When your computer suddenly starts running slow, a lot of things could be responsible for that. Its best to troubleshoot those things to make sure the speed of the system returns to normal. In my previous presentations, I mentioned things like start-up apps as contributing to lower speed. When you have apps that automatically run immediately you put on your computer. If there are a lot of them, that could affect the speed of your computer. Other things like viruses, and small RAM size are also things to consider as possible culprits slowing down the computer. But there could be more!
In this presentation, I want to write about another activity that could slow down the speed of your computer without your knowledge. That is:
- Background apps
What are background apps and how do they make a computer to run slow?
What are background app?
In windows 10, background apps are computer programs that run or perform some tasks even when you do not have them open. They simply run concurrently with the apps that are actively being used. Background apps can perform a lot of functions that still make use of computer resources such as RAM, processor and others. Some of the activities of background apps includes the following:
- Sending out or receiving notifications periodacally
- Download or upload data such as those found in emails
- Download and install updates automatically
- Share data with other apps online or on the system such as location information
The above are some of the tasks performed by background apps. All these tasks are resource-intensive. So if there are many apps running in the background, they might take up a lot of system resources and compromise the speed of your computer. It is very important to have a sizeable list of background apps.
Which apps should be allowed to run in the background?
It is important to understand that the more apps are allowed to run in the background, the more resources they consume. Basically, only important apps should be allowed to run in the background. All non-essential apps should be closed and allowed to run when they are in use.
There is no universal list of apps that should be allowed to run in the background. Each user determines what is best for their computer. However, apps that protect your computer such as antivirus should be allowed to run in the background. Other apps such as those that provide live data like location apps and email apps could still be allowed to run in the background. Its up to you to decide. But having too many apps running in the background should not be allowed.
How to control background apps
I will now demonstrate how to know your background apps. You can choose the ones to allow and the ones to kill. Take the following steps:
Step 1: On the Search box, type Background Apps and hit the enter button.
Step 2: From the new window, you can make your settings. It is important to allow some apps to run in the background. So you have to make sure the toggle button is in the on position as shown below:
Step 3: Here you can see all the apps that run in the background. You can use the toggle button to choose which ones to allow or which ones to put off.
Conclusion
Important background apps such as the antivirus should be allowed to run in the background. However, apps that are rarely used should not be allowed to consume system resources in the background. Its best to put them off and free computer resources. When they are needed, they can be opened and closed when not in use. This is one way to free your computer and make it run faster.
Note: I own the other images except the thumbnail which is from Pixabay
Related