No one likes dealing with a slow computer. For most people, the source of the slowdown isn’t evident, and that makes troubleshooting even harder. More often than not, low computer performance seems to sneak into the picture, often leaving users wondering exactly what’s happened.

There Are Things You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer!

If you’re looking for an immediate burst of speed, try eliminating open programs, document windows, and processes that don’t need to run all the time, even in the background. Don’t look for “savings” by turning off your virus or malware protection. These software packages need to run all the time. Also you can uninstall software that is unwanted, great to free up more PC resources. Also, try closing applications as you finish with them and paring down the apps that automatically load when you run the computer. Remove excess fonts, foreign language support and other items that may be part of a standard installation routine, but are for the most part unnecessary.

Add more memory to your computer. If your computer isn’t already maxed out on memory, consider installing the maximum amount of memory allowed by the computer’s design. Don’t bother installing more than the maximum and be sure you get the type of memory recommended for your computer. Too much, too little or the wrong kind of memory can cause serious performance degradations and will generally make your computing experience intolerable.

Clean, clean, clean. Clean out unneeded files from the file system. Remove all files that you’ve “temporarily” stored on the desktop. Remove unused applications, demo programs that may have come loaded with your computer when it was brand new, and eliminate temporary files. (Don’t eliminate temporary folders because many apps need those. Just eliminate the files inside.) Defragment your hard disk regularly to make the most use of your newfound disk space. Clean your registry.

Some people ask if cleaning a registry is necessary and I always say, “Only if you want your computer to run efficiently.” Cleaning out your registry periodically removes all of the “build-up” that would otherwise get left behind by applications that have been uninstalled, drivers and other components that have been replaced or upgraded, and old configurations. You don’t appreciate how quickly these can add up to diminished performance until you run a registry cleaner. I recommend RegCure for the task. It’s complete, easy-to-use and very thorough. It also makes a backup of your registry before it makes any changes, so reverting to your previous state is as easy as pie.

Photo Credit: Celine Mosnier, via Flickr