1.) Defrag your hard drives.
I. Often windows will automatically do this once per day or per week or so. Mine does it every Wednesday night when I should be sleeping ~3AM. This way I know that all my files are organizing themselves relatively often.
II. To make sure your computer is doing this regularly, go to Start Menu>>Program Files>>Accessories>>System Tools>>Disk Defragmenter.
2.) Remove Spyware, clean up your temporary Files, fix your registry and clean out dangerous startup entries. These can all be done individually, but it can be time consuming. GLARY UTILITIES is an amazing program that does all of this with the program’s “1 Click Maintenance.” I swear by this program now. It is amazing. It regularly finds and removes several gigabytes of temporary internet files and the first time I ran it, over 400 registry errors were found and fixed. This program is free so I highly recommend that you check it out. Also, check out my TIGGITY POST on Glary Utilities for more about its capabilities.
3.) Remove unused programs from your hard drive. Chances are there is a ton of programs on your computer that you don’t use, and probably never will use. How about removing them and getting that extra storage space available so your computer has less junk to think about. Note: I highly recommend checking out the importance of each program on Google before removing it permanently. How about all of those crappy demo games that came with your comp, or old games you no longer play, or programs that you didn’t even know existed? Ya, you can do without those.
I. Go to Start>>Settings>>Control Panel>> then click ‘Programs’ or ‘Programs and Features’
i. A long list will open eventually and it will be a near comprehensive list of all of the programs that are installed on your computer. Again, I recommend removing only stuff you are familiar with and know your computer can function properly without. So click on any program that you can do without and then click the ‘Uninstall button at the top of the window. This is a great way to remove computer garbage and get your PC back to health.
4.) Change what programs automatically run at windows start up. Ok so you like Skype, Windows Messenger, Norton, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger etc, etc, etc. These programs can be set so that they do not load at windows startup, but instead ONLY WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO. You don’t need a bajillion programs launched at the same time as windows. Open Messenger when you want to, or Skype etc. This is really easy and reduces computer start up time drastically. There are two methods to do this:
I. (Automatic) Download and run Vista Services Optimizer if you are still using Windows Vista. Check out my EARLIER POST about this free software for quick instructions on how to use it.
II. ( Manual) Go to start menu>>Run>> and then type ‘msconfig’
Then click the startup tab. Here you can uncheck the programs that you do not want to launch at start up. This does not disable the program, it simply sets the program to load when you start it, rather than at windows launch. Here, again, be careful to make sure you don’t uncheck programs that Windows needs to launch at startup. Just type in the command and do a Google Search to see if it is vital at startup or not. Most of them that are here are probably not essential, but make sure before you uncheck them, please.
5.) Adjust the visual graphics that appear during Windows use. If you can do without mouse trails, and fancy windows minimizing and other effects that make Windows look cool, but are not necessary, then you can remove all of these and set Windows to max performance.
I. Go to Start>>Settings>>Control Panel>> click ‘Performance’ or ‘Performance Information and Tools.’ Then click on ‘Adjust visual effects.”
i. Here you will have options to ’Let Windows choose whats best,’ Adjust for best appearance, ‘adjust for best performance’ or create your own custom scheme. I recommend letting Windows choose, but if you really need that extra speed then create your own custom or adjust for best performance.
6.) Change your desktop background. Having a simple background color or design can actually make a pretty significant difference in performance when compared to a fancy landscape or large image from the internets or your digital camera. Simple, but it should work on low capacity computer.
7.) Disable the Bandwidth reserve in Windows. Windows reserves 20% of your bandwidth so that it has access to priority bandwidth when it might need it. Why not let it share in your regular bandwidth and allow those extra 20% participate all the time?! To do this, click on this link HERE. http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/1757d1196149757-qos-bandwidth-reserve-limit-disable_reserved.reg?ltr=Q
I. Download the .reg file somewhere easy to access – I recommend your Desktop.
II. Right click on the icon and select ‘Merge’
III. Click Run
IV. Click Yes
V. Click OK
VI. For this change to take place, restart your computer.
VII. Feel free to delete the .reg file at this time. Also, if you would like to restore your reserved bandwidth for whatever reason, you can do that HERE http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/1758d1196149762-qos-bandwidth-reserve-limit-restore_default_reserved.reg?ltr=Q
I hope you find these resources to be useful! I know i did. Enjoy!
99 ways to make your computer faster
Check out the Microsoft page for improving speed for more suggestions
Microsoft speed page
