It seems that just about every technician has his (or her) favorite tips for speeding up computers and snatching back performance from the clutches of evil, time-wasting, memory-wasting and resource-wasting nasties that creep their way into an otherwise perfectly good operating system. But what does Microsoft recommend to keep a computer system in good working order?

Microsoft’s Top Three Suggestions For Faster Computer Performance

Microsoft’s first suggestion is to remove unused files. This is great advice, regardless of where it’s’ coming from. A lack of useable disk space bogs down computer file systems. This is, in no small measure, due to the way computer systems work. Computers will turn to the hard disk for extra “scratch space” when RAM isn’t available. RAM is the ideal scratch space, but when all of the RAM has been allocated to other processes, a quick trip to the hard disk is in order for the computer.

Writing to the hard disk is slower, and this naturally slows down the computer. Keeping adequate hard disk space free is important because your computer thinks of its hard disk as back-up computational space. Periodically clean out files you don’t need and regulate the size of temporary files. Don’t let your temp files grow to an unmanageable size and don’t devote too much space to caches. (Don’t completely eliminate them either!)

Along with keeping the file system tidy is emptying the Recycle Bin. There’s no point in storing hundreds (or thousands) of files in the Recycle Bin. Get rid of them once in awhile! Also remove old programs that you no longer use. Microsoft makes a handy utility called Disk Cleanup that will do most of the heavy lifting for you. Disk Cleanup is found under Accessories > System Tools.

Defragmenting your hard disk will also improve your data access speed. Defragmenting essentially allows you to arrange the files on your hard disk in a more compact arrangement. This frees previously “trapped” disk space and makes it available again for other uses. Disk Defragmenter, also located in Accessories > System Tools can help you defragment your disk.

Repair your hard disk. Sometimes sectors of a disk become unusable due to disk errors. Sometimes, disk errors can be corrected using a special utility called the Error Checking utility, also found under Accessories > System Tools. For those sectors that cannot be repaired, the utility flags them so they’re not used again. This can help clear up quirky problems you may be having with particular files and can also prevent these problems from cropping up later.

Photo Credit: Jonti Bolles, via Flickr

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