Is Your Computer Running Slow

I write about this topic about twice per year. Knowing lots of stuff about computers get me lots of people calling or emailing about computer problems. “Why is my computer running so slow?”

The answer is that your computer probably doesn’t have enough memory.

There is a very easy way to find out if you have enough memory in your computer even if you are not very computer savvy.

Click on Program Run (normally on the lower left portion of your screen).

Enter MSINFO32 in the box.

Click on OK.

A system summary will show up displaying all types of things about your computer.

On the right hand part of the screen you will see Total Physical Memory. You may have to scroll down the screen to see it. This tells you how much memory you have installed in your computer.

It will probably say 1.0 GB (gigabytes), or 2.0 GBs, or 3.0 GBs.

That means, you have 1 GB, 2 GBs, or 3 GBs of memory installed in your computer. 1 GB is the minimum you should have installed.

Having 2 or 3 GBs is better, but not necessarily essential depending on what you are doing. If you have less than 1 GB of memory installed (like 512 MBs), you need more memory.

Many people have 1 GB of RAM installed on their computers. 1 GB is the same as 1000 MBs (megabytes). Windows uses about 400 MBs or so leaving you with 600 MBs. Your antivirus software will use some more of the memory. If you are running lots of other items, you may not be leaving enough room to run your business software (such as Cash Register Express or Restaurant Pro Express).

Here’s the most important part.

Look at the right hand part of your screen for Available Physical Memory.

If this number is above 300 MBs or 0.3 GBs, you are doing fine.

If the number is above 1000 MBs or 1.0 GBs, you have plenty of memory to run just about anything you can load.

If the number is below 300 MBs or 0.3 GBs, you have a problem. You should probably add more memory.

If the number is below 200 MBs or 0.2 GBs, you are probably seeing some significant computer slowdowns. You need to add additional memory.

If the number is below 100 MBs or 0.1 GBs, your computer is crawling and just about unusable. You need more RAM.

This is such a simple test, but extremely important. When Windows available memory runs low, it starts to churn away and sometimes gets mixed up. You may think there is something wrong with your computer or software, but the problem is that your computer resources just can’t handle the load.

What happened? My computer used to run faster? If you purchased your computer two, three or more years ago, memory was more expensive. Windows now uses more memory than it did when  you purchased your computers. Most of those Microsoft upgrades take up more memory. Your antivirus and spyware software are taking up more memory. The recreational and business software that you loaded are using more of your memory.

If you don’t have enough memory, you should add it now. If you bring in your computer to Staples or your favorite computer expert, it will probably cost you about $100 or so to upgrade your computer to 1 or 2 GBs. It is well worth the cost.

If you are buying a new computer, you should buy it with at least 3 GBs of memory. Most computer sellers are supplying computers with 2 GBs or more. 1 or 2 GBs is fine for an XP machine. 2 or 3 GBs is fine with a Vista machine.

Double Dips, Inflection Points, and Why You Should Care

If you are into reading the news, it looks all good. It looks like the recession is over and retail sales decreases have bottomed out.

People are mistaking an inflection point for a retail turn-around.

We have probably reached an inflection point. What that means is that the decreases in retail sales are getting smaller. Instead of sales going down by 7% or 8% vs. last year, they are only going down by 4% or 5%.

Got it? Sales are still going down, but not as much as they have gone down in the past few months. This is called an inflection point. It is great that sales decreases have been getting smaller, but it is not great that they are still going down (even if by a smaller amount).

The TV reporters, newspapers and politicians don’t seem to understand an inflection point. The headlines report that the recession is over or close to over. What they aren’t reporting is that sales are still down significantly. Although sales are not going down as much as they were a few months ago, they are still going down.

That brings us to the concept of a double dip. I am probably too pessimistic about the economy for the next year, but I believe we have a double dip coming. Mortgage foreclosures are at an all time high and going up instead of down. Unemployment appears to be getting worse. Retail stores and chains are reporting poor sales in July. I’m thinking we have some more pain coming before the economy turns around.

However, most of you who participated in my Polldaddy.com poll last week believe that retail sales in “your business” are going to go up in the next six months by 5 or more percent. So, it looks like our readers are pretty optimistic.

I hear a common thread from several of my local retail owner friends. They have hung on. They are working very hard to bring in and retain customers. Most of them point to the stores in the area that have closed down. Their customers used to have 10 choices for lunch. 3 of those restaurants have closed down leaving a choice of only 7 lunch places. That’s great for the establishments that have remained open, did some extra marketing and tweaked of their business.

Cash Register Express (CRE) and Restaurant Pro Express (RPE) customers are taking advantage of the reports and marketing tools available within the software to increase sales and keep an eye on their costs. Make you sure are using the latest versions of CRE and RPE and take advantage of the many new features added in the past year.

Double dip or not, inflection point or not, if you are putting in a 125% effort in increasing and retaining your business, you will win when the recession is over. Business will get better. In my opinion, it is going to take a year or two, but it will get better.

The Slow Drift from Great to Good

Another great newsletter from Doug Fleener. If you own or manage a retail store or restaurant, you need to subscribe to Doug’s free newsletter. It’s excellent. He is a great writer and speaks with lots of hands on retail experience.

This week his newsletter discussed the slow drift from great to good. Remember those great ideas you used to have and use in your retail store. You used to say hello to each of your customers and remember each of their names. You used to offer coffee and donuts in the morning. You used to help your customers carry out their bags. Now you only say hello to some customers. You keep your donuts hidden behind the counter for your best customers.

You only carry out the bags of your best customers. No wonder your sales have gone down. You are drifting from having the great store that you used to have to having a good store.

To subscribe to the FREE newsletter, go to:

http://www.dougfleener.com/

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