How to Improve Your Computer’s Performance

Few things are as
frustrating as dealing
with a slow, sluggish
computer. When a
computer is brand new,
it works wonderfully well. Over time, though, its
performance can slowly begin
to worsen. This happens for a
number of reasons, but the
biggest culprits are things like
spyware, adware and other computer threats that are
unwittingly downloaded along
with other content while
online. You don’t have to
download thousands of MP3s,
movies or other items to experience these problems,
either – nobody is immune to
them. Instead of accepting the
situation, there are plenty of
techniques and strategies that
you can use to make it better – a few of the best ones are
outlined below. Strategy #1: Clean Your
Computer’s Windows Registry The biggest cause of slow,
sluggish PC performance is
errors and problems within its
Windows registry. Adware,
spyware and other threats
usually target the registry, damaging or misplacing
important files within it. When
it comes to PC cleaning, a daily
Windows registry cleaning
should be at the top of your
list of priorities. However, this should never be done manually
– there are too many
opportunities for major errors
that could seriously damage
your PC’s operating system.
Instead, invest in a high- quality Windows registry
cleanup program and
configure it to run once per
day – you won’t believe the
difference that it makes. Strategy #2: Remove
Unneeded Files Every time you log on to the
Internet or otherwise use your
computer, temporary files are
generated. They are usually
only needed once; however,
they don’t disappear on their own. Instead, they accumulate
over time until they are
cluttering up your computer’s
file system and affecting its
performance. While it’s
possible to remove these files one-by-one, it’s much easier
and quicker to use a PC
cleaning tool that’s designed
for the purpose. Try to do so
about one time per week to
keep your computer humming along with ease. Strategy #3: Remove
Unneeded Programs Like many people, you
probably download and try out
many different programs each
month. How many of them do
you actually end up using on a
regular basis? Chances are, not very many of them. By getting
into the habit of uninstalling
unused and unneeded
programs, you can keep your
computer’s file system a lot
less cluttered. In turn, your PC’s performance will improve
dramatically. You can optimize
your computer in this way by
using its Add/Remove
Programs feature. Its location
varies by operating system, but you should be able to find
it somewhere in the Control
Panel. Strategy #4: Empty the Recycle
Bin When you click “delete” on a
file or a program, it doesn’t go
away for good – not
immediately, anyway. Instead,
it sits in a kind of purgatory in
your computer’s Recycle Bin. As things pile up in the Recycle
Bin, your computer can start
exhibiting some very annoying
problems. If sluggish startups
and frequent crashes are
occurring with increasing frequency – and your
computer’s recycle bin is very
full – go ahead and empty it.
From then on, get into the
habit of doing so about one
time per week. This small but important strategy can make a
huge difference. Strategy #5: Perform a Disk
Defragmentation Windows isn’t very efficient
when it comes to storing files.
It actually splits them up,
depositing them into
whatever spaces are available.
The more spaced apart the pieces of a file are, the harder
your computer has to work to
make them run. The Windows
disk defragmentation system
tune-up utility works to piece
all of those files back together again. The process is a long
one, though, and only needs to
be done about four times per
year. Set it up to run
automatically once every three
months. By doing so, you’ll be able to keep your computer
running in tiptop shape. When it comes to keeping
your computer running
optimally, small but regular
maintenance is the best way
to go. Protecting your PC only
does so much; even the most careful Internet users in the
world unintentionally
download malicious software
from time to time. By using
basic system tune-up tools,
cleaning your computer’s Windows registry regularly,
performing regular file-
cleaning maintenance and
otherwise optimizing your PC,
you should be able to keep it
in like-new condition for a lot longer. Even if your computer
has been performing slowly
for some time, beginning this
regimen is sure to produce
results. In the end, you’ll be
able to enjoy a computer that flies along – instead of one
that spins its wheels.