Often a computer will start out life blazingly quick and stable, but over time deteriorates into a frustratingly slow machine, with system freezes, crashing, and constant error messages. These problems can likely be fixed by applying simple Windows settings changes, performing routine maintenance, and following some basic rules and suggestions endorsed by the creators of Windows themselves,Microsoft.
Free Up & Clean Hard Drive Space
Allowing the primary hard drive to become over 90% full can seriously affect performance, cause crashes, instability, result in data loss or complete system failure. Microsoft recommend using Windows' Disk Cleanup regularly to delete files you don’t need, keep your recycle bin empty, and generally hoover away digital debris. Invest in an external drive to save videos, music, photos etc. or other large files which are not needed daily.
Programs that were installed but never used are speed bumps on the performance highway, and eat up valuable hard drive and RAM space - according to Microsoft, one should visit Windows' Control Panel and remove them! Also, look for the folder they were installed to on the hard drive, as well as any icons or start menus they may have created, and delete them too. It’s good to perform a restart after any uninstall to “reset” the system and check that all is well.
Once this is done, give the hard drive a shot in the arm; running Disk Checker performs a health check of the hard drive to make sure it doesn’t have any potential problems which could cause slowdown or potential disk failure. Run the full surface scan option sometimes as well, which can take an hour or more, but looks deeper for hard drive problems. If Disk Checker reports back with serious issues, it’s time to consider replacement.
Lastly, improve hard drive access speed by tidying up the way it stores the thousands of files you store on it. Do this by running Windows Disk Defragmenter once a week, which sorts out all files into neat categories so that it can access and dish them up quicker.
Maximize Random Access Memory (RAM)
Random Access Memory (RAM) is the lifeblood of a fast computer. Every application and task uses some of your computer's RAM, so it is important to keep as much of it free and available at all times.
For starters, running 22 programs at once might look super productive, but no one would feel that way living with snail-paced performace. Close open programs that aren’t needed, which frees up RAM for speeding up the programs actually being used.
High resolution wallpapers, dancing cursors, funky noises and animated icons are really great... at eating RAM. Change the Windows theme to something less flashy, and use a low resolution background picture, or none at all, to free up some memory.
Next, desktop icons and tray icons each use a little bit of RAM even while sitting dormant on your desktop or menu bar, both during computer startup and while using the machine. Try deleting whatever icons and shortcuts you don't need, or use one or the other of each (desktop shortcuts or tray icons, not both) to save some resources.
Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 can use some flash drives or memory cards as “removable RAM”. Insert the USB drive, right click to bring up its properties, and dedicate all or part of it to “ReadyBoost”, which can help speed things up. If you can, format the drive completely using its default settings (wipes all data), and dedicate the entire drive capacity to ReadyBoost, and leave it permanently in the USB port.
Finally, adding RAM memory to any machine is still the most effective way to speed up any computer, as long as you haven't exhausted this option already. A rule of thumb is that the speed of the CPU should at least be matched by the gigabytes of installed RAM.
General PC Tweaks, Updates and Speed Recommendations
Some programs, when installed, place themselves in Window’s startup folder. This means they will run every time the machine is booted up, which lengthens the start process and eats precious memory while running in the background.
If a program doesn't need to start every time the machine is booted, delete it from the “Startup” folder in the Windows program list (this does not ninstall or delete the program), and rather run it from the Start bar when needed. For more advanced options, you can completely customize a selective startup list for your computer.
To work efficiently and maximise performance, every hardware component of a computer needs drivers – and like their namesake, good ones get you where you need faster than the bad ones. Run Windows Update to check for updated drivers, and visit the websites of the hardware vendors, to download the latest drivers or repair damaged drivers. This applies especially to graphics cards and system mainboards.
Next, always have decent, regularly updated antivirus and spyware software running on your system. Without it, browsing the web opens it up to having nasty leeches, viruses and trojans, slowing it down and affecting its overall health.
Finally, by parting with a little cash, there are some good software tools that make speeding up any computer a doddle, and also ensure it stays that way in future with proactive maintenance scheduling. Many also have built-in fail-safes, in case something important gets knackered while adjusting the settings. This may be the way to go for inexperienced users, as an all-in-one solution for all the above tips, and more.
This article from Dreamyoup
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