Ways to speed up your computer

Over time, the speed of computers may reduce and after a while, the system starts to slow down. The pop-ups start to invade your desktop. The programmes take longer to load. This appears as the system takes more time to respond to such functions like opening files, folders, surfing the internet and other tasks. However, there are things you can do to speed up your computer.

You can do any of the following to improve your computer’s performance. These steps can be taken and the key is to do the simplest and least invasive thing first until your system starts responding better.

If you want to improve the speed of your computer, that’s great. However, do no harm and beyond the scope of this windows forum, ask for help from those you know if you get it over your head. You can stop most processes without causing harm. Caution and common sense go a long way when working with computers and the problems are often much easier to fix than they appear.
Clean Your Desktop: Is your Windows Desktop dotted with files? Have you noticed that your computer has been slow? Do you see the hard drive light often flashing while you wait for the computer to respond to an action? There are steps you can take to fix it.

Empty your Temp Directory on a regular basis: The temp directory can be quickly filled up with hundreds of temp files over time, which can slow things down immensely.To delete Temp files, you must first make sure that NO programmes are open.

Scan Your Windows System for Errors: An operating system is a collection of files that perform different functions. It is possible, over time that one or more of these system files may have changed or become corrupted. If this happens, the speed of your computer will be affected. By using a utility called “System File Checking”, it will inspect these files and correct any problem it finds.
Install and Scan for Virus, Spyware and Adware: Every Windows computer is vulnerable to viruses. Viruses are nasty little programmes that cause both major and minor problems for users. Spyware and Adware are programmes created by companies to find out more information about customers so they can better market products to them. Usually, these programmes are not created for malicious purposes. Spyware and Adware can load into computer memory and slow it down. Periodically, scanning and removal of Viruses, Spyware and Adware can improve the performance of your computer.

Uninstall Unused Programmes: Over time, you may have accumulated programmes in your computer that you do not use. When a programme is installed, it creates connections between the programme and the operating system. Even if you don’t use these programmes, they can slow down your system. If you have the original programme’s installation disk or file, removing programmes will free up space in your computer and may speed up your system’s performance. To delete programmes completely, you must first go to the Control Panel and click on Add or Remove Programmes.
Adjust Visual Effects for Better Performance: indows provides a number of interesting visual effects, including animated windows and fading menus. If you do not have enough operating memory (see above number 1), these effects can slow down your computer. Adjusting or reducing visual effects can make a difference. To speed up Vista computers in particular, you can disable features and function that are not used. For more information, read “How to Speed Up Windows Vista.”
Don’t Automatically Start Programmes: Programmes use operating memory RAM, which is also called system resources. Unless you always use these programmes, you can keep them from loading at Windows startup and speed both the booting of your computer and its performance.

Defragment your Hard Drive (After you have tried everything else): The more information and programmes you have in your computer, the more it is likely that Windows has placed parts of the same file in different locations on your hard drive. It may do this for hundreds of files and programmes, depending on how much space is available. Defragmenting the hard drive places all information in a file in one place. The result can be a faster computer experience. The defrag tool can be found by going to the start menu, to programmes, accessories, system tools and then clicking on the defragmentation tool. It may take several hours to properly defrag a hard drive, especially if you haven’t done it in a while. However, the resulting gain in speed will be worth it. For best performance, you should delete any unnecessary files before defragmenting your drives. Also, you should only do this if you have a reliable source of power for your computer. Doing this when there is a brown out or power problem in the neighbourhood, is not a good idea. If a computer turns off while it is defragmenting a drive, it will create more problems than not defragmenting it in the first place.
Reinstall the Operating System and Programmes: If you have taken all the above steps and your computer does not become more responsive, you may consider reinstalling the operating system and programmes. This is a scorched earth option – basically you backup all your data and user settings, wipe your hard drive clean and re-install the operating system with your original disks. Next, install all your favourite programmes and restore all your data and user settings.

Source: Business Eye