turn navigation to the iPhone is a welcome addition, even though it has attracted less than glowing comparisons to Google maps. 

The other main feature change is one which already seems to have upset existing users, especially those with other pieces of tech which links into their existing iPhone, the new smaller 'Lightning' connector. This change away from the familiar 30 pin connector leaves users who have purchased expensive speaker docks or car kits having to now purchase a £25 adapter to make these work. There have been reports that certain items may loose some functionality and there is the added hassle of having to carry the adapter around, or buy more than one. 

Perhaps its just that the quality of android phones is now generally much higher across the range? There have always been handsets which have had a higher spec or better features than the iPhone but perhaps weren't so well known. Until recently for every great android phone there were many more poor cheap handsets flooding the lower end of the market and pulling down the overall reputation. This meant the early iPhone's could brag of being better and more stable than the early android phones. Now it seems the opposite, that this new handset is almost up to the standard of the best android phones, which means that in 12 months where will it place with any new handsets in the pipeline including the windows 8 phones from Nokia and HTC. 

Users who are now committing to a 24 month contact for their iPhone 5 may feel differently about it when they are a year in and the handset marketplace has changed. There will be more phones with Near Field Communication, or contactless charging to name but two features which were rumored for the iPhone but never made it. 

Already since the launch of iOS 6 on Wednesday the web has been littered with a slew of less than glowing comments on the new apple maps. Luckily iPhone users can still install the Google maps app and similarly a youtube app as this has been removed natively, however the iPad users don't seem to have their replacements yet. Again these features will no doubt quickly improve ans iOS 6 does bring other nice features so its certainly not a step backwards, just a change in direction. 

No doubt we will find out more today as users will finally get their hands on their new shiny iPhone's. It will be interesting to see the early feedback, will it be all people expected and more, or will they think why did I upgrade for this? 

Exciting times ahead

I guess now is as good a time as any to start off on the blogging path. Its been something I’ve been thinking about for a while as a place to share my thoughts on IT, the web and other Tech related randomness from my position as a reasonably technical but hopefully still everyman kinda guy.

The reason that now is as good a time, if not the best time to do this is related to the various events happening at the moment in the tech world. Microsoft will soon be launching their first new Operating System for a few years in Windows 8. Today will see the eagerly anticipated and much speculated on unveiling of the new iPhone. We’ve just had the Amazon launch of the new Kindle tablets and will be finally getting our hands on proper UK versions. 

Hopefully you will enjoy my blog, rest assured I won’t be blinding anyone by technobabble just giving a straightforward view on things with a bit of personality thrown in. Stick around and fingers crossed we will all enjoy it.