As a professional computer geek, one of the most common complaints I hear is "My Computer's running slow," quickly followed by a request for advice or asking me to fix it for them. I don't mind doing this occasionally, but if I honored every request, I'd be doing nothing but computer maintenance. With this in mind, I'm going to do my inaugural post on basic PC maintenance. Since the majority of computers are running Windows XP, that's what I'm going to focus on. The basic principles will apply to virtually all Windows computers, but in any instance where I use a step-by-step procedure, I will be using Windows XP as my example. That said though, I will be happy to entertain any individual questions on a case-by-case basis.
There are three core hardware aspects to Windows that determine how well a computer will run. These are the processor (or CPU), RAM (or memory) and the hard drive (or disk space). All of these are determined when you buy your computer. For the average computer owner, once you buy your computer your processor (CPU) and your hard drive are pretty much fixed. It's possible to upgrade these items, but if you're reading this "for dummies" post, I will assume it's not something you're interested in pursuing. Adding RAM (memory) is physically easy, but you need to make sure to buy the right kind of RAM. If you're considering this, I suggest that you find out the technical specifications from your PC manufacturer, buy the memory from your favorite computer store and install it yourself. Places like Best Buy and Circuit City are more than willing to install memory for you, but they'll charge an arm and a leg and installing RAM is the simplest hardware upgrade you can do. You simply plug the new RAM into a slot and you're on your way. Enough about hardware.
When it comes to the software (in this case, the Windows operating system), there are a few simple things you can do to tweak your performance. You can defragment the hard drive, clean the registry, and manually set the performance options. Each tweak is relatively easy and pretty fool-proof if you follow my directions. Oh by the way, I need to throw out this disclaimer: This advice is as-is, and you follow it at your own risk. I will not be held responsible for anything you choose to do or not do.
Let's start with manually setting the performance options. To explain this... Windows, like most things in life, is a trade-off. You can have faster performance with a little less eye candy, or you can have more bling at the expense of speed. The default is to set this somewhere in the middle. If you want a little more kick, you can manually adjust this as follows...
-Right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties," and a new window will appear.
-In this window, you will see three tabs. The one you want is the "Visual Effects" tab, shown by default.
-Select the "Adjust for Best Performance" radio button and click "OK." The window will disappear.
-Click "OK" on the other window.
That's all there is to it.
The next item is defragmenting the hard drive. I won't get into the theory behind how a fragmented hard drive reduces performance, but it does. (If you're really interested in the theory, I can tell you, just let me know. I'm not doing it now because it's an entire post in itself.)
-In order to defragment your hard drive, click "Start" and select the Control Panel.
-Double-Click "Administrative Tools"
-Double-Click "Computer Management"
-Expand "Storage" by clicking the little "+" icon. (If it's already expanded, you'll see a "-" icon.)
-Click "Disk Defragmenter" and a new display will appear in the right-hand area of the window.
-Click "Defragment"
-This process will take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on how fragmented your hard drive is, how large the drive is, and how much free space you have available.
The third and final part of our windows tune-up is cleaning the registry. Like the section on fragmentation, the theory behind cleaning up the registry is beyond the scope of today's post, but I will reiterate my offer to discuss this theory if you're interested. For now, let's focus on getting it done.
In order to clean your registry, you will need a third-party utility, such as RegVac or Registry Mechanic. Under no circumstances should you try to manually clean your registry!! RegVac specifically can be downloaded as shareware. This means that you can download and use it free for 30 days. If you plan to use it after the 30-day trial period has elapsed, you will need to purchase it. Once you have downloaded and installed the registry cleaner, simply run the program and let it work its magic. The program will tell you when it's finished.
Between these three simple tweaks, you should experience an overall improvement in your computer's performance. The performance will not change dramatically... it won't turn a bicycle into a Porsche, but you should see some improvement. If you don't see any benefit, you've probably got a more serious problem such as a virus or spyware. Hmmm.... viruses and spyware... sounds like a couple of future topics. Anyone interested?
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