Delete Temporary Files

There is a variety of temporary files residing in your PC which take up a lot of space and slow it down. These can be Temporary Internet Files, Windows Temp Folder, Log Files and others.

The location of these files varies from one Windows version to the other, thus it is much preferable to use a free utility in order to remove them.

Windows does provide such a utility called Disk Cleanup (In Windows XP go to Start -> All Programs ->System Tools->Disk Cleanup). A better alternative would be CCleaner which can be downloaded for free.

Defragment your hard drive

With Defragmentation we are physically organizing the contents of the hard drive into the smallest number of contiguous regions (fragments) and attempt to create larger regions of free space. It is a needed process for all conventional hard drives, so that fragmented files can be accessed in sequence which improves access speed and seek times.

Windows does provide such a utility called Disk Defragmenter (In Windows XP go to Start -> All Programs ->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter). Other free utilities performing the same task are Defraggler, Auslogics Disk Defrag and others.

Remove Malicious Software

Viruses and Spyware significantly slow down your computer and compromise the security of your personal data. A use of a good antivirus, firewall and antispyware product is essential, and regular scans and updates should take place to ensure your protection is up to date.

There are several free antivirus and antimalware products that have great detection rates and are worth installing. We shall list some of the below.

Antivirus Products

AVG Free Antivirus

Microsoft Security Essentials

Avast Free Antivirus

Avira Free Antivirus

Antispyware Products

Malwarebytes Antimalware

Ad-Aware

Remove Software from loading at startup

A number of software are being loaded at startup by default although they are not needed there and increase the time our computer takes to boot up and be ready to use. To select and remove some of them from start up in Windows Vista and 7 go to Start and type in the search box msconfig and then hit enter.A window will pop up and you must go to the Startup Tab. There you can deselect all the software that do no need to load when Windows is loading.

Adjust Visual Effects for Better Performance

When the operating system memory is not sufficient, Windows visual effects including animated windows and fading menus can slow down your computer. Adjusting or reducing visual effects can make a big difference.

To change these settings in Windows 7, right click on My Computer and choose Properties. On the side menu choose Advanced System Settings. In the System Properties window that comes up, go to the Advanced tab and press the Performance Settings button. In the performance option window either select the option adjust for best performance or select custom and select which graphical options you can afford to lose.

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