Speeding up your PC

Are you a victim of slow-PC syndrome? Do you wish your computer boots up Windows in seconds instead of minutes? Well fear not, you’re not alone! Many people have this issue and it can be remedied by several simple and proactive steps. In this Tech Tip, we examine 10 simple ways to quickly speed up your computer regardless if it’s a laptop or desktop.

1.) Turn off unnecessary programs during start-up.

Click START – RUN – and type “msconfig” – click STARTUP tab - uncheck the programs that are not needed upon startup such as ADOBE ACROBAT, GOOGLE UPDATE, QUICKTIME – You can see the program name, its file extension and location by the Manufacturer, Command and Location, respectively.

WARNING – IF YOU’RE UNSURE ABOUT A CERTAIN PROGRAM,DO NOT UNCHECK IT AS IT CAN HAVE UNPLEASANT CONSEQUENCES. ONLY UNCHECK THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU RECOGNIZE AND DO NOT NEED TO HAVE RUNNING AT START-UP (i.e. WINAMP AGENT)

2.) Use a free cleaning utility to clean out your system.

Free programs like C Cleaner delete old junk files, cached pages, temporary files and other unimportant data from your computer, thus freeing up your hard drive. If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution,Tune Up Utilities is an excellent program that can tackle all things cleaning-related so you don’t have to use multiple programs to clean your computer. C Cleaner also has a Windows Registry cleaning feature that can help clean out your registry for increased performance.

3.) Upgrade your computers hard drive to a new/bigger/faster one!

Hard drives are getting faster, cheaper and bigger so pick up a new one! Whether your current one is old, sputtering on its last spindle rotation, or almost at full capacity, you can purchase a 500GB, 750GB or 1 Terabyte drive that has much more buffer cache, faster spindle speeds and can even consume less power! (eco-green models) Even if your current drive is working fine, a second hard drive is handy as a large dumping ground for files or can serve as a place to store back-up images of your current hard drive. If you don’t feel like cracking open your case, you can opt for an external hard drive and dump your archive files there to free up space. The reason is because as a hard drive gets full, its performance decreases because it has to work harder to access files.

4.) More Computer Memory (RAM) Scotty!

Now is the time to buy RAM/Memory if your computer was built within the last 5 years. The prices of DDR2 and DDR3 RAM have gone down significantly so it would be in your best interest to pick up at least 1-2 GB on top of what you have now. More RAM means that the computer can do a better of job of booting up programs, delegating tasks and increase overall system performance. Check with your respective PC manufacturer to determine how much RAM you computer can accommodate.

5.) Utilize Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malware programs

It’s not rocket science that if your computer is infected with a Trojan, botnet or other type of malicious infection, it can slow down your computer considerably. (And possibly compromise your IT security) Pick up a good anti-virus program like MS Security Essentials or AVG Antivirus if you fancy free versions. If you don’t want to have your system hijacked by a Trojan, pick up Malwarebytes’ Antimalware which can find and quickly eliminate programs such as “Avira AV” which auto-install and trick the unsuspecting victim that he/she is infected. (Then it will try to collect payment from “product activation” but it’s really just a hijacking program) Bottom line, your computer will run faster and much more efficient without these kinds of infections.

6.) Update Drivers

This obviously sounds like a chore but keep in mind that with the super fast pace of technology, having the most up-to-date software is important for a computer’s stability, compatibility and performance. For example, if you play PC games or do heavy graphics editing, your gaming/editing performance might suffer if you’re using outdated drivers from the video card manufacturer. (Or OEM PC maker)

7.) Take advantage of READYBOOST!

If you’re running Windows Vista or 7, utilizing ReadyBoost is one of the simplest speed tweaks you can perform! Just pick up a 2-4 GB USB flash drive, plug it into your computer and wait for it to be recognized. Afterwards, right click on the flash drive letter under My Computer and click the READYBOOST tab. Check USE THIS DEVICE and click OK and voilá! You’re done!

8.) Turn off User Account Control (UAC) and Aero

For Windows Vista and 7 users, turning off UAC not only eliminates the annoying pop-ups but also speeds up the computer.

Just go into Control Panel – Security Center – USER ACCOUNTS – TURN USER ACCOUNT CONTROL OFF.

For those of you who don’t care about the graphical fancy pants that is Windows Aero, you can turn it off and thus save Windows from performing unnecessary gratuitous graphics when you’re simply navigating.

For Vista - right-click on the desktop – PERSONALIZE – click WINDOW AND APPEARANCE – OPEN CLASSIC APPEARANCE PROPERTIES FOR MORE COLOR OPTIONS – COLOR SCHEME – WINDOWS VISTA BASIC.

