HOW TO Make Computer Faster Tip #2: Empty Recycle Bin

Make Computer Faster

Step 2 – How to Fix a Slow Computer – Empty the Recycle Bin!  Make Computer Faster

I hate slow computers with a passion. The laggy, non-responsive computer simply drives me BONKERS! The good thing is I’m here to help. Aren’t you tired of messing with a slow computer? Ready to make it fast again? You’re in the right place. You’ve probably reached this post from my main post with ALL the steps to fix a slow computer, or you got the right search words. Awesome! Read on below to see why the simple task of emptying your recycle bin can help speed up your old computer.

Make Computer FasterWhy Emptying the Recycle Bin helps make a Computer Faster

Everything on your computer is stored on your hard drive. Every. Single. Bit. Every time you modify and save a file on your computer (and this happens in the background constantly), it’s re-saving those files to a spot on the hard drive. Normal, spinning disk hard drives (not to be confused with new Solid State Drives) store all your data on ‘platters’. Then it has to look in basically a table of contents, find what platter and section it’s on, and then move the head to that spot. That takes time. The more data on your drive, the little bit slower it is to find and retrieve that data. Think of your hard drive as an old library. When you had to go look up the book you wanted in the old Card Catalog, then go hunt down that section of the library, find the right set of shelves, then find the spot on the shelf. Which that can be quite time-consuming if it’s a LARGE library! Do the same in a small library, and you’ll be much more efficient! Now, when you delete a file it doesn’t actually get removed from the hard drive, it just gets moved to a different shelf, the Recycle Bin shelf. It’s still holding a spot in the library, along with ALL the other deleted files. So, it still takes about the same time to find that book or bit of data you need. Emptying the recycle bin clears all those deleted files/books off the shelves. Now, isn’t it much easier to find a book on a shelf that’s half empty, as opposed to completely full? Yup. I thought so too.

 

Make Computer FasterWhat does Emptying the Recycle Bin really do?

Now, when you delete a file it doesn’t actually get removed from the hard drive, it just gets moved to a different shelf, the ‘Recycle Bin’ shelf. It’s still holding a spot in the library, along with ALL the other deleted files. So it still takes about the same time to find that book or bit of data you need. Emptying the recycle bin clears all those deleted files/books off the shelves. Now, isn’t it much easier to find a book on a shelf that’s half empty, as opposed to completely full? Yup. I thought so too. And when your computer is being laggy, or slow and there’s a whole gob of files sitting in the recycle bin, we can empty that recycle bin and see a slight boost to make our computer faster. BUT, first make sure what’s in that recycle bin is REALLY stuff you want to get rid of. After you empty it, it’s very difficult and a lot of the time not even possible, to retrieve those files once it’s emptied.

 

How to empty your Recycle Bin and help Speed up your Computer

Emptying the recycle bin is pretty darn easy. Most often you’ll find some form of a Trash Can picture on your desktop. Similar to one of these below:

Make Computer FasterMake Computer Faster

Then, you can either Right Click on it, and choose the Empty Recycle Bin option. Or double click on it (this way you can view what’s in it) and then choose the Empty Recycle Bin option from either the button at the top or from the File menu.

 

Emptying your recycle bin is a commonly left out task that most people forget to do and don’t realize it could cause their computer to be slow. When you delete something, it doesn’t actually get deleted. It goes in the recycle bin just in case you did it by accident. That item is still taking up storage space on your computers hard drive, and freeing up storage space means your computer has to work less to find that data it actually needs. So make sure you regularly empty that recycle bin!

For more tips on how to make your computer faster, make sure to check out the full guide: 16 Tips to Fix a Slow Computer

Did you find this post helpful? If so, PLEASE leave a comment in the Comment section below,. I LOVE to hear back and further help my readers!! Also make sure to take advantage of my my FREE GUIDE of the top 5 tools the pro’s use to clean up your PC by entering your email address below:


Tech Coach Albert

Albert Dutra, the creator of The Tech Coach and owner of AlbertD Photography is here to help my friends and followers gain more knowledge with the software and tech devices they use on a daily basis. Learn how to use various applications and gadgets to help save time, money and most of all, getting frustrated.

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2 Responses

  1. DriftSeed says:

    I always forget to do this. Which is sad because I throw away a lot of stuff!

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