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It's seems almost incomprehensible that hard disks measuring in the hundreds of gigabytes range can quickly become filled to the brim. But as disks get larger, so too do the programs and file sizes. In fact, downloading a few high resolution images and short video files can quickly take up huge chunks of hard drive real estate. Before you know it, your disk is nearing its capacity.

Signs of a Full Hard Disk

You've probably already experienced the symptoms of a nearly full hard disk including sluggish performance, computer errors, data access errors, file save errors, failed downloads, failed software installations, and other undesirable symptoms.

Checking Free Space

In addition to these clues, and errors that flat out tell you that your disk is running low on space, you can also check your computer's disk to see just how much free space remains. The easiest way to do this is by going to My Computer (or Computer if you have Windows Vista) and finding your hard disk in the display. Depending on your operating system, you may have to right-click the drive and choose Properties before you can see how much hard drive space is left. In Windows Vista, you'll immediately see a graphical bar icon representing how much disk space has been used and how much remains along with a text description such as, "57.9 GB free of 147 GB."  

How to Free up Disk Space

You have several steps that you can do to free up disk space. First, use the built-in Disk Cleanup utility to clear out your temporary files, temporary Internet files, offline Web pages, log files, Recycle Bin files, and other unnecessary files taking up space. This utility is located in the Start button under Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Cleanup. Select the file types to remove and view the display of how much disk space you will recover before clicking OK.

If you need to free more space, click on the More Options tab and click the Clean Up button next to Programs and Features. This takes you to the Control Panel's Programs and Features utility (in Vista) or Add and Remove Programs utility (in Windows XP). From here, you can remove programs that you no longer need or desire.

For even more space recovery, click the link for turning Windows Features on or off. Many of Windows features take up huge amounts of disk space, and if you don't actively use the feature, can be safely turned off. For example, if you don't play games, you can turn off all of those Windows games like Solitaire and free up disk space.

Remove Data

Another option is to remove data. Of course, you'll want to use care. Go through and see if you're storing huge files that you don't really need. For example, if you downloaded and saved a huge real estate brochure while house hunting three years ago, do you still need it? If not, get rid of it.

Photos and videos are huge files. Consider burning your digital photos to disc, uploading them to a photo hosting or online storage site, or even storing your digital photos on an external hard drive or USB stick rather than your primary hard drive. If you edit your home videos, once you are done editing, burn your finished video to a DVD, create a backup copy, double check that the DVD works properly, and then delete the source and edited videos from your computer.

These tips should help you recover quite a bit of disk space. If your hard disk consistently fills up after doing these steps, you may want to consider other solutions such as an external hard drive or using an online storage site to store data.

How to Speed up your PC: A Beginners Guide

Is your PC running slow to the point that it has become an annoyance?

Do you find that it takes much longer to complete tasks that would normally take a few minutes ?

Do you find that your PC takes so long to boot up that you have enough time to use the bathroom and get a quick snack?

If this sounds like your situation, here are some steps you can take to speed up your PC.

Disk Defragmenter

First, run the Disk Defragment tool. You'll need to do this weekly because when you are using the computer on a daily basis, the hard drive becomes fragmented. Fragments of data will disperse in places they don't belong causing your computer to lag.

In order to run the Disk Defragment tool, you'll first need to go to the

• Start menu.
• Then, you'll hit All Programs.
• Look for the Accessories menu.
• Once you've found that, scroll down until you see System Tools.
• Under the System Tools menu, you'll see the Disk De fragment option.
• Click that, and you'll see the screen pop up that will give you some options.
• You'll need to click the button that says, "Defragment."

Once you've done this, just let the program run. Don't touch the computer while it is going through the defragmenting process. Leave it be until the program is finished doing its job.

Disk Clean-up Utility

The second thing you can do to speed up your PC is to run the Disk Clean-up utility.

This utility will clean your hard drive of all temporary files that slow down your PC's performance. The path that you'll need to take to get to this is the same as it would be to get to the Disk Defragment tool.

But, if you are confused, follow the same steps outlined above to get to the System Tools menu.

Except for this time, you'd not click on Disk Defragment.

You'll be clicking on the option that says, "Disk Cleanup."

Once you've done that, the Disk Cleanup utility will scan your system.

Depending on how cluttered your hard drive is, it could take awhile. Once the scanning is completed, a checklist will appear. The most common places that need to be cleaned on the hard drive will be checked by default. It would be a good idea to leave those be if you are a novice computer user and are not sure what you are doing.

But, if you do understand a little more, you could check additional options along with the ones already checked. After you have checked everything you want, hit the button that says, "Okay."

This will launch the utility, and the process of cleaning up your hard drive will begin. It is important that you do not touch the computer while it is going through this process.

let the program run its course.

Use a good Antispyware tool at least weekly

The third thing you could do is to install and run a spyware cleanup utility.

This will cleanse your hard drive from software and other unwanted programs that could do harm to your computer. Spybot Search & Destroy is one of the most recommended spyware removal programs. Not to mention, it is free. A good commercial-grade malware removal tool is XoftspySE - it's free to scan your system and if any infections are found (that weren't removed by the free Spybot), then it may be worth the $30 for this one to clean them out for you. What's 30 bucks if it means your computer and your personal information is safe, right?

