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The One Thing You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer

Posted by paul on March 11th, 2010

The One Thing You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer

The One Thing You Can Do To Speed Up Your Computer

I’m often asked about the “one thing” users can do to speed up their computers. The question is a simple one; I wish the answer were as simple. Unfortunately, there are an unknowable number of reasons why computers slow down. Some are temporary and some are permanent; some exist and some don’t; some can be fixed and some can’t – or at least can’t be fixed without an investment of some cold, hard cash.

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!

Photo Credit: Mrs. Logic, via Flickr

Speed Up Computers The Microsoft Way

Posted by paul on December 15th, 2009

Speed Up Computers The Microsoft Way

Speed Up Computers The Microsoft Way

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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Tips For Improving Slow Computer Performance

Posted by paul on November 27th, 2009

Tips For Improving Slow Computer Performance

Tips For Improving Slow Computer Performance

Just about everyone wants to know how to speed up computers. With the economy in the tank, people are working hard to get as much out of their current computer system as possible. It doesn’t take long for a computer system to become obsolete; computers sold even 12 months ago can seem like yesterday’s news.

A Few Suggestions To Improve Computer Performance

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that there are some tried and true methods to squeeze a little extra performance out of your computer. If you’ve tried all of those suggestions, there are still a few more things you can do to get your computer to move a bit faster.

Graphics processing takes a lot out of your computer. Most modern computers have an independent graphics processor, but it doesn’t hurt to pay some special attention to graphics. People who use their computer setups to play games understand the value of having a great graphics processor. While you may not play too many graphics-intensive games, you can follow the gamers’ lead by making sure that your graphics processor is up to the task. This will be especially important even for things like streaming video. The faster your graphics processor is, the more likely you are to be happy with the way your computer performs.

Reduce the number of applications you run at one time. This can be tricky, since some applications will configure themselves to run at startup. This isn’t nefarious action on their part; it’s often part of the install routine. When you install new programs, beware of Desktop shortcuts, and requests to run the new program on startup.

Save your files within your file structure. Don’t store files on the Desktop as that’s a sure way to lose valuable performance.

Clean out the registry periodically. Each time you add and uninstall programs, you run the risk of introducing stray bits of unnecessary programming code into the registry. Most install and uninstall routines leave things behind. As these lines of orphan code accumulate in the computer’s registry database, the computer’s performance slows. Removing these little land mines can improve your system performance and help speed up your computer.

Make sure your computer is running the latest patches and updates to its system. Make sure you have the latest correct version of your device drivers installed as well. Keeping things up-to-date, especially after system upgrades can provide a big performance boost.

Photo Credit: Thomas Edwards, via Flickr

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