Why So Slow?




PC Myth Busting


Why Backup?

Spanner Box University

At Spanner Box we love tackling false understandings and different myths associated with computers. With just some basic computer education you can make your computer run perfectly all the time without having to pay an expert or ask your geeky friend to help you. Let Spanner Box educate you with some free tips right here.


Myth 1: Computers become slower as they get old


Surprisingly this is not true. A Computer can actually technically run as fast as it did when you first opened the box, as long as it is treated and maintained in the correct way. Usually a computer gets slower as you continually install programs on your computer that have services that are run on Start Up. Your Computer, (like most people I know), becomes slow the more things it is asked to do at once. Also newer programs tend to be more performance hungry as they generally have more features and assume a more modern computer.

It helps to know everything your computer is doing. If your computer is slow, right click the 'Start Bar' and select 'Task Manager'. This should give a list of all the processes and programs that are eating up all your systems power.

See Why is my computer running slow? for more info...


Myth 2: You need a graphics card to watch movies on your PC


Contrary to what most people think. A graphics card has absolutely no effect on your experience in watching movies and DVD's on your pc. You can actually watch movies in the highest quality with most graphics card even some onboard graphics cards.

Many people have the idea that to watch HD (high definition) videos you need to splash out and buy an expensive card. Not true at all! All onboard graphics cards sold by Spanner Box are HD compatible.

This is because all the frames in a movie have already been created and rendered before you watch it. The function of a graphics card is to render 3D graphics and animation on the spot as it is being displayed. Think of movies as a roll of film being played and your PC is just displaying pre-rendered frames.

Graphics cards become essential predominantly with graphic intensive programs such as Gaming, 3D CAD work and Video Editing. (all Sbox computers are pre-equipped with 1080p Full HD at the lowest level, so you don't have to worry!).

Myth 3: "I must have a virus!"


The first thought many people have when something goes wrong on their PC is "I've got a virus". When you get a few annoying pop up windows, or your computer starts going slow, or God forbid you receive the "Blue Screen of Death".

It's true that viruses can be common but not everything is a virus and it shouldn't be your first reaction. Pop up windows can be caused by "Spyware" but usually they simply related to a website and only pops up when you visit it. And as you can see in Myth 1 computers can run slow for a variety of reasons. Lastly, blue screens are mostly caused by hardware failure or software corruption.