A slow computer is the most common employee complaint to IT helpdesks according to research by Diskeeper Corporation.
In a survey of 100 IT Directors 'Lost passwords' ranked second and 'system crashes' third.
The company also went a step further analysing Twitter to see what employees had to say about their lazy computers. It found tweets including: "THIS COMPUTER SO **** SLOW YOU GOTTA TURN IT ON MONDAY JUST TO USE IT FRIDAY"; and "Now I know why I use the phone all the time...cos the computer runs so damn slow!!! Grrrrr".
However, despite frustrations, the company said that organisations are ignoring one of the most common causes of slow computers and system crashes - fragmented hard drives. Over 69 percent of IT Directors surveyed do not consider defragmentation a priority, and 56 percent do not have processes in place to ensure regular defragmentation. Poor performance was cited as the reason behind 33 percent of PC refreshes.
Sue Cantwell, Managing Director EMEA of Diskeeper said: "Fragmentation happens to a hard disk as soon as you save, change, or delete files. The changes that you save to a file are often stored at a location on the hard disk that's different from the original file. Further changes are saved to even more locations. Both the file and the hard disk itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to search in many different places just to open up the file.
Poor performance was cited as the reason behind 33 percent of PC refreshes
Slow desktop PCs are usually due to users saving 50mb+ files to the desktop, never cleaning or compacting their inboxes and spyware that has made it's way in from home machines.
"The Diagnostic Policy Services is not running"
is all I can get. Judging from all of the posts on the net, this is a common problem, and one for which I can't find a solution for.
Another beef I have with Windows 7 are the round-about Network, Personal setting, etc., links which take you back to where you started instead of somewhere which might provide a results-driven Intuitive User Experience.
If you try to setup a wireless connection, you may very easily reset the Local Service password and then you're out of luck.
The security permissions are also horrid, and there is no convenient "fix" to give a single-user the access and control of his own "Personal" computer. Setting the UAC slider only silences the many annoying Chicken-Little-Sky-is-Falling nagware messages which has become the substance abuse which Microsoft is flogging as its *new* Windows 7 operating system.
Add to that the fact that it frequently takes a hiatus from recognising the hapless keying and clicks for its attention; spinning the drives; and making new folders which you don't have access to; and constructing new ways to insult the user. It is a horrible user experience, to say the least.
Transparency aside, who does not see through this?
You know, The Diagnostic Policy Service's not running is the excuse for everything. Setting these services to automatic and starting them accomplishes nothing.