TimSikora.com

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.

One of the issues I most often need to address with customers and friends alike is how to speed up their slowing computers.

As time goes by, your once zippy machine turns into a crawling slug, making you want to rip your hair out while you wait
for the simplest web pages to load. Here are some tips to bring new life to your ailing friend:

1) Clean up any unwanted files. The more files you have on your machine, the more work your computer needs to do to operate efficiently. This also includes removing any old programs that you no longer need. Make sure you empty your trash and clear your browser cache (I will be creating a how-to article later on telling how to do some of these suggestions).

2) Defragment your hard drive. Your hard drive will become fragmented as time goes on and your machine looks for enough space to fit your files, but has to segment them into separate chunks on your hard drive. Defragmenting will do wonders to help speed up your machine. Make sure you have at least 15% free disk space before you try this, for best results.

3) Run anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Use a utility such as Spybot Search and Destroy to remove unwanted spyware which may be diverting your computer’s attention. Combine this with an anti-virus program such as McAfee’s anti-virus solution, and your machine will be that much happier.

4) Make sure your system is updated. Along the same lines as #3, you should make sure your system has all the latest Windows updates. This will help protect your machine from virus attacks and generally make your machine run more smoothly.

5) Make sure you are only running programs you need. Use the “msconfig” utility to make sure you are only running the programs that are needed at startup. Be careful with this… if you aren’t positive that a program is necessary, look it up on the internet. If you turn off necessary programs, this could have negative side effects… but when done correctly, this will greatly speed up your boot up time as well as the general performance of the computer.

Good luck and come back for more useful tips!