We all know the more memory, the faster CPU, the better motherboard, and the bigger hard drive you have will definately help boost the performance of any PC.  Now with Vista out and running, the standard ammount of RAM is 2Gigs…but unfortunately, not all of us can afford that.  Some of us even have decent hardware already, yet we tend to deal with and dread the slow performance of our PC’s, but why?

The answer simply because we cannot afford the better hardware.  Well, here are a few tips and tricks that will help you speed up your computer’s performance!

1. Clean it out!  And by this, I mean physically open the computer up and clean it.  All you need is a can of air.  Dust tends to build up very easily and gets caught in the sphagetti of wires inside our computers.  This cause heat to increase, and performance to decrease.  So take a can of air, and blow away as much dust as possible.  If you have a grounding bracelet, CAREFULLY get in with your fingers and get any dust bunnies you may see.  This definately makes a difference.  Be sure to do this monthly or bi-monthly to keep your computer’s perfomance in top shape.
2. Anti-Virus.  No, I’m not going tell you to get new antivirus programs, nor am I telliing to get rid of any antivirus program you may have.  Antivirus programs like McAfee and Norton eat up ALOT of RAM.  Think of RAM as a bunch of guest rooms: Norton is a family of hundreds and they need a place to sleep.  This causes your computer to run slower, applications take longer to open, internet browsers to take forever to launch, etc.  Go into your antivirus’s settings and make sure it is not set to run on start up.  Norton and McAfee are set to scan your whole computer as soon as you boot your computer up, which is probably why it takes forever for your computer to boot up.
3. Less programs on startup.  We all love instant messengers, heck I have about 4 or 5 different ones.  These are the typical programs that help eat up memory on start up.  Be sure to go into your IM’s settings/options and undo any setting that allows them to run on start-up or when you connect to the internet.  Again, the more memory you have available, the better your computer’s performance will be. On windows, you can also keep unneeded programs by clicking on your start menu, click run, and then type “msconfig” (without quotes obviously), click ok, then click the “Startup” tab.  Uncheck any program you don’t need to be running until you pull it up – but be careful not to uncheck anything you don’t know about!  You may accidentally uncheck something that makes your operating system function, and then the only thing you can do is reinstall Windows and lose everything you’ve saved on your computer!  So, be careful in using this method. Another two programs that always gave me trouble was iTunes and the QuickTime Updater.  You can get to the settings of these programs through the programs themselves to keep them from running on startup.
4. NO PEER-2-PEER:  Morpheus, Kazaa, Limewire, etc….No more.  Uninstall them if you have them and then do a good virus scan and spyware scan if you have any virus/spyware removal softwares.  Sure, downloading movies, games, software, and music for free is fun, but doing it this way is also illegal and unsafe for your computer.  Sometimes adware, spyware, and viruses are encrypted into the files you download.  These are harmful to your computer and they can make your computer go extremely slow.  On top of that, the constant downloading and uploading will eat up your RAM.

There you have it, 4 easy ways to help make your computer’s performance that much better.  These are also good practises to take when buying a new PC to keep it functioning like it did the day you bought it.

What do you think?
Did this help you?  Do you have other methods that could help speed up your computer without buying new hardware?  Whatever the case, I want to hear what you have to say.  Send me your thoughts at david@funkytower.com!

Take it easy,
David

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Antivirus, Computers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.