In the last article, I mentioned some techniques and tools to help you speed up your system, and just in case you are
unfamiliar with those techniques and tools, here is a guide on how to access them.
1) Clear your browser cache. From Internet Explorer, click on the Tools menu, then “Internet Options”. Under the general tab, click on “delete” under browsing history. In the new window, click on “delete files” under temporary internet files, then click yes when asked to confirm. From Mozilla Firefox, click on the Tools menu, click on “Clear Private Data”, make sure “Cache” is checked, then click on “Clear Private Data Now” (if you don’t want your other private data cleared, make sure to uncheck them before clicking that button).
2) Defragment your hard drive. Double-click on My Computer. Right-click on “Local Disk (C:)” and click on properties. Click on the Tools tab. Click on “Defragment Now”. This will open up the Microsoft Disk Defragmenter utility. From here, click on the defragment button, and as long as you have 15% or more of free disk space, it will do its magic. Just let it do its job while you take a coffee break. (You CAN use the computer while it is defragmenting, but you may notice a slow down in performance)
3) Use anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Spybot Search and Destroy is one of the better and easier free utilities out there today. Just go to their website, download and install the software. Refer to their instructions on it’s use. Similarly, McAfee offers an anti-virus solution, although it isn’t free. For a free anti-virus solution, try AVG by Grisoft.
4) Get the latest Microsoft Windows updates. From Internet Explorer, go to their windows update site, click on “Express” and it will automatically install the high-priority updates.
5) Control which programs run at startup. Click on Start, Run, then type in “msconfig”. This will bring up a new window. Click on the Startup tab. Browse through the programs and uncheck the programs you know you will not need. Remember, you can type the program name into google if you don’t know what it does. Always err on the side of caution and don’t delete unless you are reasonably sure you don’t need it. When you are done, click OK. It will take effect on next reboot. Note: When it reboots, a window will pop up warning that your system configuration has been changed. If you don’t want to see this again, click on the box at the bottom left where it says not to warn you again.