You have had your PC for a while, and lately you have noticed it slowing down. If you have never run any of the include Windows diagnostics, you may be causing your own problem inadvertently.  These three little tools can help you bring your machine back up to speed in no time at all.

Defrag the Computer
If it has been some time since you ran a defragmentation of your hard drive, or worse, you never ran one, this is the time to do it.  Defragmenting a drive helps it retrieve data more efficiently and quickly.

When you save, your computer dumps files anywhere there is room on the hard drive.  Later, when it goes to retrieve them, it has to pull them together from all over the place.  If you run the defragmenter, it will pull common files together reducing the time it takes to search for them later.

This diagnostic can take some time if you have a very large or very full hard drive.  It is best to “set it and forget it.”  Select a time and day each week that you are most unlikely to be using your computer and let your PC defrag to its heart’s content without it affecting you at all.  This will help speed up data retrieval.

Try a Scandisk
If you have started to see error messages when you boot up and shut down, you have probably developed some problems in the operating system.  It is normal for these things to happen over the life of a computer, but running scandisk will allow your PC to search out the errors and find solutions before they become critical.

There are times when scandisk can’t run because you are using certain programs.  If that is the case, it will offer to run itself later when you shut down the computer.  Let it do so.  A clean, fully functional operating system is faster.

Backup
Truthfully, backing up your files won’t do much to speed up your computer unless you remove files you aren’t using regularly.  Things like photos take up a ton of space on a hard drive.  When your hard drive gets too full, it runs slowly.  By backing up data to another drive, CD, or an external drive, you speed up your system.

Pair Up Windows Diagnostics with Registry Cleaner
A registry cleaner is a utility you can download in a few minutes that takes care of cleaning up your hard drive for you.  It searches out errors in the operating system and fixes them if possible.  Download a registry cleaner along with running Windows Diagnostics as a part of regular maintenance.

Re-Tweet This Post

I’m sure many of you would want to start 2009 with a clean slate. May I then suggest that you start the new year with a clean and secure PC. There are many ways by which you could accomplish this.

Delete Unnecessary Files

If you’ve worked and traveled a lot last year, then your desktop or laptop may be filled with pieces of evidence of your industriousness and restlessness.  The proofs that I’m referring to are the countless files that you’ve saved and sent to your boss, and the equally innumerable multimedia files that you’ve compiled during your weekend getaways.

If you do not intend to open or access these files anymore at the start of the first working day of 2009, then I suggest that you either delete them or transfer them to an external hard drive. Delete old files that you don’t use or need anymore. While they may take up only a few kilobytes of your enormous hard drive, they can still slow your computer down. You’ll feel their weight during system scans or when you conduct an automatic search of files or programs on your computer. Search engines will scour every data on your hard drive, including ones that you’ve already forgotten. Hence, the more files you have on your hard drive, the longer the searches and scans will take.

Reformat Your Hard Drive

If you really want to forget any memory of last year, then you might want to consider performing the ultimate purge by reformatting your hard drive. While this would surely eliminate any malware residing in your primary storage device, your hopes for a virus-free new year would largely depend, though, on the data that you would reintroduce to your computer. Make sure that the storage device which contains your backup files is free from viruses and spyware. You may have unintentionally backed up copies of some or all of the malware that were saved in your hard drive.

Clean Your Registry

Whether you choose to perform a selective purge or nuke everything in your hard drive, your PC’s performance might still not improve if you have an infected Windows Registry. Everything that runs on your computer almost always involves or requires the participation of the Registry. It’s therefore imperative to keep the Registry free from the influence and control of any malicious application. A healthy Registry can efficiently manage the flow of traffic inside your computer. An infected or defective Registry, though, could clog your system with needless instructions or processes, thereby putting a strain on your computer’s resources.

Invest in a good registry cleaner. While you may have an efficient antivirus program, it’s not designed to handle Registry infections or problems. If you’ve experienced a system slowdown last year despite negative reports by your antivirus or anti-sypware software, then your Registry might be the culprit. RegCure can free your new year from the ghosts of the previous one. Start your new year right. Install all the essential programs and delete the unnecessary ones.

Re-Tweet This Post