Speedup System

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Turn off Startup Programs

When you install a program in Windows, it may add a small program that runs

when Windows starts. After installing a lot of software, your boot up process

could become slow. If there are programs you dont use much, they probablydont need to start every time Windows does. You can disable startup programs

manually or use the free tool CCleaner.

Clean Up Unnecessary Files on Your Computer

As you use your computer, files collect in all kinds of places. Windows and

programs running in Windows create temporary files and log files. Files you have

deleted may collect in the Recycle Bin, if you dont empty it often. When you

browse the internet, browsers create temporary files, sites put cookies on your

computer, and the download history and form history grows. CCleaner can help

you clean up your computer. You canset up CCleaner to automatically run on ascheduleand you can alsocreate a shortcut to run CCleaner quickly and silently.
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Schedule a Task to Perform Disk Cleanup

Windows provides a built-in Disk Cleanup tool that removes old files and

temporary files to help you reclaim hard disk space and possibly speed up your

PC. Its a good idea to run the Disk Cleanup tool on a regular basis, such as

weekly or monthly, depending on your computer usage. You can use the Task

Scheduler in Windows toset up a task to run the Disk Cleanup tool on a set

schedule.

Remove Malware, Spyware, and Adware
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If you have malware, spyware, or adware on your computer, that can affect its

performance. The articles below describe some tools that help you get rid of

malware, spyware, and adware and also how to get rid of fake antivirus

applications that are actually viruses in themselves.

How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?

Remove Stubborn Malware with SuperAntiSpyware

SUPERAntiSpyware Portable is the Must-Have Spyware Removal Tool You

Need

Remove Malware Quickly with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

How to Remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 (Fake Anti-Virus Infections)

How To Remove Antivirus Live and Other Rogue/Fake Antivirus Malware

Turn off Windows Features

By default, Windows enables a lot of features that you most likely dont use and

take up valuable resources on your computer. However, these features can be

disabled. There are many ways to disable Windows features. We have previously

written about the50 best ways to disable built-in Windows features you dont

want or need.
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Disable the Indexing Service in Windows

The Search Indexing service in Windows scans through the files and folders on

your system and records information about them in an index file to speed up the

search process. However, this also consumes resources on your system and can

slow it down. If you dont do a lot of searching through files and folders, you can

turn off the indexing service to free up some resources and speed up your

computer.

Open the Start menu and enter services.msc (without the quotes) in the search

box. Press Enter or click on the services.msc link when it displays.
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In the right pane on the Services dialog box, scroll down until you find the

Windows Search service. Right-click on it and select Properties from the popup

menu.


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The Windows Search Properties dialog box displays. Select Disabled from the

Startup type drop-down list. Click OK to accept the change and close the dialog

box.


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NOTE: You may not see this dialog box, depending on yourUser Account

Control settings.

In the tree in the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to the

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop key. In the right pane, scrolldown until you find the MenuShowDelay data value. Right-click on the name and

select Modify from the popup menu.

In the Value data edit box on the Edit String dialog box, enter a new value

between 0 and 4000. This indicates how many milliseconds it takes for the Start

menu and any submenus to display. We dont recommend you use 0 as the

value. It might make it hard to navigate through the menus. Click OK to accept

your change.
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Select Exit from the File menu to close the Registry Editor. Reboot your

computer to apply the change.

Fully Uninstall Unused Programs

Sometimes, when you uninstall a program, remnants are left behind that the

uninstaller doesnt remove. If you install and uninstall a lot of programs, these

files can accumulate. How-To Geek shows youhow to use Revo Uninstaller to

completely uninstall a program or utility from your system.
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Change the Number of Recent Items Shown on the Windows 7Start Menu

If you have a lot of recent documents displaying in the Recent Items menu on the

Start menu, it can slow down access to the menu. It is a quick and easy task

tochange the number of items that display on the Recent Items menu.

Delete Unnecessary Items from the Send To Menu
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Some programs may add items to the Send To menu when you install them. If

so, your Send To menu may become slow to access. However, you can

easilycustomize the Send To menu in Windows and remove items you dont

useor evendisable the Send To menu completely.

Limit the Number of Items in Each Folder

If you have lots of files in a single folder, it can slow down Explorer. Its best to

create multiple folders and spread out the files among the folders.
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Thoroughly Clean Your Computer

The fan in your computer that draws in air to cool the components may become

clogged with dust, pet hair, and other forms of dirt. This can cause your system

to overheat and run sluggishly and maybe even eventually break down. How-To

Geek shows youhow to thoroughly clean the inside of your desktop computer.
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Install Programs into a Virtual Machine

Installing programs in a virtual machine to test them using a virtualization

program like VirtualBox or VMware Workstation or Player keeps your host

machine trim and fast and can prevent it from slowing down. When you uninstall

them, any remnants are left in the virtual machine, not on your host machine

(although, you can also use Revo Uninstaller, as mentioned earlier in this article,

to uninstall software completely). Also, you can test how the program itself, when

running, affects system resources.
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Now, you can be faster and more efficient when working or goofing off!

