Recently, one of our readers was in a public computer lounge and notice a very frustrated trying to get some work done on a computer that looked no more than a year old. She said that her computer was too slow and that she wanted to just get rid of it and get a Mac. The problem is that if the computer is slow because it hasn't done any regular maintenance done to it, or it's slow due to poor computing habits, then getting a Mac won't fix the problem. Also, most people can't afford to get a new computer just because there current one isn't lighting fast. Because of this, I have made a list of things you can do to keep your computer running fast.
Monthly maintenance:
Run Ccleaner- No mater how objectively someone tries to write, they will find no other 
way to describe Ccleaner other then one of the most useful free tools for windows. Plus, with over 200 million downloads, if is one of Windows most popular utilities. When you run Ccleaner, it will quickly scan your hard drive and remove extra junk files, and free up tons of space on your computer( it freed almost five GB from my computer the first time I ran it). Aside from freeing up tons of space, it can also show you what programs automatically run at start up, and help you manage your installed programs, clean your registry.
Run disk Cleanup- No mater how good Ccleaner is, there are some files that if won't 
delete because it doesn't if it is safe too. To get rid of these extra files, click on the Windows Orb, click on 'Computer' and then right click on your C: drive and click Properties. Next click on the 'Disk Clean Up' button. Windows will analyze what is on your hard drive and delete what is unneeded.
Defragment your hard drives- As you use your computer and create then delete files; your hard drive will become fragmented. Excess fragmentation will slow down your computer and could make programs stop responding. Before you defragment your hard drive, I recommend that you ---read what to do before start defragmenting to speed you the process---,then run Ccleaner to remove any excess files, which will also speed up defragmenting process. Once you have done that access the windows defragmenter by clicking on the Windows Orb, typing 'defrag', then click on the Windows Defragmenter. Click 'start defragmenting' and then take a nap or read a book out side. Defragmenting could take a few minutes or several hour depending on how big your hard drive is.
Run an anti-virus, spyware, adware program- Did you know that over one half million computers get infected with some form of virus, ad-ware or spy-ware everyday? These infections can slow down your computer, reduce your Internet speed and steal your personal information. The easiest way to rid your self of the pesky parasites is to run an anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-adware program.
If you don't have a good anti virus program or a currently paying for an anti-virus program, then I would recommend that you download and install Avast Anti-Virus. Avast is free and has a very high detection rate of virus'. It also updates it's self automaticly, and has 7 built in protection modules to keep you safe. Avast is free for home use but will require you to register the program. You can download Avast here.
If you don't have a good anti-spyware program, then I recommend that you download and install Spybot Search & Destroy. Spybot is free and will very quickly scan your computer rid it of any nasties. You can download Spybot Search & Destroy here.
If you don't have a good anti-adware program, then you should download Ad-Aware. Ad-Aware is one of Cnet's most downloaded programs, has a very high detection rate and, or course, is free. You can download Ad-Aware from here.
Update your Computer- Nothing's slower than an un-patched and upgrade operating system. The free upgrades and patches provided by Microsoft can help remove bottle necks in your operating system and remove any security flaws or vulnerabilities and resolve some hardware compatibility issues. Updating your operating system is free and easy. All you have to do is click on the Windows Orb, type windows update and then hit enter. Once the Windows Updating window opens you can click the 'Check for updates' button. Within minutes your computer will be safer, more compatible and a little bit faster.
Restart your computer- As you use your computer, it's memory can become fragmented, cache files build up, and things can just slow down. An easy way to fix this is to restart your computer.
One time changes:
Remove Items for Startup List- Every time your computer boots up, it loads programs in to its memory. Most of these programs will place an icon in the system tray and each one of these programs will slow your computer down a little but. If you have installed Ccleaner like suggested earlier, then you can end needless start up program with a few simple clicks.
Open Ccleaner, then click on 'Tools', then click on 'Startup'. Next select the programs that you don't want to run at start up and then click the 'Disable' button. The next time you restart your computer, the disabled programs wont load at start up and your computer should be faster. If you need these programs, then you can always run them from the Windows Start menu.
Move paging file to a separate drive- When your computer thinks, it stores information in RAM. If you run out of RAM, then Windows will start using the paging file on your hard drive as virtual RAM. If you don't have a lot of RAM then your paging file will get use a lot and your computer will slow down. Fortunately, of you have more than one hard drive then you can move you paging file to another hard drive with will decrease the load on your main hard drive and speed up your computer.
If you use a laptop or have a desktop with only one hard drive, then you can take advantage of Vista's ReadyBoost feature. ReadyBoost can make a small paging file on a USB flash drive or SD Card. Moving some of your paging file to a flash drive will speed up your computer just like moving it to another hard drive. To use ReadyBoost (figure this out with Vista.
Turn off extra user interface elements- The user interface in Vista takes up almost 512 MB of memory. This video will show you how to turn off extra interface elements, turn off indexing and more ways to make Vista better:
Upgrade your computer- If you have done all of this and your computer is still slow, then you may need to upgrade your computer. the easiest way to upgrade your computer and get major speed boost is to buy more RAM. To find out what type of RAM you need you can use Crucial's memory scanner and then look for that type for RAM on Newegg. If you can't add more RAM to your computer, then you may want to consider buying a new one because the cost of other upgrades like a faster processor and a new mother board may cost almost as much as a computer that's on sale at BestBuy or Newegg.
Do you know of any great ways to speed up a Windows, Apple or Linux computer? Then leave a comment, or email us at CaseyTech@GMX.com , and make sure to put 'Fast Computer' in the subject line.
