How to Speed Up Your Computer
Here’s a scenario most of us are familiar with. We’ve just gone out and bought ourselves a new PC. It’s sleek and fast, and we wonder how we were able to tolerate that old clunker for so long. Our new computer is running so much faster than on our old system – installing, opening, and running applications, downloading music, playing games, etc. – and soon we’re spoiled.
Over a period of months, however, we notice that our expensive, speedy, new computer has become sluggish, and we don’t understand what’s happened. In fact, the mystery is an easy one to solve. Our cars need routine maintenance in order to run optimally, and so do our computers. These routine tasks are easy to implement, and if we overlook them, the result will be our mounting frustration over a system that had become increasingly slow and bogged down.
Unfortunately, most PC users spend huge amounts of money to take their PC into the repair shop, where the technicians perform the maintenance tasks that the user can easily do themselves. The computer runs well again for several more months, but without a consistent maintenance schedule, the cycle inevitably repeats itself – often until the PC owner decides, out of frustration, that it’s time to buy a new computer.
The good news is that we’re going to review the steps you can take to get your PC into tip-top shape – and have fun doing it! Let’s get started.
1. Add More RAM: The single most important step you can take to speed up your computer (barring other problems, such as spyware) is to add more memory. While the installed RAM on your computer may have initially been sufficient, you may have since installed graphics software, upgraded your operating system, or added other memory-hungry components.
The cost of memory modules has dropped considerably over the last several years, and you’ll gain a significant boost in performance. For more information, see the section on Upgrading Memory in this tutorial.
2. Free Up Disk Space: You can improve the overall performance of your computer by freeing up space on your hard disk. The Disk Cleanup tool can be used to:
- Remove temporary Internet files
- Remove Windows temporary files
- Empty the Recycle Bin
- Uninstall programs that you are no longer using
- Remove downloaded program files
- Remove optional Windows components that you don’t use
To access the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows Vista, go to Start > Computer. Right click on the drive you wish to clean up (typically, drive C: ) and select Properties. Under the General tab, click on the Disk Cleanup button.
Choose whether you want to clean up your own files only, or all of the files and programs on the computer. Select the files you wish to delete.
To access the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows XP, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
3. Defragment Your Hard Drive: Over time, the files on your hard drive become fragmented. When you open a file that is fragmented, the computer has to search the hard drive to piece the file back together, thus slowing down the overall performance of your system.
The Disk Defragmenter utility, described previously in the Hard Drive Maintenance section of this tutorial, consolidates the fragmented files and folders so that they occupy a contiguous space on the disk. With all files rearranged contiguously and without fragmentation, reading from and writing to the hard drive is faster.
Remember, before running the Disk Defragmenter utility, you should first run the Error Checking utility to identify and repair bad sectors. Bad sectors can make it difficult, or impossible, to write data to the hard drive, thus slowing down system performance.
To review, in Windows Vista:
a. Error Checking: Start > Computer. Right click on drive, select Properties. Select Tools tab and click Check Now button under the Error Checking section.
b. Disk Defragmentation: Same sequence as above, except when you select the Tools tab, click on the Defragment Now button under the Defragmentation section.
4. Remove Unnecessary Startup Items: to make your computer boot up more quickly and efficiently, remove programs that you do not need to load up every time you start your computer. Portions of these programs also run in the background to make for easier access – thus utilizing some of your system RAM and slowing down your PCs performance. Of course, some of these programs are very valuable (e.g., virus protection), but others are useless and do little more than consume system resources.
To remove unneeded programs from Startup in Windows Vista, go to Start and in the Search box type ‘msconfig’ (without the quotes) to open the System Configuration utility. Select the Startup tab, and deselect those programs that you don’t want to load up upon every system start. Do NOT deselect any program that you don’t recognize.
5. Clean the Registry: the Windows Registry is a large database of information that contains the Windows settings and options, as well as all of the settings for hardware, software, user preferences, and so forth.
Whenever you install software, or make changes in Control Panel, for example, those modifications are reflected in the Registry. Inevitably, minor registry errors can (and do) occur, and over time these errors are cumulative, resulting in system slowdown.
One common source of registry errors is the uninstallation of programs or applications. Even though you may have uninstalled some programs, they often leave residue in the registry – references to files and programs that are no longer available.
It is not recommended that you manually edit the registry, as its contents can be somewhat cryptic, and an editing error can make your system inaccessible. Instead, use a third party registry cleaner.
Before editing the registry, be sure to set a system restore point so that if anything goes wrong, you can return to a previous configuration. To set a restore point in Windows Vista, go to Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore Center. In the Tasks panel on the left, select ‘Create a Restore Point or Change Settings’. In the System Properties window, select the System Protection tab, and then click on the ‘Create’ button to create a restore point.
6. Protect Your Computer Against Spyware / Adware: Have you ever been troubled by any of the following problems?
a. Your computer has slowed to a crawl
b. Your browser settings (e.g., home page, search page, or other components) have been changed, and it is difficult to change them back
c. While connected to the Internet, you’re besieged with pop-up windows advertising everything from movie clubs to diet pills
If any of this sounds familiar, your computer has probably been infected with malware, or malicious software. This is a general term that refers to any type of software designed to cause harm to your computer – including viruses, spyware, and adware.
Viruses are computer programs that spread from one file to another or from one computer to another. The degree of damage done by a virus can vary, and the most common method of spreading a virus is through an email attachment.
You should never open an email attachment or download any applications from an unknown source. The best way to prevent viruses is to install a good antivirus program as soon as possible after getting your computer. Be sure to keep your virus definition files up to date.
While viruses can certainly pose a problem, spyware and adware have become the single largest cause of adverse system performance. Both spyware and adware are surreptitiously installed on your computer, without your knowledge or consent, and then operate behind the scenes, monitoring your activities, collecting personal information, displaying advertisements, and so forth.
Adware programs display ads to your computer, often through annoying pop-up windows. These programs may also collect marketing information about you. Spyware programs often collect more sensitive personal information about you, including the web sites you visit, or even personal profile information (such as credit card and social security numbers) and then send this information back to an unknown source.
Adware and Spyware programs are often bundled with freeware and shareware programs that you may have downloaded, such as a music or video file-sharing program.
The first strategy in dealing with malware is prevention. Be careful about what you choose to download and install on your computer. When you download updates for programs on your computer, download only from known and trusted sources.
You should also install anti-spyware and anti-adware software on your computer. These programs will scan your computer and compare the scan results against a known set of spyware or adware files, and will then remove (with your approval) any malware files or programs it detects. These detection programs will only be effective if you update them regularly.
A couple of other points are worth noting with respect to PC security. In some instances, your operating system itself may have a security hole that can be exploited by these malicious programs. It’s equally important to keep your Windows OS updated (in Windows Vista: Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Windows Update).
So there you have it – several steps you can take to speed up your computer. Implementing these procedures on a regular basis is the key to keeping your system running smoothly and at peak performance.