How to Speed Up a Slow

Windows Computer for Free 1,805,447 views

84 Editors

Edited 10 weeks ago

Two Methods:Freeing Up ResourcesMaking Hardware Adjustments

Windows PCs typically slow down as applications are installed and used.

Whether you are using a word processor,writing a spreadsheet,surfing the

internet, playing games or anything else, hard drives fill withtemporary

filesthat do not always get removed when no longer needed. Hard disks

can succumb to this wear and tear over time, and this article will teach you

how to fix that. Read on to learn of ways to help keep a PC running

smoothly with littleor no money.
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Method 1 of 2: Freeing Up Resources

1.

1Stop all unneeded background processes.Look at the right corner of

your Taskbar, to the left of the time,date, and essential system icons. You

will see a group of small icons, collectively called the 'notification area' or

'system tray'. Each of these icons represent a program that has been at

least partially started or is running "in the background". Regardless of state,
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each causes a reduction of available memory and processing power, or

resources. Closing, exiting or canceling any unused background process

returns those resources to the system, and becomes available for use by

the application(s) started specifically by the user. Go to your task managerand click on the Process tab. End all process that you can.

A utility calledProcess Explorer(procexp.exe) can be used to list all

programs running on your Windows system. It is more comprehensive than

the Task Manager, and hovering your mouse pointer over any program

name will tell you what it is about.

A utility is built into Windows that can enable/disable task bar programs and

processes from automatically loading with Windows. To access it, go to

Start > Run > type in MSCONFIG and click OK. If you do not know what a

process does, search its name. Do not disable processes if you are unsure,

as some processes are necessary for your computer to function normally.
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A freeware program calledGame BoosterbyIObit(the same people who

wroteAdvanced SystemCare) will temporarily disable unnecessary

background processes and boost performance on your computer when you

are actively using only one program; such as a game program or video

editing software. When you are finished, you can resume "normal mode"

and all the background processes will be reloaded. Keep in mind that the

performance gains will be negligible and unnoticeable unless you have a

very slow PC.

2. 2
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Turn off unneeded Desktop Features that try to make things look

better.The fancy rounded window corners, the way the menus fade in and

out, and the 3-D button styles on modern Desktops all require somecomputing power and can overwhelm older machines. To turn off these

appearance only enhancements:

Windows XP - right click on My Computer, and choose the Properties

option, then choose the Advanced tab, and click the Settings button under

the Performance section. In the Performance Options dialogue that comes

up, go to the Visual Effects tab, and choose "Adjust for best performance".

You can also try the "Custom" option, and turn on and off individual settings

to see which ones will work without slowing your machine down.


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Vista - Click the Start button, then Control Panel, then choose System and

Maintenance, then Performance Information and Tools. Click Adjust visual

effects. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation,

type the password or provide confirmation. Click the Visual Effects tab, and

choose "Adjust for best performance". You can also try the "Custom"

option, and turn on and off individual settings to see which ones will work

without slowing your machine down.
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Windows 7 - Click the Start button, then Control Panel, and then System

and Security. When you see System, click on it and then Advanced system

settings. From here you can make sure you're on the Advanced tab and

click on Settings under Performance. Here, you can also choose Adjust for

best performance or choose Custom if you'd like to compromise between

fancy visuals and performance. On a side note, this menu can be accessed

much quicker by right-clicking on Computer, from either the Desktop or

Start menu, selecting Properties, and then Advanced system settings.


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3.

3Do a shut down/reboot also known as a cold reboot.Some programs

do not release memory properly when they close, which is the case for

some operating systems. Even doing a warm restart will not release someof the memory drivers and other core programs had allocated. The

computer has to be completely shut down and then restarted. When a

program is asking for some memory, a space would be allocated for it by


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the operating system (like Windows). This allocated memory can not be

used by any other programs. "Well-behaved" programs typically let go of

their hold of this memory space but some programs don't - this is known as

a "memory leak", which is caused by a programming error. A memory leakis easily evident when a program uses up an abnormally high amount of

resources because it keeps on asking for more and never gives back any

of the allocated memory space. The user workaround is to terminate the

program or process, but some processes and core processes can not be

closed. Shutting down the system will have the operating system forget

which memory locations aren't free, so on the next boot, all memory

locations are free to use.


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4.

4Empty theRecycle Bin.Simply deleting files from the disk doesn't really

delete them at all, rather they are moved to a temporary holding area on

the hard drive for easy restoration. This area is called the Recycle Bin andis usually displayed on the Desktop. Review the contents before emptying.

