1) Uninstall unused programs
New PCs come with a whole load of programs you will
never use, and you probably don’t even know they exist.
Some programs even run background processes when
you load your computer, even though you are not using
them.
To remove all these pointless programs, open the
Control Panel’s Programs and Features page, and have
a trawl through the list of installed software. Uninstall
those that you do not need, while being careful to leave
programs your computer’s hardware needs (typically
their publisher will be listed as the PC maker’s name or
as Microsoft).
If you are still unsure about which programs to use, try
a third-party called such as PC Decrapifier – it’s free
for non-commercial use – which should tell you which
programs you don’t want or need.
2) Automatically delete temporary files
Temporary files amass on your computer through
everyday tasks and can remain on your hard disk,
slowing the computer down. Getting rid of these files,
including your internet history and cookies, should give
you a larger amount of hard disk space, speeding up
your PC.
To do this, open “My Computer”, and select your local
drive (usually C:\). Select the “Windows” folder and then
open the folder titled “Temp”.
Use your mouse to right-click on the folder, and in the
“View” options, choose “Details”. Once this is done,
select all the files that are older than the current date
and press the delete key. Then go to the Recycle Bin on
your desktop and empty it.
3) Install a solid state drive
Hard drives are the biggest cause of slow speeds and
especially slow startup speeds on your PC.
While they are not cheap , installing a solid state drive,
which have extremely fast read times, can speed up
your startup considerably.
4) More hard drive storage
Even if you make sure to regularly clean out all your
temporarily files, if your hard drive becomes 85 per cent
full, it’s going to affect your computer’s speed.
If you regularly film videos or use your PC for recording
television, then you will want as big a hard drive as you
can get, upwards of 1TB in size.
Here is a handy video on how to install your new hard
drive.
5) Prevent unnecessary start ups
This method will primarily affect how long it takes for
your laptop or PC to startup, but often many of the
programs which are launched on startup continue to run
and use up your computer’s memory.
To do this, click “Start” and “Run”. In “Run”, type
“msconfig” and then press enter. You should then see
the “Startup” tab, with all the programs ticked the ones
which will load upon your computer starting up. There
is a good chance the list will contain a number of
programs you might not have realised were running on
your computer during startup, or even at all.
You can either manually deselect those which you do
not want to load, or click “Disable All” and then select
those you want to run, such as particularly important
programs like anti-virus software.
Another trick can be removing all the unnecessary fonts
Windows loads. Windows 7 loads more than 200 fonts
on startup which can slow down the speed at which it
boots up. Go to the Start Menu’s search box, search for
the Fonts folder and check off all the fonts you don’t
need, and click the “Hide” button in the toolbar.
6) More RAM
RAM, which stands for Random Access Memory, is the
temporary storage memory used by your computer and
is in use when tasks are being executed by different
programs. Therefore, the more programs you use, the
more RAM you need, and the slower your computer will
be if you don’t have enough.
A clear indicator of not having enough RAM is if your
computer slows down every time you try and process
large files, or it freezes will carrying out several different
actions at once.
You can either add more RAM with an extra memory
stick or two, or buy getting completely new memory if
all the slots are taken. There is theoretically no upper
limit on the amount of RAM that you can have with a
64-bit operating system, but in practical terms 4GB is
more than enough for most people.
For a handy guide on what kind of RAM you need, look
here, or watch the video below on how it should be
installed.
You can also find out how many RAM your computer is
using in the Task Manager’s Performance tab (hit Ctrl-
Shift-Esc to bring this up).
7) Run a disk defragment
Sounds complicated, but this is basically a way of
reconfiguring how your hard drive stores information for
maximum efficiency.
Go to “My Computer”, right-click on the hard drive and
select “Properties”. Under the “Tools” tab there should
be an option to “Defragment Now”.
8) Run disk clean up
Windows also includes a built-in disk de-cluttering tool
called “Disk Cleanup”.
It searches through the system for unnecessary large
files such as temporary Internet files, program installers,
and so on.
Open Disk Cleanup by clicking “Start > All Programs >
Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup”.
9) Give your computer a static IP
Another trick for speeding up your computer loading
time is to give your computer a static IP address that
never changes.
When you startup your computer, it spends a decent
amount of time asking the network for an IP address.
Not only does having a static IP address make the
network easier to manage (particularly if you have
several devices using the same network), but it also
cuts time off your startup.
To do this, visit the “Network and Sharing Center”, and
select “Change adapter settings”. Right click on your
local adapter and select “Properties”. You then need to
highlight what should be titled “Internet Protocoal
Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and click the properties button.
In “Use the following IP address” enter in the correct IP,
Subnet mask, and Default gateway which correspond
with your network setup.
Make sure to check “Validate settings upon exit” so
Windows can find any problems with the addresses you
entered.
To find out what your IP, subnet mask and default
gateway are, go to “Start” and then “Run”, and type in
“cmd”. At the command prompt, type “IPCONFIG/All”
and it should come up, as shown below.
10) Hoovering out the dust
Again, this sounds a tad radical, but dust is your
computer’s enemy. It can impede airflow, which is vital
to keeping your computer’s temperature down, and if
your computer is overheating, it is likely it will slow
down its performance to cope.
(Incidentally, overheating will also make it impossible to
use programs such as Skype, because for the person on
the other end of the conversation it constantly sounds
like an aeroplane is taking off).
If you have a desktop or a laptop, you can take off the
computer’s exterior and use a hoover on a low power
setting to try and remove some of the dust. Make sure
your computer has been switched off for at least 30
minutes and that all cables are disconnected before
starting your clean.
Use your hoover with a small attachment, and try either
the reverse setting to blow air into the vents and push
the dust out, or use its standard suction to try and
extract some of the dust.
