Speed Up Your Windows Computer In Minutes

It seems when you buy a new computer, whether it is running Windows XP or Vista

, it runs fast. Almost blazing fast. Then when you load your software programs and get everything like you want it, it slows way down, to a crawl. It is not just you. This seems to happen to most machines that are running Windows. But suppose there was a way to speed your computer up back to the way it was when it was new. Let's explore how you can speed your computer up in just minutes.

Okay remember when you could use the Internet on your computer, and you did not see a hundred pop ups appearing on your screen. How about that favorite program that you use that used to load up quickly but now seems to take forever. If you want to speed your computer up again, take a few minutes to follow these steps.

- RAM it.

One sure way to speed your computer up is by adding some RAM. Most machines are easily upgradable when it comes to the RAM. Newer programs seem to use more and more memory and, without a large enough RAM, your computer will be continually writing to the hard drive, which can slow it down considerably. Most computers have an access door on the back where the RAM plugs into a socket. Check your owner's manual or go online to your computer manufacturer's website to get the details on the type of RAM you need and how to install it.

- Where is it?

Your computer may be having a hard time finding all the files it needs to run a program. In this case, you need to defragment the hard drive. Windows has a built in defragmenter program. To run the program, go to Start then Programs then Accessories then System Tools then Disk Defragmenter. This program will place the files needed to run programs as close together as possible so the computer does not have to search the hard drive as much to find what it needs. Defragmenting your hard drive can take several hours depending on the size of your hard drive and the number of files needing to be moved.

- Clean it up.

It is a good idea to clean the hard drive of unneeded files. Most of these come from Internet browsing and downloading files. This unneeded information such as temporary files and cookies are stored in the Internet cache. You can clean the temporary files and other unneeded files by going to Start then Programs then Accessories then System Tools then Disk Cleanup. You can clean the Internet cache by starting your Internet browser such as IE or Firefox. In Firefox, go to Tools then Options then Privacy then Show Cookies button then Remove All Cookies button. If you are using Internet Explorer, go to Tools then Internet Options then General then under Browsing History then Delete button then check the Preserve Favorites Website Data, Temporary Internet Files, Cookies boxes then Delete button.

- Turn it off.

Turn off any unnecessary programs that might be running in the background. You can tell the computer to stop programs from running at start up through the System Configuration Utility. To run the MSCONFIG utility, Go to Start then Run then Type MSCONFIG then press 'OK' then Startup. You can uncheck any programs that you do not need to run at startup. If you are not sure whether it is essential that a program runs at startup, do a search online for the program name and find out if it really needs to run all the time. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

- Update it.

Make sure you keep your Windows program updated. You can go online to Windows update and the online program will check your system for needed updates.

Eventually, most PCs slow down and these are just a few tips to help speed your computer up again.

by: Tony Edwards

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