Regular Maintenance Can Speed Up Computer

Paul Watson, PC Technician

Thursday, December 10th 2009

Regular Maintenance Can Speed Up Computer

If you use your computer regularly, you probably have noticed over time that your computer tends to slow down. You can prevent this slide into Slowville by doing some regular maintenance on your computer. Just as a car needs regular maintenance to run correctly, so does your computer. What exactly does this regular maintenance involve?

Routine Maintenance Can Help Keep Your Computer Speeding Along

Routine maintenance for computers should include keeping your desktop tidy. Saving files to your desktop rather than storing them in your computer’s file structure will slow your computer down. Store your files in the filing system and you’ll get a pleasant little speed boost.

Routine maintenance also includes keeping your system tray as empty as possible. When you install applications, the installer may ask if you want a shortcut placed on the desktop or in the system tray. If you answer no to this question, you’ll preserve your computer’s memory for the things you really want to run: applications. If you allow the computer to start up applications when it boots, you’ll be devoting memory to applications you may not be using at the expense of the programs you want to run. Bottom line: keep your system pared to a minimum.

Defragment your hard disk periodically. This routine maintenance task will help keep your files together on your hard disk and cut down the amount of time your computer needs to find, read and write your files. If you create a lot of files, or create and remove files often, you’ll want to defragment your hard disk about once per month. If you don’t often save files to your hard disk, you can defer this task to about once per quarter.

Run your anti-virus and anti-malware software often. Your best bet is to configure these programs to run scans automatically. Don’t turn off your antivirus software to save memory; that’s asking for trouble!

Run a registry cleaner like RegCure to keep your registry files clean and to remove leftover and orphaned programming code that can easily slow your system down. Schedule RegCure to run regularly and you’ll be surprised by how well your computer runs.

Don’t load every little utility you find. This is a great way to pick up malware and viruses, as many of these programs are disguised as screensavers and other meaningless utilities. If you want to save your screen – something much less necessary on the newer tubeless monitors – just use the powersave options built into the system to shut your screen off after a period of inactivity.

Photo Credit: Andrew Griffith, via Flickr