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.
