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PC Optimization Tips

6 Ways to immediately SPEED-UP your Slow Computer

Take a few minutes to go through this list of suggestions- Id be willing to bet you can increase Computer speed, possibly dramatically, by following these Basic PC Speed best practises.

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Being a computer owner can be tough. Granted, a computer allows for easy web surfing, file downloading, and instant communication via messenger programs and email, but it comes at a price: maintenance time. Owners need to know how to maintain their computers in order to avoid hang-ups, slow computer problems, and other frustrating computer issues.

If you don’t know how to perform basic maintenance for your computer, you won’t be surfing, downloading, or chatting for long, especially if you use your computer constantly. Computers need to be tuned up to keep their speed up, and without proper maintenance, can slow to a snail’s pace. A few simple tasks, performed regularly, can add years to your computer’s lifespan.

Uninstall Old Programs: Simple first step to improve slow computer performance

Some people go through several printers before replacing their computers, and all of those printers have their own software. Unless you uninstall it, it will remain on the computer indefinitely, filling hard drive space and possibly wasting system resources. The same goes for old, unused games and other software. Open up “add/remove programs,” from the control panel in Windows XP. If you have the Vista operating system, open the control panel, and then “all programs.” Uninstall anything you don’t use anymore. If you don’t know whether a particular program is important, research it before making any changes to it.

Need more ideas to improve slow computer performance?

• Laptop Runs Excessively Slow
• Slow Download Times
• Computer Acting Crazy: Spyware and Viruses
• Uninstall Unwanted Programs
• Speeding Up Slow Startup
• Computer Still Slow after Virus
• Speeding up Dialup Access
• Computer is Suddenly Slow

Remove Startup Items: Slow computer performance will improve right away!

Startup items are programs set to run as soon as your computer starts up. Many of them are useless, working more in the interests of software companies than in the interests of your personal computer. To turn off startup items, just open the “run” window, type “msconfig,” and click the “startup” tab in the window that pops up. All of the checked items in the list that appears are set to run on startup.

Research the listed items with a web search and uncheck the ones that you don’t need. Remember, this doesn’t uninstall anything, and most unchecked items can still be run manually from the “all programs” list. You will have to restart the computer in order for the changes to take effect. Check up on the startup items list every month or so.

Run the Disk Cleanup Utility: See what’s causing slow and lagging computer speeds

The Disk Cleanup is always included with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. It’s a tool used to clean up (that is, delete) old, unnecessary files in your computer’s browsing history, error logs, temporary folders, and more. You can access this utility by opening the “start” menu, opening “all programs,” finding “accessories,” then finally, locating “system tools.”

Make sure every box in the Disk Cleanup’s list is checked off except for one, which may or may not appear: “Compress old files.” This option sacrifices speed for a bit of extra hard drive space, and is usually detrimental to a computer’s performance. Use the Disk Cleanup every month.

Run the Disk Defragmenter

The Disk Defragmenter can be found in the same folder as the Disk Cleanup Utility: “system tools.” It’s incredibly easy to run, as all you have to do once the program is open is click the “defragment” button to start defragmenting.  It’s a good idea to do this when you do not expect need the computer for a while, as the process can take several hours. Computer users often choose to run the defragmenter overnight.

Slow Computer or other Windows problems? Run a free scan Now

The Disk Defragmenter should be used every month or so. If you are not sure whether your computer needs to be defragmented, the Windows XP version has an “analyze” button which allows you see a diagram of how disorganized and fragmented your hard drive is. Just remember that the more red you see in the diagram, the more important it is to run the Defragmenter. Windows Vista’s defragmenter lacks this function, but many disk defragmenting programs are available with this function. Most can be downloaded for free, safely on the Internet.

Scan for Malware

Antivirus programs are no use to you if you don’t perform regular scans for viruses, adware, and spyware. Scan your whole computer once a week, and scan frequently-used folders (like the ‘downloads’ folder of a file sharing program) even more often than that: every day.

Clear the Desktop

A cleared-off desktop not only helps your profile load a bit faster when you log on to your computer, it will also help you remain organized, allowing you to work faster. Put pictures into your “My Pictures” folder, and move documents into the “My Documents” folder. Delete any installers that you have already used and any shortcuts (the icons with the little arrows in the corners) that you never use. If you don’t know what something is, put it in a folder titled “I don’t know,” and ask your computer-savvy friend about it the next time you chat.

If you want to keep email more time-efficient than an in-person visit, be sure to maintain your computer. It comes with tools, and extra tools are downloadable. You have no excuse not to use them!

Why not run a free registry scan, you may be surprised by the number of critical problems found!

Multiple error messages appear when I start my computer. Programs freeze. Can I fix this? Are there any secrets for fixing it?

I’d love to say that I have a few secrets up my sleeve for fixing computers, but I don’t. However, I can show you how to use several excellent techniques, utilities, and tools, many of which may already be on your computer.

Troubleshooting Basics

Since your computer can barely function, let’s start with the basics. Are these errors new? Or have they been compounding over time? Have you recently updated your operating system? Added new hardware? Installed new software? Think back in time to the last time your computer ran as it should. If it was fairly recent, use System Restore to roll your computer back to that time.

