15 tips on how to speed up your computer
Delete unwanted files
When I say to delete unwanted files, I do not mean you should go around your computer and delete any file you do not want. In this case, I’m talking about the files that you have created yourself, and are totally aware of what they are. For example if you created a Microsoft word document and you no longer need it, and never will, then I suggest you delete that file. This is the kind of junk that clogs up your computer. You have to ask yourself, “Do you really need it?”Files that you have created such as documents and image files can be safely deleted by going to the file on your computer, right clicking on its, and choosing delete from the menu. Keeping your computer or organized and junk free, is a great way to speed up your computer.
Delete hidden junk files
Hidden or temporary files are created without the user knowing. All you have to do is open files, browse the Internet, install programs, and more files are created in the background. There is so much happening in the background that most people are unaware of and do not know that this area exists.This is something you are going to have to learn about if you want to speed up your computer.Remove unwanted programs
Are you one of those people that constantly download programs and install them onto your computer? Every software program you have on your computer is taking up space. It is not only taking up space, but it might also be checking for updates and connecting to the Internet. It also might be starting up when your computer starts up. There are so many good reasons why you should remove unwanted programs.Defrag to speed up your computer
When you install programs and save files on your computer, the files
are automatically saved to the closest available space on your hard
drive. This means that files for your programs are fragmented if your
hard disk drive is not organized correctly. This is why we need to
de-frag our computer to place the files back together and to place the
most frequently used files at the front for easy access.You should defrag your computer at least once a week if you use your computer often. If you do not use your computer that often, then you can defrag less often.
If you are using the Windows disk defragmenter which is located at start menu>accessories>system tools>disk defragmenter, you can choose to “analyze” first before you choose defrag. This feature will tell you if you need to perform this task or not.
Disk CleanUp
Disk CleanUp comes free with Windows and will get rid of the rest of the junk files that you have missed. Go to start menu>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup. You can see more information about this system tool on my computer maintenance checklist.
Always pay for a virus program!
By all means, you can waste your time trying to find the best free anti-virus program, but do you really want to risk it.Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a free anti-virus program. In fact I will recommend Avast as my number one freebie. However, even though this proved to be secure, it is safer to have the extra security features that come with the paid versions. Now days most new antivirus also come with a firewall that if they do not, Windows provides a perfectly good firewall for free.
Over the past 25 years I have tested at least 10 paid virus programs and have ended up with Avast running on my computer. It does not annoy me, it is not asked be stupid questions that I cannot answer, and is not make me deal with difficult settings. I like a program that just does its job.
Avoid multitasking with large programs
If you’re anything like me, you will have 20 Windows open at the same time, with your Internet browser having at least 15 tabs opened as well. Yes I know it is crazy and I’m trying to reform. I have a lot of experience in multitasking and have realized that some programs cannot be open at the same time as others. For example you should not be running a large program like Photoshop or Pinnacle video studio, while running a virus scan at the same time. We all know what the right thing to do is, but we just can’t help ourselves.Warning: Working on 20 programs at the same time is not good if you are trying to speed up your computer!
Use an external hard drive for backup
Nowadays there is no excuse for not backing up your files! It is unbelievably cheap to buy an external hard drive or even a portable USB flash drive to store backup files on. Both these portable devices are simple to connect to the computer via a USB plug. Once connected, you will find the device if you go to your start menu and then press on computer. For older versions of Windows it will be called my computer.Update programs regularly
Every program on your computer must be updated regularly. If you do not do this, you will find that you will get problems, guaranteed! Even Windows itself needs updating, along with any other applications and games, and even hidden device driver software.To see if your device drivers are performing properly you can go to the Control Panel, click on system, advanced settings, and then you will find device manager under the hardware tab
I use a program called Driver Finder. Most computers need a program like this because having outdated driver software on your computer can cause horrendous problems. Having the wrong driver software on your computer has been known to cause black screens, blue screens, and total computer crashes.
To find out if Windows needs updating, simply go to your start menu and type in the search section, “Windows update”. A link will appear in the menu, click on it to see your details. See the screen shot below.
Upgrade your computer memory
When you buy a new computer now days it should come with a minimum of 2 GB of memory installed. This should be okay for a year or two, however as times change, you will eventually need to upgrade your memory.Older computers are in an even worse situation. People are using old computers to do new things that these computers were not made for. Upgrading your computer memory and increasing your hard drive size can help speed up an old computer.
When upgrading your computer memory in order to speed up your computer, there are two options, to do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you. If you are seriously hopeless with technical stuff, like my friend Deb, I would suggest you take it to a computer store for the upgrade.
If you are willing to give it a go you can buy computer memory online (making sure you have the right type) and do it yourself.
Please see this article: upgrade computer memory
5 more quick tips on how to speed up your computer:
- Keeping a clean computer means a faster computer. Therefore you should always organize your computer files in a way that makes them easy to find and also easy to backup.
- When you boot into your computer it is not only the Windows operating system that is starting, as most people have many other programs starting at the same time. To speed up this process you need to disable startup programs.
- A great way to speed up your computer is not to overwork it in the first place. For example most people have five or six programs open at the same time and they really aren’t using all of them. Close down programs you are not using.
- Keep up with your computer maintenance as it is will speed up your computer just by doing this.
- Another good way to speed up your computer is to disable automatic updates on certain programs. Did you know that programs are checking the Internet every time you start your computer to see if they need to be updated or not?I am not talking about disabling Windows automatic updates as it is really all the other little programs that are doing the damage. If you have a notification icon in the notification area you can usually right click on it to get to the settings and disable the updates that way.
- And one extra. Try and disable indexing to speed up the computer.
Thanks.....
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