Slow PC?

It was a dark and stormy night (apologies to Edward Bulwer-Lytton)!!



Isn’t this the usual scenario when you have a major problem with your computer?


I worked for an IT giant for 25 years when men were men (or users were users) and you never saw IT people because they were kept behind locked doors. In those early days, end users were the people who ran or administered the business, and IT people were those who provided end users with the tools to do their jobs.

At least, that’s how it was supposed to work, but we found that end users did not know how to specify their requirements, and IT people (developers or programmers as we called them) did not understand enough of the business to provide the tools and applications the end users required.


So a generation of business analysts and system analysts was born.


(Sound familiar?)


You see, the end user at that time, was essentially a businessman who understood little about computers but a lot about his business or that component of the business in which he was an expert. In fact, he was probably quite terrified of the computer terminal and later Personal Computer that was placed on his desk (I am, of course, referring to a time well after punch cards and paper tape!).

Today, because computers are so widespread and can be found in most homes, and because of the amazing development of Operating Systems, the end user is now much more familiar with his computing environment. However, the complexities of the computer and its software are largely hidden under the layers of the Operating System.


So where do we stand today?


End users purchase computers with preinstalled Operating Systems and maybe even some preinstalled applications. They may be fairly literate about their computers and be able to handle a number of problems, but when it comes to the problem of your computer becoming slower and slower, which (according to Murphy’s laws) will surely happen on a dark and stormy night, what does the end user do?


He calls or takes his computer to an expensive IT specialist (sometimes called a Geek). Maybe not too much has changed since the early days! Or he vainly searches the Internet to find someone who has had the same problem before and was able to solve it. This usually leads to a frustrated user. Believe me; even highly technical users can be beset by the dreaded computer slowdown.

Thankfully, there are solutions available. Don't give up, One just has to keep searching for them when you have the time. The reward will always be worth the effort!