10 Speed Up Windows Tips

Is your Windows slowing down lately? Follow these 10 Steps to SPEED IT UP!

Step 1. Disk Space Check

1. CHECK YOUR HARD DISK SPACE. As a rule, you want to keep at least 15% of the hard disk space free to keep the computer running smoothly. Simply go to My Computer, right-click on Hard Drive, and go to Properties. There you'll see a pie chart of your free versus used space. If it’s mostly full, you'll want to start by removing unnecessary programs and files; if it’s not, you probably want to tackle the actual way your computer operates.

Step 2. Uninstall Unnecessary Programs 

2. UNINSTALL THE SOFTWARES THAT YOU DO NOT USE. Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (or Uninstall a Program, depending on your operating system) to find a master list of programs installed on your computer. Some things will strike you as useless immediately, in which case you can remove them right away. Others won’t look familiar to you and may require you some research.

Checking Last Used On just to make sure...

It may help to see how often you use the program. If you right-click one of the column titles above your program list (ex. Name, Publisher, Size, Installed On, etc.), you should be able to add additional characteristics by which to judge your programs. For example, find Last Used On on the list of options and check it; a column displaying the last time you used each program will now appear and can also be used to sort your programs. Some programs will not have been used in years and may be candidates for deletion.

Step 3. Empty Recycle Bin

3. ALWAYS make it a habit to Empty your Recycle Bin.

Step 4. Using msconfig to limit start-up programs/applications

4. WINDOWS START-UP: Prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the computer boots. The more programs try to run while your computer initializes, the slower everything your computer will be. Revise your start-up programs by altering your system configuration via msconfig.

UNCHECK the programs that you don't need during start-up (e.g. Yahoo Messenger, Groove Monitor, uTorrent, BitTorrent, Skype etc..). You can run this programs only when you need it and not during start-up.

Step 5. Install an Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware

5. INSTALL AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM, spyware scanner, and an anti-malware. The fewer bugs, viruses, and bits of adware your computer has to manage, the more time it will have to devote to other processes. While you're at it, make a point of keeping Windows up-to-date; not only will this keep Windows itself in better shape, but some viruses ride in on Windows updates that are downloaded way after the fact (and therefore not monitored as closely).

Step 6. Disk Cleanup

6. RUN DISK CLEANUP. This can clean up hundreds of megabytes of temporary files – sometimes even gigabytes (if you have Windows XP, Vista, or 7). It will also open a window in which you can chose what to delete. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, and then click Disk Cleanup (within the General tab). Check all the boxes except for the game files and setup files.

Step 7. Disk Defragment

7. DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVES. This will reconfigure the way the hard drive stores information for maximum efficiency. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then go to the Tools tab and click Defragment Now.

Step 8. Check Disk for Errors

8. CHECK YOUR DISK FOR ERRORS. Disk errors slows down your computer. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then go to the Tools tab and click Check Now under the Error-Checking area. When the dialogue box opens, check both boxes.

If you get a window saying that Windows can't check the disk while it's in use, click on Schedule Disk Check and then OK. Disk check will run on your next reboot.

Step 9. Turn off Indexing

9. TURN OFF INDEXING. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then uncheck the box indicating that the drive should be indexed. Don't do this if you actually use any of the Windows Search functionality. The background indexing is what makes those searches fast and Windows is already very good about not getting in your way to do indexing while you're trying to do something else.

Step 10-A. Create a batch file to Clear the Prefetch Folder

10. CLEAR THE PREFETCH FOLDER. Windows saves a file of the program you are using to make it start up faster. After years of use, this folder gets stuffed with irrelevant programs. 

10-a. Create a batch file to accomplish this task. Simply, open Notepad and type the following lines:

@echo off

cls

del C:\Windows\Prefetch\*.* /Q

Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks 

(Copy and paste this text to ensure you don’t make any mistakes.)

Step 10-B. Saving the FASTER.BAT

10-b. Save as faster.bat (the .bat extension will run it as a batch file).

Step 10-C. Run the batch file.

10-c. Run faster.bat. Simply double-click the file to initialize. In a few moments, the command prompt will disappear and your programs should run more smoothly.

THANK YOU!

Coming Soon: Using CCleaner to get that New Computer feel...