Once emptied, the space on thehard drivethat the data occupied is made

available for reuse and the restoration of any files emptied from the recycle
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bin becomes extremely difficult if it is overwritten by new data. Note that

this will only speed up your computer if the hard drive is nearly full.

5.

5Uninstall all applications that are no longer needed.When applicationsand games are installed to a Windows PC, some files are written in the

Windows directory structure and dozens (or more) changes are made to


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the Windows Registry file. Most of these changes are not readily apparent

to the user, so proper removal requires uninstallingthe application through

the Control Panel's "Add or Remove Program" or "Programs and Features"

icon. There are 3rd party applications that can assist removing applicationsthat do not have uninstall routines - or do not fully remove themselves.

Revo Uninstaller Pro and CCleaner are two such popular uninstall

applications.

If the program is not listed in the Control Panel use the "uninstall"

command provided by the application.


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Simply deleting the entire application directory is not the same as

uninstalling, as all the files written to the Windows directory and changes to

the Windows Registry file will remain and may be reloaded when the

system is rebooted. Make sure that you do not uninstall any programs that are required by

others. e.g. iTunes will not work if Quicktime is uninstalled, and many

programs rely on other Microsoft programs.

6.

6


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Run "De-fragment" on all hard drives.Right-click a drive icon in "My

Computer" and select "Properties" followed by "Tools". Choose "De-

fragment" to let the utility clean up fragmented files and consolidate freespace on the drive. Note: this is not needed on an SSD drive.

Defragmentation should be done at least once per week, or more often if

the PC is used heavily. Some versions of Windows allow for the scheduling

of this utility, and in those cases could be set to run automatically without

ever having to manually run again. This process may take anywhere from

several minutes to an hour or more to complete depending on size of the

drive(s) and amount of unused capacity or free space. Consider starting thedefragment process so that it will run over night or prior to logging off. After

completion the speed of hard drive read and write times may improve

significantly. There are also stand-alone defragmenting programs available

from other developers available for download that may or may not charge a

fee for use. A very good example of a free defrag program that allows

automatic and scheduled defragmenting is found at iobit.comSmart Defrag

2.Warning:Defragmenting an SSD will yield no performance gains, andcan actually damage the SSD.

8. 8

Installanti-virus softwareand keep it current.Today, anti-virus (AV)

suites are an absolute must. There are many from which to choose at the

software store, but there are free AV solutions that do a very good job, too.
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Three popular free AV solutions areAvast!,AVG,andAvira AntiVir.All

include regular "virus definition" file updates that allow the AV program to

detect and protect from the latest viruses being released. Note that while

installing antivirus software actually slows down your computer, it does notslow it down as much as a virus does.

9.

9
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Install anAd Blocker;it not only blocks malicious websites, but also

reduces temp disk space usage for the browser by about 30% by not

downloading advertising

10.

10
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Find and Delete Temporary Files.Temporary Files are used for

supporting some applications for a limited period of time and left unused for

later. Go to "C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp"(Windows XP), "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp" (Windows

Vista), or "%TEMP%" (any version of Windows) and delete all the files from

this folder. If there is a problem deleting one or more files, skip those files

and remove the rest. This will free a lot of space on the drive. The

Temporary Internet Files directory can also be emptied. Do this with

caution, deleting the temp folder can break several programs, causing them

to crash. You may also lose any unsaved work in any open programs.


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11.

11Be realistic.The "high end" computer purchased as new 5 years

ago mayrun the latest version of Windows, but that doesn't mean that it will

do it very well. Keep in mind that the Minimum System Requirementson

the software box is indeed, minimum. The best experiences usually require

that the system is configured toRecommended Systemor better, instead.

Technology marches on and it seems there is a game of "one-up-manship"


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Set your computer's energy settings to High Performance.This is

especially useful in Laptops and Netbooks where the processor speed is

altered in accordance to energy settings (and if you are running on batterypower)

13.

13


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Clean up the primary partition.Click "Start" type "cleanmgr" and press

"Enter" key. Select your primary partition ( Windows installed drive, in most

cases C:/ drive) and scan it for junk files. After few seconds, it will show alist of unnecessary files and simply select all these check boxes and start

cleaning your drive.

Making Hardware Adjustments

1. 1

Proceed carefully.A lot of the tips in this section involve pushing your

hardware beyond their standard limits. While small adjustments usually

won't have any negative effects, going overboard can significantly damage

your components.

