Speeding up your computer

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Speeding up your computer

• Making your old computer run like new (or at
  least a little better)
• By Jim Bell
• Microsoft Certified Professional

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Overview

• Programs you dont want or need can cripple your
  machine in several ways. They can lengthen your
  boot up time. They can load and stay resident in
  your computer thus hogging some of your computers
  resources. Finally they can cause you to lose
  control of your computer and cause unintended
  consequences.

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Password problems

• If your computer is asking for a password even
  when you dont have one you can remove the
  password prompt on startup. Go to Start / Run
  and type "control userpasswords2" and select a
  user, deselect the check box to require a user
  to use a password to use this computer. Select
  apply and X out of the window. Dont enter
  any passwords you could get in trouble.

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Watch what is happening as your machine starts.

• If you get error messages select them and use
  copy and then paste them into Google. You may
  get some good hints from user forums. Use a
  registry repair program that you select (not one
  that appears on your screen with warnings)
  Make sure you can unrepair your registry if you
  need to.

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What are those icons doing in the lower right
corner of my machine?

• Many programs you install preload a part of there
  software every time you start your computer.
  Great if you use the software every time you run
  your computer but otherwise a waste of time and
  resources.
• Right click the icon and see if a preferences or
  options is one of your choices. If so, uncheck
  the automatically load the program every time
  the computer starts.

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Is your desktop cluttered?

• Saving documents and downloads makes them easier
  to find but desktop icons can make your video
  card work harder and your machine run slower. If
  you need the items on your desktop create a
  folder and drag most of them into it. It doesnt
  hurt to delete the shortcuts, you can always
  create new ones.

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Does your computer have trial software
preinstalled?

• If your computer came with software preinstalled
  make sure it is not a trial version unless you
  plan to purchase it. Open the software and go to
  help and/or about and see if it is a trial
  version. Depending on the function you may be
  better off uninstalling it and installing
  software that is free or that does the job
  better.

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Installing new software - 1

• Before you download it check it out on the
  Internet. Look in reviews or forums with a
  Google search.
• Remember - free and free trial arent the
  same and freeware, shareware and free to
  try arent the same.
• Paying for software is fine as long as you arent
  tricked into doing it.

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Installing new software - 2

• Watch what your choices are when you install
  software, scroll all the way down to see if any
  boxes are pre- checked. Use throw away email
  addresses to register it if you arent sure of
  the company or if you want to keep the software.

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Use safe practices

• Install an antivirus program such as AVG, install
  an antispyware program such as Spybot SD or
  Adaware.
• Keep them updated and do regular scans.
• There are a number of suite versions of this type
  of software, purchase one of those if you wish
  and reduce your overhead.

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Where did THAT come from??

• Has a guest (grandchildren are frequent culprits)
  been using your computer? Have you installed
  anything new (hardware or software?) Have AOL,
  facebook, picassa or instant messenger suddenly
  appeared? If so, remove them unless you plan to
  use them. If you are not sure, get rid of them
  until you decide.

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If I remove that software will I lose my
pictures, documents, etc?

• Always make a back up of your data. There are a
  few proprietary formats out there but this
  shouldnt be a problem. Normally you can
  reinstall the software if you have to.

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Firefox and Thunderbird

• Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are the
  most abused programs on the Internet. Firefox is
  the free alternative to Internet Explorer and
  Thunderbird is the free alternative to Outlook
  Express. They arent bulletproof but they are
  less prone to problems.

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Cameras, printers and Network Drives

• Does your machine offer you the choice to use
  cameras and printers that you dont have anymore.
  Get rid of the software and reinstall your
  current hardware if the uninstall creates
  problems. (i. e., replacing one HP printer with
  another)
• Does your machine try to connect to networked
  drives that arent always available? Go to
  network connections and unselect the always
  reconnect box.

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Event viewer and Temp files

• Right click my computer and select manage.
  Go to Application under event viewer. Look
  for red error results and see what applications
  are causing problems. Copy and paste the message
  to Google and see if you can find out anything
  helpful.
• Go to Start / Run and type temp enter
  control A and hit the delete key. If you have a
  lot of orphan temp files you are having problems
  (but you probably already knew that)

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Some great free programs

• Revo uninstaller will sometimes uninstall problem
  programs.
• Unlocker will allow you to uninstall a program
  that keeps saying it is in use (when it isnt)
• Norton uninstaller from Norton does a nice job of
  completely removing Norton antivirus
• Glarysoft utility has a nice free uninstaller and
  startup manager
• Auslogics Disk defragmenter does a faster job
  defragmenting your hard drive.
• TweakUI from Microsoft is a free utility that can
  do a number of things for your operating system.

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Wireless or Wired Network but not both.

• If you travel you may find you use a wireless
  connection in a hotel but want a more secure and
  faster wired connection at home.
• If you leave both turned on your computer will
  look for both each time you start. Right click
  the connection you are not using and disable it.
  You can enable it later when you want to switch.

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Back up data and set restore points

• If you are walking the computer tightrope always
  use a net
• Back up your data and create restore points.
• However, if you are having a virus or viruses
  continually being deleted but coming back they
  may be hiding in your restore folder. If so,
  turn off system restore in Control Panel /
  System, reboot a couple of times and then turn
  it back on.

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Downloading updates, virus scans and other tasks

• It is recommended that your computer have the
  latest updates for its operating system and
  antivirus software. However, if you have a slow
  connection or a slow computer you may need to set
  these operations to times that you are not using
  the computer. Dont keep downloading part of an
  update each day and then starting over the
  following day, your Internet connection will
  suffer.

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Hopefully you will be running faster if you use
some of these tips.

• Any Questions?