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PC Performance Tips
- Speed up your PC with some easy DIY tips
These simple tips not only increase PC and laptop performance, they help maintain you hardware and ensure enhanced longevity. Think of these as an oil change and spark plug replacement for your PC.
Defragmentation
It’s a long word for a simple process. But of all the performance tips, this one just might give you the best enhancement. When you’re constantly adding and deleted files and programs, the actual physical location of bits of data on your hard drive become fragmented. One program might be spread out over an entire disk with other programs wedged into it. This means every time you access that program the hard drive does that much more work to open it. Defragmenting takes the all those jumbled bits of data and reorganizes them making them easier to sort through.
Windows Vista users will find that their PC is set to automatically defragment on its own. XP users, on the other hand, will have to start the process manually. Double click “My Computer” and right click on your C: drive, choosing properties. From there, select the tools tab and finally the defragment button. Here, the defragment utility will open. You can either choose analyze to see just how bad your hard drive is without changing anything or you can click defragment to start the process right away. On drives which have seen a lot of use, this could take several hours, so pop some popcorn and watch the red fragmented stripes turn blue and contiguous.
Check Disk
Check disk is a utility built into the Windows Operating System. Though it does not directly affect performance, check disk can find faults on your hard drive that may cause system instability. The utility is located right beside the defragmentation utility. Click the Check Disk button and place a check in both boxes and click OK. A message will come up informing you that the utility cannot be run while Windows is running and it will ask if you want to schedule Check Disk to run the next time you reboot your computer. Choose yes and then reboot at your convenience. Check Disk will start before Windows and will automatically detect and repair any faults which may be on your hard drive.
Uninstall Unused Programs
Many legitimate programs which people install often come with other “tag along” programs that are unnecessary and unwanted. For example, yahoo toolbar, coupons.com or other programs often are not necessary and can be a nuisance or even negatively affect PC performance. What’s the solution? Uninstall them! For Windows XP users, open your Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs. For Vista users, open Control Panel and select Programs and Features. In this window, you will see most programs which are installed on your system. Simply select a program you do not want and click uninstall.
There are many programs that will be listed in this window that are legitimate and even necessary for your PC to operate. If you are not sure what a program is -- even if you think you do not use it -- do not uninstall it! Contact us if you have questions about programs you do not recognize and we will be happy to help you safely select unwanted software to uninstall.
Stay Virus Free!
Few things can drag a PC's performance down (not to mention place all your data in jeopardy) like a computer virus. Trojans and Worms can find their way onto any PC and start wreaking havoc with your system files and personal data. The best way to clean a virus is never to get it in the first place! Read this previous article for tips to stay virus free. If you think you may be infected, do not hesitate to call us for help removing those nasty computer bugs! Many viruses can render a PC unusable and data deleted if they are not tended to immediately.
Hardware Upgrades
Computers get old. Just like cars, PCs wear out; but, unlike cars, PCs have a constantly greater load on them each year from Software which keeps using more and more system resources. Imagine attaching larger and larger trailers to your car each year. Eventually, you’ll need a more powerful car. In order to find out if your PC is able to be upgraded or for an honest opinion about purchasing a new PC, give us a call. We’ll take a look at your system and determine the best course of action for you to stay up and running with the most current powerful applications out there.
There are plenty of other performance enhancing procedures a trained technician can do to a PC. If you think your PC needs a tune-up, call 614-792-2667 or bring it in and we’ll do all the things in this article plus some more nitty-gritty cleaning to boost the speed of your PC.