With the price of computers dropping like stones, the lifespan of the average household computer is rapidly dwindling. With perfectly decent laptops being offered for less than the average teen makes in a week on a summer job, it’s incredibly tempting to trade in last year’s model at the first sign of system lag. Especially since the deplorable scarcity of Windows installation disks in circulation leaves those of who grew up re-installing Windows 95 as a weekend pastime feeling a bit insecure.
Luckily there is a short list of simple steps you can take to significantly lengthen your computer’s practical lifespan.
01. Check what Programs are Running in Memory.
You can see a list of what processes are running on your system by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Close Program dialog box. If you check your processes while all the other programs are closed, the explorer, system tray, and your antivirus program are all that should be running. If anything else is running, such as an antivirus sheduler, RealPlayer, or WinAmp, move on to step two, pruning your startup processes. If you don’t recognize a process, check Google. For a more in-depth analysis of running processes, try TaskInfo. TaskInfo is a supped-up version of Window’s own task manager.
02. Prune your the Startup processes.
This can be accomplished using the built-in MSConfig utility. Press the Start button, select Run, and type “msconfig” into the dialog box. Once the System Configuration Utility pops up, go to the Startup tab and unselect superfluous processes. If you aren’t certain what processes are necessary and which and aren’t, just remember that Google is your friend. If you want to simplify this step, if you’re working with a large number of computer, or if you’re a real novice, I suggest you download StartupList. StartupList gives you a much deeper look into Window’s processes, which also makes it useful in finding and removing spyware and viruses.
03. Deactivated your Active Desktop.
Unless you have a vital reason for running an active desktop, such as needing a stock ticker, it’s just eating up memory. To disable the active desktop, right-click on the desktop, right click Properties, click the Desktop tab, click the Customize Desktop button, click the Web tab, and make sure all of the check boxes in the window are un-checked. If you’re running an active desktop just to display .gif or .jpg files, you might want to try Panorama 32, a very simple utility for displaying and rotating desktops.
04. Clean up your Desktop.
Every time you boot your computer, the computer checks the contents of every drive you’re created a shortcut to, whether it’s on your desktop or quick launch bar. Removing these short cuts will shave whole seconds off your boot time.
05. Increase the Priority of Important Programs.
If there is one particular program that you’re attempting to optimize your system for, such as a video game of particularly intense bit of processing, such as a password brute forcer, set that program’s priority to either High or Realtime in your Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del while the program is running, selecting the Processes tab, and right-clicking on the process associated with the desired program. Use this care, prioritizing too many programs will severely slow your system down.
06. Deactivate Sound Effects.
To do so, go to the Control Panel, select Sounds and Multimedia, select Schemes, and choose No Sounds. Doing so may help increase the response time between clicking an icon and its associated program’s launch.
07. Remove Window’s Backdoor Communications.
Use Xpy to disable Window’s native ability to covertly connect the internet through Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and Windows Messenger. It prevents background processes from cutting into your Internet connection and processing speed when you need them the most.
Steps one through seven are all one-shot fixes for speeding up you system’s performance. The following steps are all regular maintenance that should be performed on a regular basis. Depending on how heavily you use your system, consider doing the following on at least a monthly basis:
08. Regularly clear temporary files.
Ccleaner is a great utility for getting this job done.
09. Regularly compress infrequently used files.
Do this by running your Clean Manager, either by hitting the Start button, selecting Accessories, selecting “System Tools”, then selecting “Disk Cleanup”.
10. Regularly Defragment your Hard Drive.
Leave your hard drive to defragment over night on a regular basis. If your hard drive is nearly full, you may need to run the utility from the command line by hitting the Start button, selecting Run, and typing, “defrag C: /f “.
11. Regularly clean your Registry.
The older your computer is the more necessary this becomes. Frequently installing programs for short term use – even spyware, then uninstalling them, can take a serious toll on your system’s performance. Create a store point before working with the registry, and utilities such as Free Registry Defrag and Registry Fix.
12. Regularly clear your Browser’s Cache.
In Firefox, select Tools from the menu bar, select Options, select the Privacy tab, and click Clear Now. If you’re still using Internet Explorer (you poor sap), you’ll want to use Ccleaner to get rid of all of those temporary files.
No single step here is going to magically turn back the clock on your system, but when performed regularly, these twelve easy step can drastically prolong your computer’s life span. If you’re still looking for more ways to pep up your computer, especially following a sudden slow-down, you may also want to try scanning it for keyloggers, spyware, viruses, and worms. But that’s an entirely different post.
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