5 Ways to Optimize Your PC

By: Keith Park



Check for viruses

Viruses are the most common problem when a PC's performance
begins to slow down. If there is one piece of software that you
must have on your PC, make sure it is Virus Scanning software.
There are many paid and free versions of software, I recommend
AVG Free Edition from Grisoft www.grisoft.com

As the title states, it is a free version and I have found it to
be just as good as any paid version I have used. It can be set
to update automatically, scan your hard drive at specific times
and scan your emails as they come in.

Do a complete scan of your PC once you install the software and
then set it up to scan incoming emails as well as do a complete
scan monthly, just to be safe. Set it to run in the middle of
the night or during the day while you are at work when you don't
use your PC.

Check for spyware

Spyware is becoming just as prevalent as viruses when it comes
to infecting your PC. There are over 38,000 spyware and adware
programs infecting PC's around the world. Chances are that if
you have been on the Internet, you have been infected with some
form of spyware.

For those that don't know, spyware is a program that collects
information from your PC without your knowledge. It is usually
installed without the user knowing but often it is installed
with the users consent whether they know it or not. How many of
us read the End User License Agreement (EULA) when we install
software?

Not many! I know I don't.

Hidden in the pages and pages of these EULA's are statements
that you agree to share information on various things including
your surfing habits, purchases you've made and even to install
extra software to track other things or to store files for their
network they have created. In their eyes this makes it all legal
because they have told you about it, again who reads the
EULA?

Spyware is not only bad because of what it tracks, it also
brings along with it unwanted trojans, worms and viruses. All
these combined running on a PC can bring it to a grinding halt.
There are spyware removal tools and software, most of them free,
Spybot, Ad-Aware SE Personal, Hijack This.

These are just a few, there are many more, too many to count. I
personally like Ad-Aware SE Personal, it is free and has been
able to remove most of the spyware I have come across. Download
it free at www.lavasoftusa.com

Update the definition files and run a scan on your PC, chances
are you are infected. Check out Lavasoft's website for more info
on how to use this software.

Remove unnecessary programs from your computer

Software that you are no longer using not only takes up space on
your hard drive, it also can run at startup using system
resources that could be used for other things. Go into your
Control Panel (Start --> Settings --> Control Panel) and
double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Go through the list of
programs and remove any that you don't use.

Run scan disk on your hard drive

Running a scan disk on your hard drive will detect and attempt
to fix any problems with files or the hard drive itself. File
errors or bad sectors on your hard drive can cause PC slowness
or random computer crashes. If bad sectors are found on your
hard drive it is highly recommended to back up your data and it
may be time to look into buying a new hard drive.

Double-click My Computer on your desktop, right-click your C:
drive (or whatever drive needs scanning), select Properties and
then click on the Tools tab. Click on the check now button to
begin scanning.

Run a defrag on your hard drive

Defragging is done to increase disk speed access and retrieval
of files. As files are updated or deleted they are stored on the
largest continuous space on the hard disk, often in a different
section of the hard drive from where the other parts of the file
are stored. When files are fragmented like this, a computer must
search the entire hard disk each time the file is opened to
locate all of its parts, which slows down response time
considerably. It is recommended to run a disk defragmentation on
a regular basis, approximately every 2-3 months.

Double-click My Computer on your desktop, right-click your C:
drive (or whatever drive needs defragmentation), select
Properties and then click on the Tools tab. Click on the
defragment now button to begin the process.

About the author:
Keith Park has been in the IT industry for the last 7 years and
is the author of the website TechCorner PC Resource Zone. Go there for
more articles and resources.

Additional resources @ http://mgrcentral.com/computers/default.aspx?stud
entid=1575219