Speed Up Computer

Computers require regular maintenance in order to maintain good performance. A slow computer may be the result of an improperly maintained computer. There are many different maintenance tasks that should be done regularly – some more often than others. This post discusses a regular maintenance schedule for computers.

Regular Maintenance Will Eliminate Slow Computers

If you’ve ever sat around waiting for a slow computer to finish a task, you know how irritating it can be. If maximizing your computing time is important, then plan to put your slow computer on a regular maintenance schedule. In most cases, these must-be-done tasks can be automated, so your only time investment will be in configuring your computer to carry out these routines.

Daily, you should have your computer check for updates to your anti-malware software. Download and install anti-malware updates immediately and keep your anti-malware software subscription up-to-date. You can perform this update check either at startup or at shutdown. Shutdown is sometimes preferred because that means you won’t be waiting on your computer.

Daily, you should restart your computer. There’s no point in leaving the computer on overnight unless it’s completing a scheduled task. Restarting the computer also clears out the memory and resets the computer back to a known-good operating state.

Weekly, check for OS patches and security updates, or configure your computer to notify you immediately when a patch or update is available. Install these patches right away.

Weekly, check for updates to your major software packages, or configure your packages to notify you when an upgrade is available. Read the accompanying information carefully before you install application updates. You’ll need to make sure your system is prepared to handle the new software requirements. Apply patches right away. They’re usually small and don’t require any hardware or configuration changes.

Monthly, check your hard disk for signs of excessive fragmentation. If your disk is excessively fragmented, defragment it using the built in defrag tool. Also clean your registry monthly using a good registry cleaner like RegCure. Keeping your registry clean will help eliminate performance problems.

Monthly, run your disk utility to check your hard disk for bad sectors and other failures that can cause data loss. The disk utility will flag and lock out bad disk sectors to prevent them from being used. It can also repair file structure problems that can slow computer performance.

Photo Credit: My name’s Axel, via Flickr