Too much Java doesn't speed you up

kw: observations, computer problems, java

My computer is several years old, and it has been getting steadily slower. I've done a lot of things, like defragging more frequently, running registry fixing and defragging software, and cleaning up the disk. None were more than a partial solution. I finally found, at a friend's suggestion, something that goes a long way toward getting the computer back to normal.

In the Control Panel, there is a module called the Java that opens the Java Control Panel. It has several tabs. Under the Java tab (where the arrow cursor is), both "Runtime Settings" sections have a "View" button. When I clicked on the upper "View" button, I got a panel like the one shown below.

There are twelve versions of Java that have been updated onto my computer over the years. All of them were checked and thus, active!! As shown below, I turned off the check mark for all but one of them, the latest.

I don't know what kind of overhead is required to have twelve versions of Java ready to interpret every applet that crosses the wire, but it can't be a good thing.






This image shows what the settings window is supposed to look like. After I unchecked eleven of these and clicked "OK", I clicked on the second "View" button. In that section, only the latest version was checked. All OK there.

I won't claim that this solved all my slowness problems, but it helped a lot. If you've never looked at your Java runtime settings, give it a try!