How to Improve Your PC’s Speed for Free in Seven Easy Steps

Does your computer start up slowly? Do applications run slowly and hang all the time? Do you want to get rid of these problems for free? These steps here will probably help you resolve your problems.1. When you turn on your computer, ensure that there are no media (discs) in the ROM drive or any attached USB devices. Having any of these causes the computer to start slowly as it tries to read them for possible boot options.2. Disable startup programs such as Windows Sidebar and any programs which are installed that run at startup. These programs cause your computer to boot slowly as it has to load them before you can begin to use your computer. To do this, run Windows Defender. Click on Tools and select Software Explorer. Click on the category button to display Startup Programs. Click once on the displayed programs to see which are available for disabling and disable them. You can also disable programs that run at startup by running them, and ensuring that the “Run At Startup” option is not checked or allowed.

3. Click on the battery icon on the taskbar in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. This displays the power options menu. If “High Performance” is not selected as the power plan, select it. This power plan maximizes system performance.

4. End application processes which are not in use at a particular time. These processes compete with the programs you are running for available computer memory and speed. Such processes include Bluetooth, dictionaries, search bars etc (you can always restart them when you need them by running the applications again). To end processes, open the Task Manager. There are several ways to do this:

a. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. This is the quickest way.

b. Right-click on the taskbar and choose Task Manager from the menu.

c. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and choose Start Task Manager from the options that appear.
In the Task Manager, click on the Processes tab to display currently running processes and right-click on the process you want to end. Select End Process or End Process Tree to end that particular process. If you are not sure what process it is, read the descriptions that accompany each process.

5. Disable the Windows Aero color scheme (this is the functionality that gives your computer interface a transparent, glassy look). Windows Aero consumes computer memory and it is advisable to switch to another color scheme which uses less computer memory if your computer is running slow. To do this, right- click on an empty position on your desktop window and select Personalization from the menu that appears. You can also open Personalization by clicking on the Start button and selecting Control Panel and then clicking on Personalization. Under Personalization, select Windows Color and Appearance and choose another option such as Windows Vista Basic or Windows Classic.

6. Defragment your hard disk regularly. As data is added, changed and deleted from your hard disk, it creates non-contiguous portions of data (spaces usually occur where data has been deleted and changes made to data are saved in locations different from the original files). This is known as fragmentation and causes your computer to work harder to find a particular piece of data. This tends to slow a computer down. Defragmenting your hard disk rearranges the data so that it works more efficiently. Defragmentation usually runs on a schedule but you can run the disk defragmenter manually. To do this, click on the Start button and select Computer. Right-click on your primary hard disk (or any other hard disk partitions you would like to defragment) and choose Properties. Click on the Tools tab and select Defragment Now. When the application opens, click on Defragment now.

7. Run Disk Clean Up. This option deletes unnecessary files from your hard disk and frees up space which enables your computer to run faster. To do this, click on the Start button and select Computer. Right-click on your primary hard disk (or any other hard disk partitions you would like to clean) and choose Properties. Click on the General tab and select Disk Cleanup. Select the files you would like to delete, click OK and then click Delete Files to confirm.

Follow these steps and there will be a noticeable improvement in your computer’s speed and performance.