Taking these measures are sure to speed up your PC. You won't find yourself becoming frustrated to the point of feeling like you want to take a hammer to your computer.

I have an HP (recently new) Professional and just got two, 1GB RAMs installed but for some reason everything is slower, mainly the Internet. I have trouble watching programs on YouTube but it says my computer connection is very good or excellent.

There are two main reasons why the Internet, particularly videos, runs slowly: viruses and your ISP connection. Having trouble with your registry can also slow things down and you should probably run a registry cleaner if that is the suspect cause, but as you said your computer is relatively new, let's focus on the other two possibilities.

Slow Bandwidth

You don't say what kind of Internet connection you have, but speed can vary depending on how you connect. Videos and large files will have trouble over a dial-up connection, but should run well with DSL or cable. If you are running with dial-up, it doesn't matter what kind of computer you have, you're going to have viewing problems. Consider upgrading if that's possible.

You can check the speed of your bandwidth at sites like these:

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/ and

http://reviews.cnet.com/internet-speed-test/ . CNet will run a comparison of your bandwidth to other ISP providers. If you find that your bandwidth is slow, you can optimize your Internet connection at Cablenut:

http://cablenut.com/ .

Spyware or Adware

Spyware and adware are programs that are downloaded when you are visiting other websites. They track user activity and can use up your computer's resources and slow you down. You should be running a good antivirus program regularly, particularly if you spend a lot of time on the Internet.

You can download some good protective software here:

• AdAware
• Spybot
• Paretologic antivirus

Update Flash Player

Most videos, including YouTube run with Adobe Flash Player. If you have an old version, it might not run as well. You can go to the Adobe website and download the latest version here: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash.

Because your computer is new and it looks like you have plenty of memory, one of these options should help speed up your computer.

I have a Dell computer and it loads at startup a little slow. I am running Windows Vista and would like to get it back like it was. What do you suggest?

Why Vista Loads so Slow

When you first purchased your computer, I bet it started up reasonably well, correct? But now, you've had it for some time and it takes much longer to load. The most common reason for this is that as you add more programs and customize your computer over time, you are also inadvertently asking Windows to do much more than it used to.

Automatic Startup

For example, whenever you add a new program, most programs default with an option for "automatic startup." This means that as Windows boots up, not only is it loading the basic device drivers for your hardware, it is also launching a variety of programs that you may or may not need. In addition, more desktop shortcuts need to load, a large desktop image may need to load, antivirus and anti spyware applications need to check for updates, and so on. All of these processes take time.

Registry Errors

Obsolete entries in the Windows registry also contribute to slow startup times. For example, if you have removed hardware from your computer but the registry still thinks it's installed, then Windows will load the necessary device drivers unnecessarily.

Speed up Vista Startup

This doesn't mean that you have to live with dreadfully slow Vista start up times. The first order of business is to remove unnecessary programs from automatic start up. Unnecessary programs are those that are not crucial to the security of your computer and are not used regularly. For example, you DO want your antivirus program to load automatically. That is crucial. But, you DON'T need QuickTime to load every single time you start your computer. Go to the Start button and type msconfig into the Search bar. Click on the msconfig.exe icon that appears. Now, click on the Startup Items tab. See the list of programs that are automatically launching each time you start up Vista? Remove the check mark next to programs that you don't need to launch. You can always launch them as needed.

Remove Unnecessary Desktop Icons

If your desktop is cluttered with icons and shortcuts, cull these down to a more manageable number. This recent article details how to remove desktop icons.

Clean the Windows Registry

If reducing startup items and desktop icons don't make much of a difference, consider purchasing a registry cleaner to clean up the obsolete, broken, damaged, and missing entries that may be interfering with your computer's performance. We recommend RegCure. You can try a free scan to see if RegCure detects any errors with your registry before you buy.

. . . I have a 250 GB HDD with a dedicated, separate 750GB HDD for backup of my C: drive. I'm only using 56GB because I have 5 external-Network, 1TB drives.

Most of the documents, music, photos and other stuff (LOTS), is stored on a 1TB Network drive, which is dedicated to backing/imaging the other drive, thereby leaving only applications on C:. BUT my system doesn't run as fast as it did when I first bought the unit - 3GHz, 4GBs of RAM (Pentium 4, dual core? processor).

I've dealt with MSCONFIG, run, runonce (in the registry). I have "UniBlue Power Suite" that cleans the registry, and a few other utilities that are supposed to clean up the system. I am ABSOLUTELY sure that I don't have a virus. I use Norton SystemWorks 2009, and defrag on a regular basis. My paging file is minimum and maximum 1 1/2 times the ram. In the Norton Defrag software, I set the pagefile.sys to be defragged first (in the center of the drive where it is faster), I've also used one of the utilities to defrag the pagefile.sys at boot-up.

Any help would be appreciated.

