Tips to Improve Speed and Performance of your PC

If you've had your computer for more than a year, it's most likely you've noticed it's much slower than when you first bought it. Programs sometimes take ages to load, and even worse, your screen freezes up and you have to shut down your computer and restart it, very frustrating!



The main reason for this is limited memory. You might have spent a lot of time online and downloaded loads of applications, this takes up memory and clogs up the system. This is quite a minor issue and can be resolved by following these steps:



The following tips are in no particular order of relevance, but the first four you can perform from your desktop for free.

1. The first step is to free up memory on your hard drive. In Vista, go to Control Panel->System and Maintenance and scroll down to Administrative Tools. Click the link 'Free up disk space'. Check all the boxes that apply and hit OK. This can also be done by right clicking the disk drive in Computer, and choosing Properties.
   
   
   
   
2. To free up even more disk space, go to Control Panel->Programs and scroll down to Programs and Features. Click the link 'Uninstall a program'. Click and uninstall all those programs you don't use because it just takes up space. If you don't know what the program is, it's better to just leave it or you might cause other problems.
   
   
   
   
   
3. To make your online experience faster, I like to delete my cache of viewed pages each time I close my browser, because sometimes when you revisit a site in the stored cache, it doesn't load properly, this is called a stale page. In Firefox, locate on the Menu bar Tools->Options, check the box 'Clear history when Firefox closes' and click Settings. Check all the boxes that apply, I like to leave Cookies and Form and Search History unchecked, but that's up to you. Make sure the 'Saved Passwords' option remains unchecked if you don't want to retype your passwords every time you log into your sites. Deleting your internet cache each time you close your browser has added security and privacy benefits too.
   
   
   
   
4. You need to defragment your hard drives periodically, at least once a month. Go to Control Panel->System and Maintenance and scroll down to Administrative Tools. Click the link 'Defragment your hard drive'. This might take upto one hour. This can also be done by right clicking the disk drive in Computer, and choosing Properties. When that's finished, restart your computer.
   
   
   
   
   You should now notice a significant improvement in the speed and performance of your PC. There are however, software programs to further enhance the speed and performance of your PC and improve your online experience.
   
   
   
   
5. By spending a lot of time online, you unknowingly download malicious software such as Adware, Spyware, and Key Loggers. These operate in the background without you knowing and take up memory causing slow system performance. You might like to invest in a good quality Adware/Spyware removal software like NoAdware™ or SpyZooka™ to protect yourself from these uninvited intruders.
   
   
   
   
6. If your computer is more than two years old, your operating system registry is likely to be clogged up and messy. To make it neat and organized again will vastly improve the performance of your PC. Software programs such as Registry Easy™ will do this for you for a small one time fee, but you can download it and try it for free first.
   
   
   
   
7. If you use your computer beyond basic surfing, and regularly use several large applications for your business, you can buy more memory, or even better if your computer's older than 5 years, buy a new computer. Memory doubles every 1.5 years, the more memory the better.
   
   
   
   
8. And lastly, in my opinion, anti-virus software are more of a nuisance than a help. I had McAfee and Norton installed, and it caused all kinds of problems for other programs i was using. Especially when upgrading software it caused all kinds of configuration problems. I noticed much smoother performance by disabling it. Luckily I've never been a victim of a virus, probably because I don't surf for porn! The Windows Firewall should provide a level of protection against this.
   

And that's it! After implementing these steps, you'll be surfing again like when you first bought your computer. Treat your PC like your car, regular maintenance and upgrades improves performance and speed!