10 Tips for Speeding up your PC!

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Wed May 19, 2004 11:26 am

Is your system slow and prone to crashing? Increase the speed and productivity of your PC with these 10 quick and easy tips.

1. Don't Run Too Many Programs at Once

It's sometimes easy to forget how many programs you have open. If you find that your PC is becoming sluggish, check the Windows taskbar to see which programs are running. To speed things up, simply right-click those programs you are not using and click Close.

2. Restart More Quickly

Hold down the Shift key when restarting your PC. This will launch Windows much more quickly.

3. Lower the Screen Resolution

This is simple to do. Right-click on the desktop and select Properties. Click Settings and move the pointer in Screen Area (Screen Resolution) to the left to lower the screen resolution. It's easy to change the resolution back afterwards. This is good for games to - You don't always need the top resolution to see the detail in the game.

4. Turn Off Active Desktop

In theory, having a favourite Web site sit directly on your desktop is cool. In reality it is a huge drain on your PC's resources, so turn it off and feel the difference. You can always make that Web site your home page anyway!

5. Don't Stretch That Wallpaper

Stretching wallpaper to fit the desktop can actually slow down your PC, especially when you move icons around. And if your PC has limited memory, it's better to choose fairly simple wallpaper - for example, black and white photos rather than colour.

6. Don't Have Too Many Fonts

Windows loads every font you have in the Fonts folder when it starts up. The more you have, the longer it takes. So take a look in your Fonts folder and keep only those you really like and use. However, be careful not to remove fonts that have a red letter icon as these are System fonts.

7. Use Disk Cleanup

Windows has a built-in tool called Disk Cleanup, which is a bit like your own personal Windows housekeeper. To find it, go to Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then Disk Cleanup. It will then ask you which drive you wish to clean up - usually the C drive. Once open, it will analyse your hard disk and tell you how much space can be saved on the disk by safely deleting old files. The less cluttered your hard disk, the faster the PC will run.

8. Back Up (Achive) Your Data

Another really simple way to lose clutter and speed things up is to transfer old data and files to an external storage device such as a Zip Drive or even good old-fashioned floppies. This also has the advantage of safeguarding your data if your PC breaks down.

9. Use the Defragmenter Tool

As you use your PC, loading programs and creating files, Windows tends to be a bit lazy as to where it puts stuff after you have finished. In other words, files get fragmented and it takes longer for the PC to find the files you need the next time. To clean things up, go to the Start menu, then Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Open the Disk Defragmenter and let it automatically put all the files and programs back in proper order. Afterwards, you should notice a significant increase in the speed of your PC.

10. Clean Up Your Desktop

It's tempting to use your desktop as a general dumping ground for downloads, often-used files and programs. However, having too much on there not only makes it hard to find but can slow things down. Instead spend a few minutes each week tidying up and deleting files that you are not using. Put those files you need into a special folder on your hard drive and leave only a minimum. You will also be able to see that nice wallpaper you downloaded more clearly!

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Thu May 20, 2004 7:50 am

Thanks, CamClub. I'll be sure to check them off for my machine.

Truggy · Post by **Truggy** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:49 pm

hey camclub, i go to start>>run>>and i type in msconfig>>what is in there i can uncheck, at all times im running probably 30 processes...dont want something messing up

ssj3gohan · Post by **ssj3gohan** » Thu May 20, 2004 5:39 pm

ok another good tip: don't load all useless services at the startup. Take 15-30 minutes to check your startup list using http://www.blackviper.com-->go to
'Windows XP Service Configurations
Windows 2000 Service Configurations ' depending on your system (xp applies for ME also, not for earlier os'es)

U.S.Amateurfilmaker · Post by **U.S.Amateurfilmaker** » Fri May 21, 2004 1:40 am

WinDoctor from Norton is a great tool that I highly recommend. It analyzes your windows directory and finds and fixes problems with system files, registry entries and ActiveX errors that can slow down your computer if left unfixed.

tallman_house_pictures · Sat May 29, 2004 5:04 am

Thanks alot Cam Club, i'll be sure to keep it in mind.

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sat May 29, 2004 7:15 am

There is also X-cleaner which has a very good feature that allows you to turn off unnecessary services.

ssj3gohan · Post by **ssj3gohan** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:02 pm

basically does the same as the manual services.msc routine you can use at www.blackviper.com

thewarmovie · Post by **thewarmovie** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:52 pm

I was about to recomend blackviper, but gohan already did so...yea...go to black viper, it has great configs, i don't use them right now cause i'm sharing my familys pc while i'm saving up for a new comp.

p.s. good post, cam cam

Spade · Post by **Spade** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:33 pm

I recommend Ad-aware 6.0 for thoes who don't already use it. Since i've installed it, my pc has been so much more reliable and quicker. I recently downloaded the free plugin for the messenger service and it's free'd up alot of my system resources too. http://lavasoft.element5.com

By the way, nice tips camclub