Features - Software

Speed Up Your Computer - 8 Tips to Speed Up Your PC
By Nick Dimon

If your computer is driving you crazy loading web pages for a full minute or failing to multitask without slowing to a halt: it's time you cleaned it up. With proper maintenance, you can speed up your computer and keep it fast in the future. Here are 8 steps that if followed, should significantly speed up your computer.

Speed Tip #1: Remove Unnecessary Programs Whether your computer is new or old, there are are bound to be unused programs installed and taking up space on your drive. If your computer is new, it probably has a half dozen unneeded programs or trials that came bundled with it when purchased, and if old, your have probably installed programs that you have stopped using since. You can uninstall programs through Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, or a third party program, such as CCleaner (which I recommend because it does other things too).

Speed Tip #2: Disable Unnecessary Startup Programs Many programs and tasks are set to run when your computer boots. These are your startup programs, and many of them are unnecessary. Go to Run, "msconfig," then the startup tab to view these, or use CCleaners Tools tab.

Speed Tip #3: Update Windows and Your Software Both your Windows operating system and many of your individual pieces of software need updating. Windows can be updated (at windowsupdate.microsoft.com), or through the built in Windows Update in the programs list in Windows Vista. If any of your software tells you there are updates available, don't put them off to later, get those too.

Speed Tip #4: Delete Temporary Internet Files I suggest you use CCleaner to do this (as part of it's "Cleaner" function) or you can do it through your browser tools menu.

Speed Tip #5: Empty the Recycling Bin Deleting items from folders and your desktop doesn't completely remove them, but actually sends them to the recycling bin. If you have never emptied the recycling bin, you may have a significant amount of trash in it.

Speed Tip #6: Scan for Spyware/Malware Use a trusted anti-spyware program to remove any minor spyware/malware infections that may be hindering your pc speed. I suggest the free programs MalwareBytes, AdAware, or SuperAntiSpyware.

Speed tip #7: Defragment your Hard Drive To put it in layman's terms, over time files fall out of place in your machines normal organizing scheme, making your computer work harder to find things and perform certain tasks. Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and run the Defragmenter, which fixes this.

Speed Tip #8: Repair Your Registry The registry is a database containing low level options and setting for your operating system runs. When you uninstall programs or make other major changes, your registry sometimes fails to reflect the changes, and falls behind. There are many tools to fix this, CCleaner being my suggestion.

If you follow these 8 steps (and you should probably reboot your computer afterward) you computer should be in much better shape. Do this every month or two and you will find your self a much more satisfied computer user. Good job!

Nick Dimon writes about computer security and maintenance on his site http://www.crappycomputer.com/ with the purpose of informing and teaching users how to get what they deserve from their machines.

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