The One Thing You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer

Speeding Up Computer Performance Isn’t A One-Shot Deal

There is no magic involved in speeding up your computer, but there are things you can do to prevent it from slowing down, or to boost performance. Ultimately, the component that governs how fast your computer works is the CPU. The more work the CPU is doing, or the more tasks it divides its time between, the slower your computer will appear to work.

You can lighten the burden on your CPU by making sure that you have the tools your computer needs to work efficiently. If you use a lot of graphics-intensive software (like games), you’ll want a good graphics card with lots of onboard memory. What the card can’t process gets handled by the CPU, so the more graphics capabilities you add to your computer, the better off you’ll be.

Your computer needs a lot of memory, especially if you run multiple programs at the same time. If you like to (or need to) multitask, you’ll want a lot of memory installed on your computer.

If you have a lot of files stored on your computer, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate storage space for these files, plus whatever “temporary” space the computer needs for applications. Defragment your hard drive often to make the best use of the space you have, and don’t store files outside of the file system – like on the desktop.

Keep your computer free of malware, viruses and other performance torpedoes. Programs that aren’t classified as malware, but run all the time deserve a careful evaluation. If you don’t really need it, get rid of it! If you can’t do that, at least configure it so it doesn’t run all the time.)

Clean your registry. Do registry cleaners work? Yes! RegCure will restore performance by removing unneeded registry code that your computer has to read and interpret. You’ll be surprised by what a difference a clean registry can make!

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Start Up Can Really Slow Your Computer Down

If you’re looking for a faster computer but can’t afford to replace the computer you have, consider this: much of what slows your computer down is resolvable. You can get additional speed out of your computer by making some relatively simple changes to your start-up routine.

Why You Should Look At Your Startup File

Standard installation routines are good in some respects and bad in others. It’s easy to click a few buttons and get your latest download to install, but unless you really look at the “recommended” or “standard” installation routine, you may not know exactly what the installer will do to your computer.

Setting aside the nefarious possibilities, installers will add information to your applications folder (or whatever folder you specify); make entries to your registry; create icons and shortcuts that reside on the desktop, or in the system tray; and they may even add your new download to the computer’s Start Up file. In doing so, each of these actions requires the computer to either spend or devote some memory to this application. The application’s memory usage goes beyond the space it takes up on your hard disk. The application will claim a little bit of RAM, even when you don’t intend to use it.

To eliminate the extra memory usage, periodically review your Start Up Items file. Determine which applications you cannot (or don’t want to) start yourself when they’re needed. Leave those items in the Start Up file. For those applications you don’t need, or don’t mind starting on your own, remove them from your startup file. Your boot time will improve and your computer will have more memory available for the applications you do want to use.

While we’re on the subject of memory usage, take the time to close application windows you don’t need any longer, and close applications when you’re finished with them. Having multiple windows open can take up additional memory and slow your computer performance down. When you’re using a browser, consider opening multiple tabs in the same window instead of opening multiple windows when you need to see more than one Web page. Tabbed browsing is more efficient and eliminates clutter from your desktop.

When you finish with an application and close app windows without actually closing the application, you can use up memory. Quit an application as you finish with it and restart it if you need to. Also, don’t store documents on the desktop. Store documents and files in the file system to maximize your memory usage.

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Having The Wrong Equipment Can Slow Computer Performance

The Right Tool For The Job

Memory is only one component that can affect the performance of the computer. Ultimately, users need to understand that a computer is a system. If you purchase “off-the-shelf” systems, you’re purchasing a system that has been designed with a specific purpose in mind. Some computer systems are designed for office work; others are designed for graphics-intensive tasks. Still others are designed for gaming. Portable computers, netbooks and laptops are designed with office functions in mind, but they may only really excel at certain “low-power” tasks like checking email, editing simple documents or surfing the Web.

The point I’m making is that computer systems are designed for certain tasks. If you purchase a computer system because it has a low price, but you really want the computer to play graphics-intensive games on, you’re likely to be disappointed because the low-cost office computer isn’t really up to the task of processing a lot of graphic information that changes frequently.

If you have a specific purpose in mind for your computer, you should do some research on what exactly you’ll need your computer do be able to do. If you really want to edit videos on your computer, you’ll need a different computer setup than you would if you wanted to edit documents.

