A better way to speed up of your PC

Is your computer slow? No matter how good you are about keeping your computer clean and up to date, all computers seem to slow down after time.

The causes of your computer being slow can include:

• Not enough hard drive space, too many unused programs.
• Leftover programs, old cached and temporary files.
• Too many programs running at startup or in the background
• Data Corruption, hard disk fragmentation
• Missing Windows updates or outdated drivers

Whatever the cause, there are lots of ways to help speed up your computer and make your PC work better—even without upgrading your hardware. This easy to follow, step by step guide will help to speed up your computer.

See also this related tips:

• Speed up internet by DNS setup.
• Increase your Firefox Browser's speed.
• Increase your internet speed up to 20%.

Background programs

One of the most common reasons for a slow computer are programs running in the background. Remove or disable any startup programs that automatically start each time the computer boots.

Tip: To see what programs are running in the background and how much memory and CPU they are using open Task Manager. If you are running Windows 7 or higher run Resmon to get a better understanding of how your computer is being used.

Solution: In the Search programs and files box, type msconfig and click on the msconfig icon that appears. When the System Configuration window appears, click on the Startup tab. Then uncheck those programs you wish not to start and click Apply.

Free hard drive space

Verify that there is at least 200-500MB of free hard drive space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files.

Important Tips: Free up disk space to keep computer safe.

Bad, corrupted or fragmented hard drive

• Run ScanDisk, chkdsk, or something equivalent to verify there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard drive.
• Run Disk Defragmenter to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.
• User other software tools to test the hard drive for any errors by looking at the SMART of the drive.

Update your drivers

• Make sure you've got the latest drivers for your computer, especially the latest video drivers. Having out-of-date drivers can cause an assortment of issues.
• If you are on the Internet when your computer is slow also make sure all browser plugins are up-to-date.
• Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed in the computer.

Hard drive upgrade

One of the biggest bottlenecks of a computer is the hard disk drive. For anyone with a slow computer or just looking for something to upgrade in the computer to improve overall system performance going from a traditional HDD to a Solid State Drive (SSD) will significantly improve the overall system performance.

Do you have more than one antivirus program?

If you use more than one antivirus or antispyware program at the same time, your computer may experience decreased performance, become unstable, or restart unexpectedly.

See also this related topics:

• Test the working of your pc Antivirus.
• Remove autorun.inf virus from PC/Pendrive.

Caution:

• When you remove your currently installed Internet security programs, your computer may be in an unprotected state.
• Make sure you have an Internet security program running on your computer at all times.

Tip: You will need to restart your computer while following these instructions. Write them down, print them, or bookmark this page (mark it as a Favorite) to make it easier to find this topic again.

Step to Remove antivirus or antispyware programs

• In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type appwiz.cpl, and then press Enter.

-OR- In Windows Vista, click Start. In the Start Search box, type appwiz.cpl, and then press Enter.
-OR- In Windows 7, click Start. In the Search programs and files box, type appwiz.cpl, and then press Enter.
-OR- In Windows 8, Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap or click Apps and then tap or click Search (or if you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search).Type appwiz.cpl in Search box, and tap Appwiz.cpl on the left side of your screen.

• In the list of installed programs, uninstall any other Internet security programs.
• Restart your computer.

Note:

• Some Internet security applications do not uninstall completely. You may need to download and run a cleanup utility for your previous security application for it to be completely removed.
• If you use another anti-spyware program together with Microsoft Security Essentials, we recommend that you turn off real-time scanning in the other program. For more information, see the documentation supplied by that anti-spyware program.