Managing your PC is an important part of running a computer. To maintain its speed and response, certain tasks have to be done periodically. This will ensure good response time and of course, a better experience while running your computer.
So, let's start
1. Clean up your Hard Disk
- Temporary Files
These files are made by different programs for processing and reside on your hard disk even after use. Cleaning them is task you should do periodically.1
1. Click on start menu and point to Run. In Windows 7 or 8, You can just type Run in program search.
2. Type "%temp%" without quotes and press enter.
3. Delete all the files in the folder permanently. Skip the files which do not get removed.
- Run Disk Cleanup Regularly
Disk Cleanup automatically cleans up space on your disk cleaning any junk on your disk.
1. Right click on the disk drive in my computer which you want to clean up.
2. Switch to general tab and click Disk Cleanup.
- Remove unwanted programs.
1. In Windows XP, Click on Add or Remove programs in the left pane in My Computer.
2. In Windows 7 or 8, Click on Uninstall or change a program in Computer.
- Defragment your disk
Defragmenting arranges fragmented data into continuous clusters so that computer works efficiently because it does not have to find files in different locations.
1. Right click on the drive letter you want to defragment, navigate to the Tools tab and click on optimize.
2. Remove Unnecessary Startup Programs
1. Click on Start->Run
2. Type "msconfig" without quotes.
3. Uncheck any unnecessary startup programs
Cannot provide illustrations for this one. Running Windows 8
3. Use a good antivirus program
A good antivirus program not only handles malware and virus but also works without affecting system performance.
Antiviruses like McAfee and Norton are good but the system suffers a huge performance blow. I recommend "Microsoft Security Essentials". It is a good antivirus program and it does not slow down your system. Download Microsoft Security Essentials.
4. Use Windows Ready Boost ( Windows Vista Onwards)
If you have a performance flash drive with good data transfer speed, then plug it in and activate the ready boost feature. Windows will use the flash drive as cache memory and it is 50 times faster than using hard drive.
1. Plug your pen drive in.
2. Right click on the pen drive letter in Computer and click on properties.
3.Navigate to ready boost tab.
4. If your drive passes the test for ready boost then enable ready boost.
5. You can also dedicate the device to ready boost by clicking on Dedicate this device to "ReadyBoost"
5. Use a Registry Cleaning Program
I recommend CCleaner. It is basically a junk cleaning programs that cleans your registry, temporary files, cookies and stuff so your computer functions efficiently. Download CCleaner
Probably, There's much more you can do to make your computer respond better. I'll cover them in a future post. Above all will help a ton.
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