Make your computer faster: Maintenance tips to speed up your PC

A computer’s speed gradually slows down linearly with use as times goes on.  Registry libraries expand, hard drives fill up, nefarious files sneak in, and the gears of our computers are not grinding as fast as the day we opened the box or maybe have even come to a halt.

Like cars, they must  be maintained to ensure usability and efficiency.  Don’t worry, though, maintaining a computer is less time consuming and wallet consuming.  There must be computer maintenance, so here are some tips to make your computer faster and more furious.

maintenance sign

Schedule automated PC maintenance when you won't be around to save yourself time.

Maintenance

Update. Make sure your operating system and drivers are up to date for efficiency and compatibility.  Many hardware companies have helped in this area by creating auto-updating functions but those that don’t could require extra vigilance on your part to maintain.

Clean it up. We never see the virtual mess we make just by using our systems until the speed of our machines grind to a crippling speed.  Cleaning up helps make your computer faster.  This can be done with weekly “defragging” of your hard drive, and disk clean ups.

Keep it minimal. It may seem unnecessary but it does actually help to remove programs you no longer use.  Whether this is a game you beat two years ago or a no longer supported out of date freeware, it is taking up space.  By clearing up some space on your hard drive it does make it go faster.

Back up your files. Having a contingency plan is always wise.  Some ways this is done is maybe having copies of files elsewhere and partitioning your hard drive into separate areas so if you ever have to format not all is lost.  There is a free program called Partition Magic that let’s you separate your hard drives or merge them.  How it can help is putting your operating system on one hard drive and creating another with the program to put all your personal or work related things on another.  So if you ever have to format, you can just format one of the hard drives and keep your content.

Protect yourself. Use antivirus software to scan weekly to protect yourself from possible malware or viruses that could make your computer slower or even steal valuable information.  Some antivirus solutions are free, such as AVG.  There are also some companies that offer a more premium services for different payment plans, such as McAfee and Norton Anti-Virus.

Lastly, upgrade. If it seems like things don’t run as fast as it used to, and it’s been a few years since you have bought your computer, you may need to upgrade.  Web pages are more intensive, graphics are more detailed, more ram is and processor speed is in demand.  Programmers assume you are upgrading your computer as well as time goes by, so their programs are more demanding as they update their features as well.  You don’t have to buy a completely new system!  As PC parts become cheaper and cheaper minor upgrades such as more RAM, can go a long way in making your computers faster and won’t hurt the pockets that much either.

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