5 Ways To Speed Up Your PC [Bonus Video]

Overtime, your computer becomes full of junk software, cookies, temporary files and other items. Just like a car, your computer starts to get a little groggy and slow. Here are five ways you can speed up your computer. Now, this is assuming your system is virus free.

Prevent Startup Items

First, click on the start orb on your taskbar. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, search msconfig and press enter. In Windows XP, go to start > run > type msconfig and press enter. You should see a screen like this.

Simply uncheck anything that you don’t want to startup when you initially start the computer. This is often the main reason why computers run slow. After installing so much software, we don’t realize that the software is set to automatically startup and run in the background, slowing down the performance of your PC. Be careful when performing this action as some software is required to start in order for your system to function properly. If you aren’t sure what it is or what it does, don’t uncheck it. Or, consult a computer support specialist for assistance.

Stop Unnecessary Services

Even though you have prevented programs from starting up automatically, some of their services may still run in the background. To prevent this from happening, perform the same steps as above and click on the tab titled Services.

In order to avoid accidentally turning necessary services off, it is advised that you check “Hide all Microsoft services” before proceeding. Now, simply go through the list and stop anything that is unnecessarily running. Typically, you want to stop services for software that you no longer use.

Clean Up Your Disk

Performing this action alone can dramatically increase your systems performance. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, simply search disk cleanup and click on it. In Windows XP, to open Disk Cleanup, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.

Disk Cleanup helps free up space on your hard drive. Disk Cleanup searches your drive, and then shows you temporary files, Internet cache files, and unnecessary program files that you can safely delete. You can direct Disk Cleanup to delete some or all of those files.

On some systems, you will be required to select the drive you want to clean up. Typically, you want to select C:\ unless you have installed Windows on a different drive. Once you have selected the drive, the following screen should appear.

At this screen,select all the check boxes then click ok. Then click Delete Files.

The file cleanup will then process, getting rid of all the temp files, unnecessary install files, temporary logs, etc.

Uninstall Unnecessary Software

Go to your control panel and find “Uninstall Programs”. Take some time to go through that list of installed programs and uninstall those which you no longer use. Again, you want to be sure you know what the software is and what you are uninstalling before you uninstall it. If you are unsure, consult a tech support specialists before removing the software in question.

Defrag Your Hard Drive

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, search Disk Defragmenter. In Windows XP, to open Disk Defragmenter, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragment.

Disk Defragmenter consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer’s hard disk, so that each occupies a single, contiguous space on the volume. As a result, your system can gain access to your files and folders and save new ones more efficiently. By consolidating your files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates the volume’s free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented.

Simply select the drive to be defragmented and click Defragment disk.

After performing these steps, there should be a noticeable difference in the speed of your PC. Again, this is assuming your system is not infected or there are no other underlying issues.

WARNING: Beware of tools claiming to speed up your PC or double your speed or clean up the registry. These tools simply perform the actions that your system already does. Those software do nothing different other than maybe schedule those tasks to be run at a certain time. Many of those types of software contain viruses or some other malware.

Here’s a short video of someone using one of the software’s on a brand new computer.

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