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It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it gets! A lot of
people will keep their computer until it gets so slow that they feel they need a
newer, faster model. Some feel like the reason it is getting slower is because
it is getting older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run
just as fast as the day you brought it home – if you follow these 10 Easy Steps
to Speed Up Your Computer.
1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the temp directory
fills up with hundreds of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows
starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.
Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don’t have any programs open (and nothing
minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn’t have ANY temp files in your temp
directory. If you do, delete them.
To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and…
a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the
Temp folder.
b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can
see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu,
and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show
Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents and
SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete everything here.
2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty Temporary Internet
Files, go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon.
Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your
Temporary Internet Files.
3. Check your hard disks for problems.
a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive
and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer
for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware
check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any errors it
finds.
b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive
and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer
for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top
option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware
(physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one.
Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but let it run.
4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party utility. One of
my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does cost $39.99, but they do offer a
FREE download trial of 15 days. This program does a really good job of fixing
software and physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for
increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak performance.
Download it HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp
5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows
XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very streamlined
for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the
unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little
faster.
To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the
Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On
the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these
are all on. You really don’t need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the
check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without.
6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page,
and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute
weather or stocks. These are nice, but really slow down your computer. And even
if you don’t use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a
performance decrease. Turn it off.
a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu,
choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is
no check next to it, then it isn’t on. Don’t choose it. Instead, just click the
desktop again to get out of the menu.
b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose
Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is
no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.
c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose
Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab,
make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren’t any, then
Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.
7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses that can take
over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good
AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don’t have any AntiVirus software
on your computer, get AVG AntiVirus NOW by downloading HERE...
http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp
8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know
they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking
you to websites that you don’t want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you
aren’t even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely
slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.
On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware
programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by
TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on
Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch
Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.
Get SpyBot HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp. Download all
updates and run the Immunize option a couple of times.
AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan
your system with AdAware. Get it HERE...
http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp
In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a
computer repair technician can’t get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is
better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system
reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don’t want
to just put a “band-aid” on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system.
It’s the best way to go.
9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease
is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these
programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock). These are
tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them
you need, while most you don’t. Some of the programs you DON’T need are printer
icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL,
any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren’t always
running, doesn’t mean that you still can’t print, burn CDs or Instant Message.
They can all be run from a shortcut.
You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.
a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the
Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background,
some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do
need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task
Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me),
Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you
can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant
Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work,
because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to
reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary
programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much
faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is
much more “snappy” and quick to respond.
b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn’t supplied. You actually have to download and
run an MSCONFIG utility. Download the MSCONFIG utility HERE...
http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html.
After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration
utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at
the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.
10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive,
it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only
15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any
unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.
a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system),
double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties.
Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now…
Good luck. I hope this article has helped you. If you live in the Lapeer County,
MI area, and would like a Professional professionally TuneUp your computer(s) in
your home or business, please contact Lapeer Tech Group at (810) 793-1093, or
visit our website at www.LapeerTechGroup.com
About the Author
I have worked in the IT field since 1989 and hold several Microsoft
certifications. I am a network administrator and owner and operator of Lapeer
Tech Group, located in Columbiaville, Michigan (just outside of Lapeer). During
these years, I have supported both Macs and PCs, am an accomplished graphic and
web designer, and have had the opportunity to support 2nd and 3rd level
enterprise networks for GM, EDS, Delphi and Delco.
Written by: Jim Shutes
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