As you may realise by now, once a PC gets to year 3 and beyond it gets “tired”.  It becomes slow to start up and generally the time it takes to respond to mouse clicks gets longer.  Obviously you don’t want to have to start thinking about replacing the PC without first attempting to improve its performance.  The following are 7 ways to speed up your PC:

1.   Restart PC / Laptop regularly.

If you leave your PC switched on permanently and don’t shut it down or restart it regularly you may run out of memory and the PC will effectively grind to a snail’s pace.  In the normal operation of a PC, applications are opened and once closed; the memory is made available for other applications.  However, not all the memory is replenished, so after a few days the remaining available memory is reduced and this will affect the performance of the machine.

Recommendation:  Restart PC regularly, at least once a day.

2.   Use Microsoft “Disk Cleanup” feature

The “disk cleanup” feature provided by Microsoft helps you free up space on your hard disk and will help to improve the performance of your PC.  It will remove unwanted temporary Internet files, empty the recycle bin, and remove window’s components not being used and a number of other features that are of no use to you.  It will give you the option to choose what you want to clean up.

Recommendation:        Run the Disk Cleanup tool and review.

3.   Run a system Disk Defragmenter.

Quite literally from the time you start to use your PC the files stored on the disk become fragmented.  Over time this can affect performance as a file can end up spread across the disk.  Microsoft has a system tool available on all versions of their operating system to “defrag” the disk.  This results in all the files being realigned on the disk which improves the speed when opening the files.

Recommendation:  Run “Disk Defragmenter” option at least once a month.

4.   Memory Upgrade.

When you purchase a PC the amount of memory may be adequate for the operating system and applications to run, but after a few years the demands on the PC increase and it may struggle due to insufficient memory.  Providing extra memory will boost the performance of the PC.

Recommendation:        Install additional memory.

NB:     Always disconnect the power before installing memory or any hardware in the PC.  If you are unsure contact our Support Engineers first.

5.   Review your Broadband Service

Depending on your usage it may be worth increasing your broadband package.  IF you are reliant on downloading or uploading through the Internet i.e. downloading large files or uploading when using remote access to your office server it may be worth checking what speed your broadband provider is giving you and if necessary increase the package from your provider.

Recommendation:   Review your Broadband service with your ISP

6.   Remove unwanted applications

Over time PCs become clogged up with applications that may have been downloaded because they were “free”, such as toolbars, weather bugs, smiley faces or screensavers etc.  In some cases these downloads are no longer used and are forgotten about.  What happens is that some of these downloaded programmes automatically run in the background every time you turn on the PC and end up utilising valuable system resources.  If you remove any unwanted applications and restart your PC it will free up some memory which will help the performance of the PC.

Recommendation:   Review unwanted applications

NB:     Always make sure the application is not needed before uninstalling it.

7.   Rebuild PC

When you have exhausted all other avenues it may be worth re-installing the Operating system and applications.  This will have the effect of refreshing the PC as if it was new.  However it is not a simple task as you need to ensure you have a backup of the PC, the necessary CD’s / DVD’s for the operating system and applications and any licenses which will be required when you reinstall.

Recommendation:   As a last resort rebuild the PC

NB:     Ensure you have a current backup, all the CD’s / DVD’s and licenses

 If you are unsure about anything mentioned above please contact our office for clarification or contact a qualified Engineer. 

I wish you a happy and healthy Christmas,

Kind Regards,

John Coffey