Hey! Some of you reading this right now are using Windows XP. When you first got your computer, it was most likely blazing fast and pleasing to use. Now it's a slow old piece of junk that can't seem to run at all. Well, I ran into that same problem not too long ago and came together with a few great ideas to help clean up your computer! This will not only make your computer run faster, but also speed up shut down and boot-up times. I have followed these simple steps and my computer is now MUCH faster! You don't need to follow all of these steps, just one or two and you should be able to see a big difference in the speed of your computer. Let's get started!
*NOTE - If you are using any operating system other than Windows XP, some or all of the following tweaks may not work and/or harm your computer. Please ONLY use these tweaks if you are using Windows XP!
Tweak 1: Disk Cleanup
After a lot of use, your hard disk should be cluttered up with files and things you might not need anymore. Instead of manually going through every file and deleting the ones you don't need, there is a built-in feature for Windows XP that will allow you to clean up your disk space easily! Follow these instructions:
My Computer > Right-Click Local Disk > Properties > Disk Cleanup
Click this and then select the different options for cleaning up your computer. I personally click most of them, unless I think I need it. I suggest that you at least click “Temporary Internet Files” unless you are downloading something and also make sure to tick “Compress Old Files.” I cleaned up almost 4G of hard drive memory on compressing files alone!
Tweak 2: Defragmentation
When you use your files a lot, they become defragmented, or separated. When this happens, the computer takes an extra second or two to find the other fragment of the file and piece the two together. When the files get even further defragged, though, the computer will take unnecessary amounts of time simply to open a file. To “piece” the files back together, follow these steps:
My Computer > Right-Click Local Disk > Properties > Tools > Defragment Now
This may take several minutes or several hours depending on the state of your hard drive. As it defrags, leave your computer alone, for if you change anything, it will reset and start all over, which isn't very fun.
Tweak 3: Disconnecting Network Drives
If you have multiple computers, most likely you have them networked together. This allows for quick access of files from any computer on any computer and is quite a good thing to have. When you are no longer using those networks, though, Windows still checks for the network connection when opening or closing a file. This can significantly lower available processing power and also slow down the overall speed of your computer. To fix this, do this:
My Computer > Tools > Disconnect Network Drives
Simply disconnect any networks that you don't need anymore or don't recognize. When I did this, it significantly boosted my computer speed.
Tweak 4: Crap Cleaning
If you're like everyone else, you most likely have a lot of things in your computer that it just doesn't need anymore. File fragments that can be thrown away, unused files and folders, and other things. This handy program helped me to clean off loads of space on my computer and free up valuable hard disk. Simply google and download: CCleaner. It is a 100% free program that simply cleans up all the unnecessary files that Windows stores and gets rid of them. Also, in the toolbar of the program, is a Registry Cleaner that cleans up your registry, making your computer a lot faster at processing requests and the like.
Tweak 5: Add/Remove Programs
Chances are, you still have programs on your computer that you no longer need. Simply go to Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs to see which programs you have on your computer. You can then select to delete/uninstall ones that you no longer need. I found quite a few big programs that I don't use anymore that freed up even more Hard Disk space on my computer, allowing it to process faster.
Tweak 6: Startup Programs
When you turn on your computer, it starts up numerous programs to help your computer run. Some of these programs are necessary to make your computer function properly, while others might just be annoying or unnecessary. Click on the Start Menu, select Run, and type in “msconfig” This will take you to the System Configuration Utility. Select the Startup tab and then deselect any KNOWN programs that you don't want. For information on all other startups and their descriptions, as well as if they are needed or not, go to Sysinfo.org.
That will tell you all of the processes and all the information about them. This will significantly boost your startup time.
Tweak 7: Defragging Paging File
In Tweak 2 you learned how to defragment your hard drive. In order to do that, you used your Paging File to defrag it. In order to defrag your paging file, though, you will need this free, safe program. (I use it myself):Page Defrag.
All the information of how to use the program is available on that site and will help your computer run better and faster.
Hopefully all these tweaks have not wrecked your computer and that it is now running safe and smooth after a reboot. There are many other tweaks out there if you look for them, but each has their own risks. These 7 tweaks are the main 7 that will help your computer out the most and are also perfectly safe and harmless to your computer. Thank you for letting me share a bit of my computer knowledge with you and let other know about this page so that they, too, can experience a faster, better computer.
