Speed Up Computer » fixing your computer http://www.speedupcomputer.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:13:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 A slow PC and what you can do about it http://www.speedupcomputer.com/faster-computer/a-slow-pc-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/ http://www.speedupcomputer.com/faster-computer/a-slow-pc-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:04:18 +0000 paul http://www.speedupcomputer.com/?p=53 Has you PC become akin to the old man putt putting down the freeway with his blinker light on, shaking his fist at the “punk kids” flying by him in their fancy hot rods? Do you wish to do something about it besides retiring it to a PC rest home where it can sit on the porch, sip sarsaparilla and reminisce about the good old days when Windows Me was hot stuff and music on the internet was still free to download? Well, do not go and put Ol’ Yeller down just yet, there just might still be zip in those old circuits if you are ready and willing to do something about it. Here are several things that you can do to get your fist shaking old man PC back to cruising in the fast lane.

Step 1: get rid of all spyware, malware and viruses

Downloading suspicious programs, opening up infected e-mail or even visiting certain sites can get your PC muddled in a mess of different problems that lead to slower performance, freezing and even total system failure. Obtaining a good virus scanner as well as an antispyware program and keeping them up to date will help keep most of these guys at bay.

One of the most common problems to be aware of are browser hijacks, which are malicous programs that train their attack your browser and do dastardly things like change your homepage and compromise your window to the web. These guys are really hard to get rid of once they creep into your system.  Most of the better virus protection programs should keep these guys out, but you might also want to consider switching browsers. Explorer, being the biggest, is also the browser that is most often targeted by the creators of malware and adware. Switching to Firefox or Safari might help keep you under the radar and hijack free.

Too many apps at startup

If your computer takes forever to boot up, then you might have way too many programs wanting to open up at startup. Many programs that you download, especially those IM programs, assume that you want to to start up when you turn on your PC and embed themselves into your  Start up folder.  Running MSCONFIG on your command line will allow you to pick which ones you want to keep  and which ones you would rather choose to open up in your own sweet time when you need them.  If you do not have the courage to play PC doctor, then you might want to get download a program such as Regcure, which will help you figure out which apps to get rid of at start up.

Fix your registry

As your computer sees continual use, and programs are installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, only to be uninstalled once again, your computer’s registry can start looking like a convoluted mess with corrupted links and remnant of uninstalled programs floating around. A bloated or corrupted registry can lead to a slow computer  that has trouble booting up, or even shutting down. You can try running the REGEDIT program and fixing it yourself, which is a task of herculean proportions or you can download a good registry fixer to do it for you.

These are just a few tips to get your old PC up and running like a champ again. Stay tuned to learn about a few more tricks that you can do.

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