Five Simple Ways to Speed Up Your PC

"Speeding up your PC is a great way to start of the New Year. Speed is definitely important these days," Agent Smith, the manager of Geek Squad at Best Buy, said.

Microsoft's five steps consist of freeing up disk space, speeding up access to data, detecting and repairing disk repairs, protecting computers against spyware and learning about Microsoft's Readyboost.

"Any one of Microsoft's five steps will significantly speed up any computer. So from Apple to Sony, and Dell to Toshiba, any users of [these steps] can benefit," says Smith.

1.Free up disk space

"You basically want to use Disk Cleanup when you install new programs to get rid of the space the old programs take up on the hard disk," Smith said.

The Disk Cleanup tool identifies and allows users to see files that are safe to delete -- such as items in the Recycle Bin, old programs and temporary files -- from their computers.

How to use Disk Cleanup

1.) Click Start, go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, finally go to System Tools and click on Disk Cleanup.
2.) Once in Disk Cleanup set up select the files you would like to delete.
3.) Clear the check boxes for the files that you do not wish to delete and click OK.
4.) Confirm that you want to delete specified files by clicking Yes.

2.Speed up access to data

A disk defragmenter, according to Microsoft's Web site, is a utility that consolidates a computer's fragmented files and folders so that they occupy only a single space on the disk.

How to use Disk Defragmenter

1.) Click Start, go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, finally got to System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter.
2.) Select drives you want to defragment and click Analyze.
3.) After the analysis the dialog box will tell you if you need to defragment the selected drive if so click Defragment.
4.) After the process of defragmentation process is complete the results will be displayed, to view these in detail click View Report.
5.) To close program click Close in the View Report dialog box, and then click Close in the title bar of the Disk Defragmenter program.

3.Detect and repair disk errors

By running the Error Checking utility, one may check the files stored on their hard disks for bad sectors and those stored on their file systems for errors.

"Nine times out of 10, if you have bad sectors your computer is failing or will fail. It will only work if you replace the hard drive," Smith said.

How to use Error Checking

1.) Close any open files
2.) Click Start, then click My Computer
3.) Once in My Computer Right Click on the file you want to search for bad sectors then click Properties
4.) Once in the Properties dialog box click on the Tools tab
5.) Click Check Now
6.) Once in the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, and click Start
7.) Choose to fix bad sectors if they are found


4.Protect your computer against spyware

Spyware is an illegal collector of personal information.Microsoft Windows Defender combats spyware and is free to download for Microsoft XP SP2.

"You want to remember not to have more than one anti-spyware program running at a time, or it will cause major problems in your computer's performance," says Smith.

5.Learn all about ReadyBoost for Windows Vista

According to Microsoft's Web site, ReadyBoost speeds up computers by allowing users to utilize flash memory in an effort to improve performance -- without adding more memory.

ReadyBoost works by using a universal serial bus -- USB -- along with Windows SuperFetch.

How to use ReadyBoost

"If you are not sure how to install ReadyBoost, we recommend that you come in and we will update the system for you," Smith said.

1.) Insert flash drive or secure digital memory card
2.) Windows Vista will check to see if the device is fast enough to work with the ReadyBoost program. If this is so place the amount of the flash drive's memory you want to use to store files and the amount you want to use to speed up your PC.


Source: Steps from Microsoft.com and media.www.technicianonline.com