The price of not doing this kind of research is inevitably disappointment. If you purchase a new computer and it doesn’t seem to do what you want it to do, it may be because the computer was designed with different capabilities in mind. You may need to modify your hardware to accommodate the kind of software you want (or need) to run.

If you’re going to research computers before you buy, start with a list of what you really want the computer to do. If the computer needs to support wireless network connectivity, expanded hard drive space, intensive graphics processing, dual monitors, simple applications… whatever the case may be… put it on the lists of “must haves.” Generally, if you plan to run large applications, do design work, play graphics intensive games, etc. you’ll need something with more memory and faster processors than you would if you’re simply checking email, editing simple documents and surfing the Web.

Starting out with the right kind of hardware can make for a much more pleasant (and faster!) computer experience.

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Windows 7 Will Speed Up Computer

Graphics Memory Handling

Windows 7 takes a different approach to managing graphics memory usage. In previous versions of Windows, the graphics memory allocated to a particular application was reserved, whether an application window was open on the desktop or minimized. With Windows 7, the only time graphics memory is allocated to an application is when an application window is active. By itself, that will speed up computer performance.

One “feature” of Windows 7 that may seriously impair performance is the Aero theme. Yes, the same Aero theme that made its appearance in Microsoft Vista is back in Windows 7, along with a few partners: Aero Peek, Aero Snap and Aero Shake. The Aero theme gained a reputation as a memory hog. That’s the desktop theme with the see-through Window frames. Aero Peek, which is enabled by default, will give you a thumbnail view of an application window you have open on the desktop when you mouse over its tab in the task bar. Peek will also make the previewed window active and fade out all other application windows when you mouse over its thumbnail.

Aero Snap allows you to neaten up your desktop by dragging and dropping unused windows to the screen corners. This will enable you to resize and reshape the Windows automatically. A window moved to the side of your screen will shrink by 50%. It will return to its normal size when you drag the window back to its original location.

Aero Shake is a new feature that will enable you to minimize all other open windows on the desktop by selecting one window, holding down the mouse button and shaking it. Only the window you’ve selected will remain open. To re-open the other application windows, grab the one open application window and shake it again.

On the surface, the Aero features seem like they could be useful, but they also have the potential to take up a lot of memory, unless Microsoft re-engineered Aero to be more efficient. On the other hand, Microsoft should be commended for taking some time to create features that users might actually like.

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Microsoft Will Pull Windows 7 RC From Download Next Month

The release candidate will only remain operational until June 1, 2010. On March 1, 2010, three months prior to its expiration, Microsoft will attempt to speed up Windows adoption when the Release Candidate begins to shut itself down every two hours, a behavior Microsoft also built into the Windows 7 beta. According to some trade publications, Microsoft will release the actual Windows 7 product to manufacturers starting July 13.

The fact that the release candidate requires a clean installation isn’t all-bad. Clean installations come with the side benefit of improving computer performance, at least for awhile. You may also run the risk of losing working drivers and creating conflicts where none existed before, but the release candidate is still part of Microsoft’s test environment. While they believe they have the major performance degraders corrected, there may still be a few lurking time bombs that will reveal themselves only through thorough testing and use.

Windows 7 will be generally available on October 22, according to Microsoft. Even if you don’t plan to upgrade until that time (or you plan to wait for awhile) now may be a good time to assess your computer to see if it can run the new operating system. If not, you may want to consider whether you’ll upgrade the computer or continue to use your older operating system.

If your computer is more than five years old, purchasing a new computer is likely to be the most cost-effective way to upgrade your system. You’re likely to be able to re-use your monitor, keyboard and mouse. If your monitor is old, you may want to consider the purchase of a new LCD monitor. They take up much less room on the desk and use less electricity. The displays are fast, bright and much lighter than the old CRT monitors.

If your computer is two or three years old, your processor is likely up to the task, but your installed memory and available disk space may not be. Consider a hardware upgrade that includes additional RAM. You may also want to add disk space. An external drive will get you a lot of storage space, but external drives are much slower. You’ll notice a performance hit when you attach one.

If your computer already runs Vista, you’re likely to be ready for the new operating system when it comes out. You may want to test your hardware drivers with the Release Candidate to make sure your hardware will perform as expected.

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