How To Speed Up Your PC

By Craig Deane, Blue Ice Web Design Limited

When you first buy a computer it will often run smoothly and quickly, however after using it for some time you may find it slow, we have put together this article to try to help you to speed up your computer again.

Desktop Files

Often an unknown tip for speeding up a slow computer is to clean your desktop, over time you may clutter your desktop with lots of files. If these are shortcuts to software programs then that is fine, however often people will save files and folders on the desktop, when your computer starts each of these uses operating memory.

First thing to do therefore is to clean up the desktop by moving all files into “my documents” and leaving only the necessary shortcuts on the desktop.

Scan Your Computer

You should always scan your computer for viruses, spyware and adware, if left un-removed these will almost definitely slow your system down as well as cause damage to files etc.

Spyware and adware are usually created by companies to better market their products however they will store in memory and slow down your computer significantly.

Viruses are created to harm your computer but they will also slow you system processes down, it is therefore vitally important your scan your entire computer system regularly.

There are lots of different virus and spyware scanners out there, some free and some premium, do some research as there are some great free products out there.

You should make sure you scan frequently; it’s a good idea to scan in safe mode also.

Programs Automatically Starting

When you save new software it often automatically will run in the background when you next start you computer, if you intend on using this software then that is great but when you have no intention of using that specific program then it is a waste of operating memory.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to open programs and under options or tools etc there is usually a tick box to start the program on start-up, if you don’t want the program starting on start-up then make sure the box is un-ticked.

You can also use the system configuration tool, click start > run, type msconfig and then ok, the tool will open, click the start-up tab. You will see a list of processes that automatically run when your computer starts, some will be obvious from the name, others will not, run a search on a search engine using the names before you un-tick any as some of these processes are meant to start to keep your system stable. Many though you will find can be un-ticked, you will need to restart you computer when done.

Unused Programs

Often after a while of using a computer there will be a number of programs that you no longer use, go into control panel then add/remove programs, a list will open of all the software installed on your computer, if you find something you no longer need or want on your computer you can click it and uninstall it, this will free up space and could help to speed up your computer.

Hardware

1 to 2 GB of RAM would be recommended for running windows XP smoothly, 3 to 4 GB if you are using Vista, you can usually buy sticks of RAM which will insert into your computer, refer to your PC handbook for more details on the type of RAM you need.

Disk Defragmentation

A disk defragmentation attempt to place all parts of a file or program in one place, after time windows can place different parts of the same file in different places, a defragmentation therefore aims to bring all parts together and thus improve computer speed.

Before starting the defragmentation make sure all work is saved to CD or an alternative memory source. Make sure all programs are closed including close in the tray in the bottom right.

Click start > programs > accessories > system tools > disk defragmentation, when open, click the analyse button, if the result says you do not need to do the process then close the tool down as you will not benefit from a defragmentation, otherwise click on the defragment button. The process will take a while depending on speed and size of disk, when complete close the box and you are all done.

Using the tips above will likely help to speed up your computer, viruses and lack of hardware are the main points which can slow your computer down, however the other options will also increase performance.

Article created by Blue Ice Web Design

Author Information

This article was created by Blue Ice Web Design Limited, they are a website design company based in the UK that offers many website design services at competitive prices.

http://www.blueicewebdesign.co.uk

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