PHComputer Maintenance Tips: #6 Tweak Your Startup Programs
I bet this is a familiar scenario for you...
Windows appears to have booted up. After all, you can see your desktop wallpaper and the icons. But you can't actually use your PC for another few minutes! If you try to open a program, nothing happens, and the computer seems to slow down even more!
The reason this happens is because, after Windows has booted up, it is automatically instructed to open a host of other programs. So it won't respond very quickly to you trying to open a program, because it's already busy opening other things.
This happens because software writers often wrongly assume you will want their software to open each time you switch on your PC. Each time you install a program, there's a chance that that program will open itself invisibly in the background when your PC boots up. This makes it start much slower and run slower!
To stop this madness, open C Cleaner and click:
Examine the list and either:
Don't be scared to make changes. Provided you disable items - as opposed to deleting them - you can always re-enable entries.
Computer Maintenance Tips: #7 Disable Windows Indexing
Windows likes to rummage through your hard disk, making lists of what files are on it. The reason it does this, is so that it can provide you quick search results. In other words, if you click Start > Search and look for something, Windows can find it for you very quickly.
That may sound useful. But how often do you actually search for anything in this way?
I recommend that you disable Windows indexing service. This means that your PC runs faster because it no longer devotes time to recording what's on your hard disk. The tiny downside is, if you search for something, that something will take a bit longer to find.
To disable indexing:
Computer Maintenance Tips: #8 Defrag Your Hard Disks
Defragging your hard disk will speed up your PC. To defrag your computer you can either use the built-in Windows tool or use a free defrag tool. My advice is to use Defraggler.
To defrag your computer using Defraggler, open it up and simply click the "Defrag" button.
To find out what defragging is - and to discover the best defrag software - follow this link: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
Computer Maintenance Tips: #9 Organise Personal Files & Folders
If you've followed all of the previous steps, your computer should now be leaner, cleaner and faster. So now is a good opportunity to organise your personal files.
Delete old files that are no longer needed. And organise important files into folders.
Your desktop may also need some organising. Fortunately, if you have a messy desktop, there is a brilliant free program that can help organise it for you. Check out You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
A Windows 7 desktop without Fences installed:
A Windows 7 desktop with Fences installed:
Computer Maintenance Tips: Prevent Future Problems
In most cases, computers become slow and error prone as a result of bad software being installed and/or dangerous files being downloaded from file sharing programs and sites.
One affective method of staying safe is to create two Windows user accounts. One is an administrator account. The other should be set up with limited or standard permissions. The limited account should be the one that is used day-in day-out.
The limited account's benefits include: 1) Software cannot be installed and 2) Dangerous system changes will not be permitted. These are particularly useful restrictions if children use your computer.
If you - as the computer owner - ever want to install a program, simply right-click the installer file and select "Run as administrator...". Enter the administrator's account password and the program will install.
Computer Maintenance Tips: Further Tips to Stay Safe
I bet this is a familiar scenario for you...
The reason this happens is because, after Windows has booted up, it is automatically instructed to open a host of other programs. So it won't respond very quickly to you trying to open a program, because it's already busy opening other things.
This happens because software writers often wrongly assume you will want their software to open each time you switch on your PC. Each time you install a program, there's a chance that that program will open itself invisibly in the background when your PC boots up. This makes it start much slower and run slower!
To stop this madness, open C Cleaner and click:
- Tools
- Startup
Examine the list and either:
- Disable programs that you don't want opened when Windows starts, or:
- Disable everything and - over time - re-enable anything that you decide should start with Windows.
Don't be scared to make changes. Provided you disable items - as opposed to deleting them - you can always re-enable entries.
Computer Maintenance Tips: #7 Disable Windows Indexing
Windows likes to rummage through your hard disk, making lists of what files are on it. The reason it does this, is so that it can provide you quick search results. In other words, if you click Start > Search and look for something, Windows can find it for you very quickly.
That may sound useful. But how often do you actually search for anything in this way?
I recommend that you disable Windows indexing service. This means that your PC runs faster because it no longer devotes time to recording what's on your hard disk. The tiny downside is, if you search for something, that something will take a bit longer to find.
To disable indexing:
- Hold the Windows keyboard key and press "R"
- Type "services.msc" (without quotes) and click OK
- Windows XP users must find and double-click "Indexing Service"
- Windows Vista and Windows 7 users must find and double-click "Windows Search"
- Look for the "Startup type" drop-down and select "Disabled"
- Click OK and restart your PC
Computer Maintenance Tips: #8 Defrag Your Hard Disks
Defragging your hard disk will speed up your PC. To defrag your computer you can either use the built-in Windows tool or use a free defrag tool. My advice is to use Defraggler.
To defrag your computer using Defraggler, open it up and simply click the "Defrag" button.
To find out what defragging is - and to discover the best defrag software - follow this link: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
Computer Maintenance Tips: #9 Organise Personal Files & Folders
If you've followed all of the previous steps, your computer should now be leaner, cleaner and faster. So now is a good opportunity to organise your personal files.
Delete old files that are no longer needed. And organise important files into folders.
Your desktop may also need some organising. Fortunately, if you have a messy desktop, there is a brilliant free program that can help organise it for you. Check out You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
A Windows 7 desktop without Fences installed:
A Windows 7 desktop with Fences installed:
Computer Maintenance Tips: Prevent Future Problems
In most cases, computers become slow and error prone as a result of bad software being installed and/or dangerous files being downloaded from file sharing programs and sites.
One affective method of staying safe is to create two Windows user accounts. One is an administrator account. The other should be set up with limited or standard permissions. The limited account should be the one that is used day-in day-out.
The limited account's benefits include: 1) Software cannot be installed and 2) Dangerous system changes will not be permitted. These are particularly useful restrictions if children use your computer.
If you - as the computer owner - ever want to install a program, simply right-click the installer file and select "Run as administrator...". Enter the administrator's account password and the program will install.
Computer Maintenance Tips: Further Tips to Stay Safe
- Never use file-sharing services, such as Limewire
- Do not install web browser toolbars
- Stay safe by using programs supported by You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.
- If your PC is truly exhausted, the best way to fix it is to format the hard disk and reinstall Windows from scratch. It's actually quite an easy process. Learn You do not have permission to view the full content of this post.
Log in or register now. by following the link.
- If your computer's hardware is very old, it may be struggling to run Windows properly. When Windows XP was released, computers with 512mb of RAM - or even less - could run WinXP perfectly.
But after 10+ years of Windows XP updates being released, those same computers are simply no longer quick enough to run the system properly. In these cases, you should think about adding more RAM, or You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
- Part of good computer maintenance is creating regular backups. One of the best things about making computer backups is that, if your PC becomes slow, you can easily restore your PC back to a time when it was working great. Learn about backing up and restoring data here: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post.
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