You know the feeling — waiting for what seems like hours for pages to load, or sitting there waiting for the cursor to unfreeze. When your computer starts to slow down, it can be really frustrating and tough to get anything done. Thankfully, most reasons why computers slow down are fixable, either by you or a computer repair professional. Here are some of the top reasons why computers slow down.

1. Everything runs at start-up.

When you install new programs, you can generally choose when they boot. Many, by default, boot at startup. That means when your computer turns on, it is trying to start numerous programs simultaneously, which can really slow things down, especially if your computer is a few years old. To fix this issue, try delaying programs like your word processor and music programs to run only when you open them. In newer operating systems, you can generally do this by right clicking the program icons and then clicking "disable."

2. Your hard drive is full.

Your computer needs to store temporary files as it runs. If your hard drive is somewhere around 95% full or more, there won't be enough space for those temporary files. Either uninstall programs you do not need to free up hard drive space, or take your computer to a repair shop to have a larger hard drive installed. 

3. Your browser has a lot of add-ons.

If you do not watch carefully when downloading programs, you may accidentally end up downloading extra browser extensions and add-ons in the process. Get too many of these, and they can overwhelm your computer's memory. Go into the "extensions" setting of your browser menu, and disable any add-ons or extensions that you do not really need.

4. You're running too much anti-virus software.

Anti-virus software companies are really good at selling you more, and more, and more protection -- until your computer is like a brick wall that nothing could break through. Chances are, however, you don't need quite that much protection, and all those scans are slowing your computer down. Uninstall all but one anti-virus program. If you're not sure which one to keep, ask a computer repair professional; they'll know which is best for your unique situation.

Finally, if your computer is more than four or five years old, it may simply not be equipped to deal with the larger, more involved programs of today. Consider making an upgrade. Contact a computer repair service for more help.