No doubt, as a computer owner you’ve probably become frustrated on more than one occasion due to your machine becoming unbelievably slow. Let’s face it; nobody enjoys having to wait for what seems like an eternity, and that just so that you can access one of your programs. Of course, it can be even more soul destroying when you’re forced to wait for ten or fifteen minutes each time you boot-up your computer.
Whatever it is, the slow PC problem is a real problem for millions of computer users. While there is not a sure-fire fix for slow PCs that will work, or even help, in every situation, here are the top four ways to speed up your PC.
#1. Reboot
Too many people never reboot their computers, and that is a major factor in the PC slowdown problem. In this day of always-on internet, and as our computers have become an integral part of our daily lives, many of us do not realize that PCs need to be rebooted from time to time in order for them to function at an optimal level.
Some computer programs do not really quit running even when you close them, some of your software probably has memory leakage or seepage, and over time, these memory-thieves will take their toll on your computers available memory. When your computer is using up a lot of its available memory, your computer is not nearly as efficient as it should be, and likely, its downright sluggish. A fresh reboot from time to time will help you to reset your memory to an optimal state, and chances are, your computer will speed up considerably from this small act alone.
#2. Upgrading memory
The amount of available memory has a direct impact on the speed of your computer. At the very least you should have 512 MB RAM, and that if you’re running one of the earlier versions of Microsoft Windows such as XP. On the other hand if you’re using the new Windows 7 operating platform then you’ll need at least 1GB of RAM. In fact, even though Windows Vista is an earlier system, it requires a whopping 1.5GB. Ideally you should have at least 2GB of available memory on your computer if you have a 64-bit system, or if you enjoy playing games.
#3. Defragmenting the hard drive
As you may well already know, if your hard drive is fragmented it results in your machine becoming inefficient. You can bet your bottom dollar that if you’ve not been using the built in defragment tool, you’ll be forfeiting a substantial amount of your computer’s potential with regards to accessing files and etc.
Remember, it’s not without reason that Microsoft includes a defrag tool with all of their operating systems. Essentially, you should defragment your hard drive at least once each month and providing you do so, the resultant increase in speed will certainly be noticeable. In fact, it will be even more noticeable if you haven’t run the defragment tool for quite some time.
#4. Using a registry cleaner
Just as a defragmenting tool helps to organize your hard drive, a registry cleaner helps to remove unnecessary clutter from the windows registry, bearing in mind that the registry can be compared to being a computer’s brain. Whenever you choose to install new programs, or remove old programs or drivers, a significant amount of data is either added or removed from your computer’s registry. Unfortunately however, the vast majority of programs fail to uninstall properly, and this often results in a certain amount of data remaining in the registry which should’ve in fact been removed. Of course, these pockets of data do nothing other than clutter up your registry and cause conflicts between programs and drivers. This in turn results in your system becoming increasingly slow, not to mention the fact that you’ll also begin experiencing frequent error messages. By running an effective registry cleaning tool regularly, you’ll be doing much in terms of improving the overall speed of your computer.
In many cases, even using a couple of these tips will help you to improve your PCs speed significantly. While just about everybody experiences a PC slowdown on occasion, its not a fun experience, especially when you think the only options are to format your PC or send your computer to the repair shop. By using the tips above, you will help to ensure that you can enjoy a speedier PC today, and hopefully, for many years to come.
Tags: Computer