For Windows 7 – right-click on desktop – PERSONALIZE – Select Windows 7 Basic theme – OK.

9.) Remove unnecessary programs in Windows

If you buy a computer from an OEM such as Dell or HP, it’s most-likely filled with “bloatware”, the programs that are usually trial but are installed with the OEM’s copy of Windows. While these programs are harmless, they get annoying because they slow your computer down considerably. You can either manually uninstall each program from CONTROL PANEL – ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS, or you can download and install PC Decrapifier. This program searches your computer, targets the programs that are considered bloatware such as “Auto Backup – Free Trial!”, “McAfee 90-day Trial”, and “eMusic” and un-installs them to not only free up hard drive space, but also increase performance.

10.) Defrag the right way!

Defragmenting your hard drive the proper way can speed up your PC in addition to organizing your files. Some programs like Puran Defrag not only defrags your hard drive(s), it also defrags your boot files so your Windows start-ups are quicker. In addition, there are comprehensive programs like Raxco Perfect Disk that optimize the placement of data for maximum performance depending on the settings you choose.

While there are many ways to speed up your computer, the goal for these 10 speed tips are simplicity and ease of use. Yes, you can tinker with your Windows Registry files but if you make a mistake, you can crash Windows just like that! The most important thing to keep in mind is remembering to perform the above cleaning tasks every now and then. (At least once a month) Just like proactively keeping your car in good running condition (ahem, Skyline GT-R!) with timely maintenance, running these applications from time to time keeps your computer running in peak performance. Regardless of whether you have a dual-core, triple-core or quad-core CPU computer, you did pay for your computer’s performance so it makes sense to able to utilize all of it.

Techy Misconceptions

#1 Facebook wants to charge you money for its service

It seems like a week doesn’t go by that the rumor mill churns yet again that Facebook wants to charge you some kind of fee for its service. Basically, put them out to pasture - Zuckerberg and company loves your information that we all (maybe too) freely give out to want to charge us for the privilege of paying him to give it. So, feel free to grouse about the latest changes to the format but know that for now and into the foreseeable future, The Facebook is content to just be happy mining YOUR data.

#2 Apple “invented” the PC (or the MP3 player; or theTablet computer).

All of these are an astounding no. Apple marketed one of the first Do It Yourself (DIY) personal computers (for an astounding $666.66 (no, Steve Jobs is not the Antichrist either) and had a strong foothold in the market well before IBM unleashed its version of the PC onto the world a few years later - but many companies marketed computers well before Apple (some notable examples are the MITS Alter; HP 9100 (and even if you want to dig further back you can find examples like Honeywell’s Kitchen computer and even the DIY Simon that you could purchase the plans for).

Ditto for MP3 players (remember the Genica Tavarua) and tablet computers have been around for ages (it just took Apple to make them fun and bring them out of the business world and into our lives - with tons of knock-offs coming on its heels screaming “me too! me too! ”).

#3 Running Windows Updates will ruin my computer

Actually, quite the opposite may be true - if you avoid running updates, especially security updates, you put your computer at risk. While it is true that every once in a while an update has some - unexpected consequences - for the most part you are better safe than sorry running the update. However, it has to be said that if you update an entire operating system, then there is the strong possibility that many of your favorite programs will not migrate well to the newer version of the operating system (not that this has ever held me back - thank goodness for Virtual Machines and especially for XP Mode on Windows 7)

#4 Dell (or Apple, or HP, or Acer; or “insert companies name here”) manufacturers their own computers

While some companies may still ASSEMBLE some of their computers to order, most computer companies no longer own any manufacturing facilities or make their own computers. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, large computer companies have third party manufacturers build their computers. (which is why some of the largest BUILDERS of computers are companies that you may have never heard of, such as Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics and Hon Hai Precision (aka, Foxconn Electronics)).

Be assured that the computer you are probably reading this Tech Tip on was more than likely not actually MADE by the company that is on the label. This is one of the big reasons computers are basically considered commodity items (yes, even that shiny Apple PC - rolling off the same assembly line with Dell, HP, etc) and tend to have similar repair rates (which also means that they also tend to use many of the same OEM parts and components as well).This doesn’t mean that your computer was made poorly; or even that one computer may be “better” than another - it just means that they are all pretty much the same.

In Conclusion

Hope you liked this week’s Tech Tip! While urban legends and myths run rampant in the tech arena, rest assured that we here at Tech Tips have your back and are ready to beat back the hounds of ignorance and set a world on fire with Geek Busters!