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5 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer – The Basics

People don't think about efficiency when the computer is first bought.  It's fast and over time once a fast moving computer turns out to be a slow moving turtle.  Bring the computer back to the way it once was by following some optimization guidelines.  Doing this will increase computer speed, safety and smooth operation. 

IStock_000003452096SmallIt starts with cleaning the computer from viruses.  Viruses, spyware and other threats slow the system down in addition to destroying it.  Even harmless ones like cookies affect computer performance because the risk of confidential information can fall into the wrong hands.  Get anti-virus and anti-spyware tools to scan and rid threats from your dell PC.  There are free and paid options available.  It is important that the computer is protected from outside threats.


Free disk space by using Disk Cleanup.  This tool will get rid of unnecessary files that can be safely deleted without causing a system crash.  The files chosen are the easiest to remove.  It gives users a choice on what files they would like to keep and what they want to delete.  It gets rid of files such as temporary internet files, temporary windows files, recycle bin, downloaded program files, system restore copies and more.  A person can also download free or install paid software that will do all the cleaning for you.  Disk cleanup should be done often. 

Speed up access to data by running disk defragmenter.  Disk defragmentation is when files are scattered everywhere, or fragmented.  The computer has a hard time finding the pieces which will take longer to do.  This response time slows the system down.  The defragmenter gathers these scattered files and places them all in a single section.  In turn the computer runs faster because everything is easier to find.  It should be done as needed.  For example it should be used when installing new programs, adding a ton of files and when the computer is running out of disk space. 

 Run chkdsk yearly or bi-yearly.  Check disk, or chkdsk, is there to check for errors in the hard disk and (if checked) correct them.  Bad sectors in the hard drive makes saving information on the computer difficult. Going to the C drive's properties under error checking is where this is found.  Another way to speed the system up is to attach a blank Dell flash drive at the USB port.  This is called Ready Boost, and it will give the computer extra memory to work with without adding memory manually or professionally. 

There are some other important details a person can do for their computer.  Make sure the computer has the latest updates.  Most computers run slowly because the updates are outdated.  Having the latest updates installed for the operating system, the laptop server and software will make the system run faster.  Uninstall programs from your PC that you rarely use to save space.  Move files that are important but not needed at the moment to storage media.  Using one of the Dell storage solutions will pave the way for computer space.

2 Comments

  1. MicroSourcing
    MicroSourcing April 19, 2012

    Cleaning out your disk space is a good way of preventing system crashes, as well as detecting any possible viruses lurking in your computer. It eliminates files that bog down the computer’s system.

  2. Zoe
    Zoe May 9, 2012

    Good post, added you to my RSS reader

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