Maintaining a computer so that it remains in top shape and continues running smoothly is simple once you get a system down. It sounds like you are on target with this for the most part. A brief explanation of the major methods for optimizing speed on a computer is explained below. For your individual needs, the first two strategies might apply.

Computer Speed and Processors

The processor of a computer is the most critical factor when it comes to speed and performance. Keeping up with technology often necessitates the purchase of a new processor. When replacing a processor, it is essential to make sure that it is compatible with the motherboard. The type of processor that you purchase should also match your use of the computer. Check to see if you have the fastest processor available for your motherboard.

Each process that your computer runs uses resources from the processor. If two processes are running and each one is using up 40% of the processor time that equals 80%. Therefore, if you are running multiple processes at the same time and each one uses a large percentage of the processor's resources, it might be time to upgrade.

Computer Speed and Disk Space: Temporary Files

Freeing up disk space isn't just about deleted unwanted documents, images, and programs. It's also about deleting temporary Internet files and temporary files in Windows. In fact, temporary Internet files can take up an excessive amount of space especially if you do a considerable amount of Internet browsing. Each time you visit a web page, the browser caches it to facilitate faster loading of the page should you revisit it. Clearing out the browser cache and all temporary files will increase your computer's speed. You need to have accessible RAM in order for the computer to retain its processing speed.

Computer Speed: Cleaning up the Disk

It is important to clean up and repair all errors on each drive that you are using. Complete the clean up on one drive at a time. The general path for this is as follows: Start→ All Programs→ Accessories→ System Tools→ Disk Cleanup. Cleaning up the computer allows it to run more efficiently.

Additionally, you should uninstall any software applications that you aren't using. Empty the recycle bin frequently. Remove optional components and program files that you don't need or use such as Java applets.

Computer Speed and Detecting and Repairing Errors

The overall speed of a computer is affected negatively by the fragmentation of its disks. Defragging the disk solves this problem by detecting errors and repairing them. Fragmented files lead to longer processing time since the computer must sift through the hard disk to locate all of the pieces of the file so that it can be used.

In addition to using an application to defrag your computer, you can access the disk defragmenter, following this path: Start→ All Programs→ Accessories→ System Tools→ Disk Defragmenter. As the computer performs its tasks, it needs to scroll through every file that you have on the disk until it locates the right one. It's kind of like cleaning out the sock drawer and mating all of the socks.

Also, you can run the Error Checking Utility to ensure the integrity of the computer's files. Bad sectors are notorious for running down the performance of computers. Repairing them will restore the computer's performance to an optimal level.

Follow this path: Start→ My Computer→ Select the Disk→ Properties→ Tools→ Check Now→ Scan for and recover bad sectors→ Start→ Fix the bad sectors that are detected.

Computer Speed and Protection against Spyware

Since Norton SystemWorks 2009 does protect against both viruses and spyware, it does appear that your computer is protected from these forms of malware. Most antivirus/anti-spyware applications use up a lot of resources when they are running. Therefore, running the application to scan your computer at a time when you are not actively using it should prove beneficial in improving the computer's speed performance.

Our PC Performance area is loaded with articles filled with speed and performance tips. Spend some time there as well; you may find some real gems.

If you are still experiencing trouble with your computer's speed, you can contact live support at http://www.filetonic.com/support to receive assistance with your problem.

My friend’s computer keeps using all its CPU when running programs. He has 1gig of RAM 160GB hard drive and dual core processor with a Foxcon mother board. What should he do?

My first computer had 8 MB of RAM so I shudder when I say that 1 GB of RAM is a little on the low side, especially if the computer runs Windows Vista. You didn’t say what OS he’s running, so I will assume it’s Vista. Vista is a hungry beast on its own with its fancy new Aero interface and other gizmos. However, I don’t think your friend needs to run out and buy additional memory at this point.  

First, take a look at what programs he is running. If he’s like a lot of computer users, he has more programs running than he is actually using at any given time. For example, many programs install with a default option of “automatic startup.” While it’s convenient to have programs ready to go when you need them, they take up their share of the CPU’s resources. Go to Start >Run and type in msconfig.

From here, click the Startup Items tab and see what’s loading automatically. Remove the obvious ones such as Real Player, iTunes, Google Desktop, Adobe Reader, and so on. Unfamiliar startup programs will need further research before removal. Removing the items from Startup doesn’t remove the program. Your friend can open the programs on demand rather than having them open at all times. 

Next, take advantage of the Vista’s Performance Information and Tools center. This is found in the Control Panel. Here, you’ll find dozens of tweaks to fine tune your friend’s computer. For example, Adjust Visual Effects gives you options for performance versus appearance, processor allocation for the best performance of either programs or services, adjusting virtual memory, and Data Execution Prevention. Work through the various tasks in Performance Information and Tools and you should see a big improvement. 

Under the Advanced task, you’ll find a link to launch the Reliability and Performance Monitor. This is like the Task Manager’s Performance tab but even better. Click on the CPU down arrow to view real-time CPU activities. You may find valuable clues here regarding what’s eating up all of that CPU power.