10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer - Without Upgrading

By: Jim Shutes

It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it
gets! A lot of people will keep their computer until it gets so
slow that they feel they need a newer, faster model. Some feel
like the reason it is getting slower is because it is getting
older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run
just as fast as the day you brought it home - if you follow
these 10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer.

1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the
temp directory fills up with hundreds of temp files that always
get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs
launch. This slows everything down immensely.

Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don't have any programs
open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you
shouldn't have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do,
delete them.

To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and.

a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete
everything inside the Temp folder.

b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make
sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer.
Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options.
Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden
Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents
and SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete
everything here.

2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty
Temporary Internet Files, go to your Control Panel and
double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete
Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your
Temporary Internet Files.

3. Check your hard disks for problems.

a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer.
Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the
Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you
choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check
for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any
errors it finds.

b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer.
Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools
tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on
Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is
for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware
(physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check
the top one. Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but
let it run.

4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party
utility. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does
cost $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days.
This program does a really good job of fixing software and
physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for
increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak
performance. Download it HERE...
http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if
you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in
Windows XP. It isn't very streamlined for performance, but
rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary
features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a
little faster.

To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click
on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see
a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really
don't need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check
boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can't
live without.

6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop
into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time
calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These are
nice, but really slow down your computer. And even if you don't
use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause
a performance decrease. Turn it off.

a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in
the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option,
uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it
isn't on. Don't choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again
to get out of the menu.

b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up
menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show
Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is
not on. Do not check it.

c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up
menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize
Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no
websites chosen here. If there aren't any, then Active Desktop
is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.

7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses
that can take over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It
is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also
FREE! If you don't have any AntiVirus software on your computer,
get AVG AntiVirus NOW by downloading HERE...
http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and
don't even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If
your computer has been taking you to websites that you don't
want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren't even on the
Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly
lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.

On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different
AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs
are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer
authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very
well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that
the other misses, but together, do a very good job.

Get SpyBot HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp.
Download all updates and run the Immunize option a couple of
times.

AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and
manually scan your system with AdAware. Get it HERE...
http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into
your system, even a computer repair technician can't get rid of
the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only
what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe
me, when your computer gets to this point, you don't want to
just put a "band-aid" on it. Just start from scratch with a
clean system. It's the best way to go.

9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE
performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in
the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your
System Tray (located next to the clock). These are tiny programs
that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of
them you need, while most you don't. Some of the programs you
DON'T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to
programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging
Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren't always
running, doesn't mean that you still can't print, burn CDs or
Instant Message. They can all be run from a shortcut.

You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary
Start Up items.

a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type
msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything
that is running in the background, some of which show up in the
System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some
items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me),
Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me),
LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs
(such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such
as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant
Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something
doesn't work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned
back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change
here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in
the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster,
that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your
system is much more "snappy" and quick to respond.

b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn't supplied. You actually have
to download and run an MSCONFIG utility. Download the MSCONFIG
utility HERE...
http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html.

After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the
configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in
the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that
there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.

10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment
a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do
the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite
a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before
deframenting your drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating
system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive
and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the
bottom button, to Defragment Now.

Good luck. I hope this article has helped you. If you live in
the Lapeer County, MI area, and would like a Professional
professionally TuneUp your computer(s) in your home or business,
please contact Lapeer Tech Group at (810) 793-1093, or visit our
website at www.LapeerTechGroup.com

About the author:
I have worked in the IT field since 1989 and hold several
Microsoft certifications. I am a network administrator and owner
and operator of Lapeer Tech Group, located in Columbiaville,
Michigan (just outside of Lapeer). During these years, I have
supported both Macs and PCs, am an accomplished graphic and web
designer, and have had the opportunity to support 2nd and 3rd
level enterprise networks for GM, EDS, Delphi and Delco.