Rule Out Malware Infections

Malware infections, such as viruses and spyware, are notorious for the symptoms that you’ve described. I want you to restart your computer in “Safe Mode with Networking.” This will load only the most essential system files and drivers while still allowing you to go online. Now, you should be able to right click the icon to your antivirus/anti-spyware program and view a submenu. Select the Update Now (or similar) option and update these crucial computer security programs. Once updated, launch the software and run a complete (not quick) system scan.

If you do not have antivirus and antispyware installed, I can guarantee you that your computer is infected. Take a look at our anti-virus reviews and protect your PC (some are even free).

Manage Startup Programs

Another good way to crash your computer system is to expect too much of it. Is your computer set to load a variety of programs each time it boots up? Each program requires resources such as processor power and memory. If you have a bunch of programs gobbling up these resources, you will soon see out of memory and low resources error messages and other programs will freeze when you try to launch them.

Go into the Start button and click Run. Type in “msconfig” and press OK. Now, find the Startup items tab in the next screen and click it. Remove recognized programs such as Google Desktop, Adobe Reader, and Quicktime from this auto start list. Removing programs from the list only prevents them from automatically loading; you can still use these programs on demand.

While in this tab, you will likely see several unrecognizable programs, too. You’ll need to research those before removal as they could be critical system processes. They could also be useless programs or spyware, so it pays to do your research. BleepingComputer.com has an excellent Startup items database for this purpose.

Clean and Defrag the Hard Disc

When the hard drive becomes nearly full, computer performance comes to a screeching halt. Use the Disc-Cleanup utility to free up disc space. Once you’ve recovered disc space, run the Disc Defragmenter to reorganize the disc’s contents and improve PC performance.

Clean the Windows Registry

While most of these troubleshooting steps have been free, this next one requires a small investment. The Windows registry is a large index that instructs the operating system in how to interact with your hardware, software, settings, and so on. When it’s manageable, the computer performs as it should; when it becomes bogged down with junk, file corruption, partially installed programs, and obsolete information, it sends Windows on a wild goose chase and performance suffers. Cleaning the registry of this junk solves the problems.

Registry cleaning utilities are excellent at solving computer startup errors and program freezes. RegCure offers a limited use evaluation version that lets you check your computer’s registry for errors. The full featured version is amazingly easy and effective.

I cannot get my computer to run fast and it keeps telling me my disk space is low. I keep running the disk cleaner but it is not helping very much then it tells me my memory is critically low. How do I fix this?

Slow Computer Woes

When it comes to computers, few things are more frustrating than a slow computer. Well, error messages are close. And so are crashes. And so are viruses. And, guess what? These seemingly unrelated frustrations are often related. Right now your computer is slow and generating low disk space errors. Free disk space doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, and now memory is critically low. Let’s take a look at what could be going on and see if we can’t get your computer back in shape.

Causes of Full Hard Disk 

First, if your hard disk is indeed nearly full, then this will trigger low disk space and critical memory errors as well as result in agonizingly slow performance. The questions at this point would be, “What is filling up the disk?” and “What can be removed?”

Computer viruses and spyware can also fill up a hard disk and gobble up system resources. In fact, one of the most common symptoms of a malware infection is slow performance. Many malware programs actually invite other malware programs onto your computer. It’s not unusual for an infected PC to have hundreds of different spyware programs on the computer! So, this too is a possibility to consider.

Disc Cleanup

Before checking for viruses and spyware, we need to free up a bit more disc space so that you can run a few scans without running into these errors. Go to Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disc Cleanup. You have already done this a few times, so this time, let’s look beyond the more basic cleanup tasks. For example, instead of accepting the default suggestions such as emptying the Recycle Bin and Downloaded Program Files, look at the list of files that can be deleted with an eye on those that are the largest. One huge file on my own disk is the Hibernation File Cleaner (1.98 GB!). If I needed to free up space, this is one that I would definitely remove (though doing so disables hibernation).

After cleaning up the marked files under Disk Cleanup, click on the More Options tab and clean up all but the most recent restore point and any shadow copies your computer may be storing. Still need more space? Now it’s time to clean up your programs. You can do this from within the More Options tab or separately from the Add and Remove Programs (Programs and Features in Vista) icon in the Control Panel.

Because many computer programs are huge and used only once or twice, remove those that you no longer need. For example, I downloaded Open Office earlier to help a Filetonic.com reader. I don’t need this program, yet it is taking up 336 MB of disk space on my computer. In my case, this would be a good candidate for removal.

Finally, search your disk for large music, photo, and video files. Delete any unimportant photos and videos like e-mail attachments or blurry personal photos. Photos can be several MBs big and videos can measure in the gigabyte range. It doesn’t take long to fill disks with music, images, and videos.

Virus and Spyware Tools  

Now that your disk has a little breathing room, let’s rule out malware. Any of the programs on our antivirus reviews page will do a good job of finding computer viruses. Ideally, you should also check for spyware. Run a complete system scan using updated security software and remove any malicious programs found.

By clearing space and removing malware, your computer’s performance should improve. View our Performance Tips for additional help.

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 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.