2. 2

Check your computer's temperatures.If your computer is overheating,

then chances are the hardware is not running as well as it should. One

easy way to help lower temperatures is to increase the speed of your


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Add memory.While not free, adding memory is a very effective way of

boosting performance, especially if your system has 1 GB of memory or

less. Increasing the amount of memory installed reduces the need for the

computer to write to and read from the hard drive. Check the motherboard

or system documentation to determine size, type, speed and permissible

configurations of memory before purchasing and installing additional

memory. If unavailable or you're unable to obtain it, you may wish to

download and run theCrucial System Scannerto detect this info and

provided suggestions for upgrades. Systems with lower amounts of

memory (256 MB to 1 GB) installed receive the greatest boost when

increased to 2 GB or more (as this represents a 100-400% or more

increase in system memory). Systems that have 2 GB or more memory

installed also receive a boost - but it is less noticeable.

Consider re-installing Windows. It may be easier to format the hard drive

and re-install Windows on the computer. Be sure to back up important data

first and have all program installation disks ready for re-installation. Beaware that the format process will delete all files on the disk. This means

that you will need to reinstall all software and restore all documents from a

backup.

Keeping Windows Up-to-date, especially with Security Updates, is very

important and can prevent BADWARE infections which slow computer.

Keep your PC cool.When a computer gets too hot, the CPU fan will

speed up. If the CPU is still too hot, the CPU will enter something called

"thermal throttling" which slows down processing speed in order to prevent

the CPU from breaking down. Turning off or hibernating your PC when not
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using it, increasing airflow, and keeping the room which your PC is located

in cool will help keep your computer cool -- and fast.

Consider using a different operating system. If you have a slow or old

computer considerswitching to Linux.This has its own set of issues such

as needing to learn a new Operating System, and much more. This is a

significant step, and as such; is not covered in this Wiki. Please refer to the

WikiHow article:Learning How To Use Linuxfor more information.

Warnings

Do not delete unknown types of files, because they may be System

Programming Files.

Discharge any static electricity.Touch an electrically grounded source (a

heating or plumbing pipe or the metal case of an electrical device powered

by a grounded 3 prong cord connected to a grounded receptacle) prior to

touching components inside the PC case. Static electricity can pass

through hands and could cause delicate electronics inside the PC case to

fail.

Beware of using MSConfigUsing MSConfig as anything but a

troubleshooting tool is considered dangerous by many in the IT field to long

term computer stability.Autorunswill allow you to do the same thing and

much more including permanently removing unneeded/unwanted entries.

Since it can do more, it can be just as or more dangerous than usingMSConfig. If you're unsure of something do your research and don't

remove it until you know for sure you don't need it. You can always

uncheck it and come back later.
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Download files from trustworthy sources.The developer's page is best;

P2P, newsgroups and anonymous file hosting sites are more likely to be

infected with a virus.

Shut down your computer and disconnect all the cables from it prior

to opening the case. This eliminates the chances of electrocution or

damage to system components.

Do not download any software which tell that they will speed up your

computer. More downloads can also cause your computer to slow down as

they(softwares) put more load on your PC's processor and eat up its RAM.

Do not use registry cleanersRegistry cleaners can be dangerous. They

may seem legitimate, but after some amount of usage, they can fragment

your registry. Leave them alone, If you feel that it must be cleaned up,

make a backup and defragment afterwards. The registry does not need to

be cleaned, so cleaning it can only result in nothing, or damage

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

s your PC slow? 10 tips to speed upyour computer

IBNLive.com@ibnlivetech

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New Delhi:Most of us often discover that our old PC has started lurching

and has stopped performing the way it would work when it was young.

Consequently, we either call up an engineer or start planning for a new
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machine. In both cases, we end up spending money which could be easily

saved. Most of the time, a few, simple commands can speed up a sluggish

PC and can improve its performance. Here are 10 tips and tricks to boost a

Windows PC.1.When your system starts, a lot of programs auto load which slow down

your machine. Therefore, it is suggested to remove unneeded programs at

startup with the help of Microsoft's MSConfig tool. Go to Start > Run > type

"msconfig". Go to the startup tab and uncheck the programs you don't want

to load whenever the system boots up. Click OK and restart.

2.Your PC comes pre-installed with a lot of programs which you don't even

use. They unnecessarily eat up a significant amount of space on your

machine and slow your system down. Go to Control Program > Programs

and Features > Unintall the programs you don't use.

Most of us often discover that our old PC has started lurching and has stopped performing the way it

would work when it was young. Here are 10 tips and tricks to boost a Windows PC. (Computer

frustration,via Shutterstock)
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performance > Enable Adust for best performance. It will have an impact

on the speed of your PC.

8.Users should optimise the browser they use as per their needs. Ensue

that your brower does not have unnecessary plugins and add-ons installedwhich may affect the performance of your device.

9.Hard drive on your machine must be partitioned. Portioning your hard

disk helps in improving the speed of your slow PC.

10.Ready Boost in Windows 7 can use your flash memory device to add

instant RAM to your PC. Plug in a USB flash drive or card and Ready Boost

is active to use. Ready Boost is designed to help when your PC's memory

is running low. Ready Boost works with most flash storage devices.