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Five tips for speeding up a slow PC

Files stored on the desktop are loaded into memory at bootup; sometimes this fills up memory before the computer is asked to do anything else! Keep files off the desktop and recommend users take advantage of shortcuts, if needed...this is huge speed-booster!

another thing that is greatly forgotten or not known by the casual user is the Virtual Memory/Page File...
to defragment the area that is in use for that you have to go into system properties, advance tab, perfomance-settings, advanced, virtual memory, change...
once there set choice to no paging file or move the paging file to another partition...
once the current paging file is changed...
then do a defrag of the partition/drive it was on...
thus defragmenting the Virtual Memory/Page File portion of the drive/partition....

If your PC is slow to boot, you also try and boost the number of CPU's and amount of memory used at boot.

Go into MSConfig | Boot tab | Advance Options and ensure if you have a multi-core setup to select max CPU and add check to Max Memory (should default to max memory installed).

I have found that most users have duplicate pictures and videos on their PC. Sometimes in the temporary download folder, or in their personal "Videos" or "Pictures" library. In most of these cases, the fastest way to free up some space was to use a Duplicate File finder software to locate and remove duplicate media files. Doing so requires the customer's input, so it takes a long time.

Thanks Jack for the post. On #1, defragment, I have found it to be useful to run multiple defragmentations, one after the other - usually 2 or 3 followed by a reboot.

Great tips- any suggestions for a Mac?

Often overlooked: Delete Sent Mail then empty Deleted Mail, particulary mail items that contain pictures or videos.

Always make sure ALL Applications are closed before clearing temp folders

Some places I check are:

C:\Windows\Temp folder -
Which doesn't always get emptied, and sometimes will contain files from ages ago which don't need to be there.

C:\Documents and Settings\ UserID \Local Settings\Temp folder -
Another place that may retain unnecessary files and folders which may collect over time and slow system.

C:\Documents and Settings\ UserID \Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Word folder -
C:\Documents and Settings\ UserID \Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook folder -
C:\Documents and Settings\ UserID \Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO folder -
These folders are usually cleared when clearing the cache in Internet Explorer, but you must be sure to specify that OFFLINE CONTENT (or files) be deleted as well.

Clearing the IE cache is probably one of the biggest things that gets neglected by users.

What a crap. I don't have a registry, my disks doesn't need defragmenting, disk errors are automaticely detected and resolved and spyware/malware are very, very rare. The reason is, I 'm running a professionel OS: Linux

I've been using an all-in-1 suite, System Mechanic Pro, since ver 3 & now on ver 10, with few problems. While I don't like spending hours/week on pc maintenance, this suite does many of the maint tasks I don't have the time to handle on the three pc's in our house. The SM Pro version has a built-in anti-virus and firewall also. (SM10 Pro is available at www.iolo.com ). Once in a while they will offer a low price subscription extension, typically 2/3 off original price. Last, the suite is legal for 3 pc's per license.

I found this suite does NOT do it all, so every 3-6 months I use the WiseCleaner registry cleaner and disk cleaner (available at www.wisecleaner.com). Both are free.

Painting it red.
Red goes faster.

The fact that your readers will doubtless read your suggestions, acknowlege they are all sound advice but then doubtless follow them, LINE FOR LINE, is frightening! One should never, ever, EVER try to defragment a hard drive before first verifying that it's both physically and operationally HEALTHY and what purpose could it possibly serve to defragment junk that you're only going to delete later, especially considering that the garbage that typically accumulates on a drive can be highly fragmented? Also, if the free space level of a drive happens to be below 15%, it may not even be possible to run the defragmentation routine at all.

It doesn't happen often but every single one of these procedures has the potential for catastrophic failure. People have even complained that they lost all their documents after running the Windows Disk Cleanup routine. What can you say, except, "Didn't you perform a backup of your files first?"

1) check hard disk - if it is faulty then all else will be in vain

2) delete files before defrag, so you can use gained space

Similarly, remove malware before performing a reg clean. As stated by others, removing some system related files or reg entries (userinit.exe) may render your system inaccessible.

Over heat will also slow the PC

lately, I have "repaired" many laptops AND desktops just by removing dust from the fans/heatsinks. newish processors will react to the heat by throttling power/speed, so it's absolutely not obvious if you are not monitoring cpu speed ..
M

All these 'performance enhancers' will give you a few percent speedup at best. But how many times have you seen users running XP SP3 with 256M of RAM. Even 512M is pushing it these days with all the fixes, Antivirus and Antispyware applications, etc.

Give your users 2G and don't bother with cleaning the registry. C'mon!

TerryS.

Another critical speed tip is to dump bloated anti-virus programs in favor of leaner, meaner ones.

McAfee and certain versions of Norton put a bigger load on system resources than many people realize. I've found that removing these and replacing with AVG speeds things up, especially on budget PCs running slower processors or minimal memory.

Even a more nimble anti-virus software usually benefits from tweaking. Scanning of web pages prior to loading often slows down surfing. When deciding if this feature should be disabled, weigh the benefits of faster Internet performance against increased risks on a case-by-case basis.

I've also found IO Bit's Advanced Windows Care to be a quick, easy fix for PC speed. The free edition is easy enough for a novice to use and (unlike CC Cleaner), I've never had an issue where it damaged the registry by over cleaning it. The upgrade (paid) edition is worth it for more advanced users who want additional performance without spending hours on geek tweaks.

I know most people are not pack rats like I am, but I have gotten systems to move more quickly by dumping in an old hard drive and putting page files etc. on the second drive so the hard drives work less and share the load.

I also notice you forgot to mention Internet Explorer and most people forget it is a real hog. If you are unwilling to get rid of it, trim its wings, by reducing all its caching and saving. You may even get a third party application that automatically dumps all the IE trash when you exit.

Would it be possible to redo this post updated with our most valuable sugegstions. I agree that it is in the wrong order, as I like to cleanup before I defrag etc.

I also agree - was it in this post? - that I should charge my neighbours for assistance, But in the past I have referred them to Dave next door who is retired and has the time. Now that I am nearly retired I am willing to help but on my terms. With the lady up the road whose machine is not running, but sort of crawling, I am creating a list of things to investigate and what order to do them. It looks like this at the moment.
my first five steps would be to:
pre 1. Check the size of the disks and how full they are. Use Task manager to get a feel for memory usage.
1. remove excess programs via the control panel program.
2. Clean up the desktop of folders and excess garbage.
3. run ccleaner
4. using something I found in my investigations,
- rename ntbtlog.txt to .old
- F8 on bootup and enable boot logging in options.
- reboot, then look at new ntbtlog.txt to see what occurs.


What else would you suggest?

Another solution can be used to improve computer's speed and performance, and this is Speed up PC . It is easy-to-use, fixes DLL errors, solves problems in Windows Database and lets you manage Windows Startup items. It can also help clean, optimize and maintain computers using a variety of Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Use Speed up PC and you'll see the difference of the quality you aim for your PC.

My computer was running really slowly for some reason. I saw a commercial on tv for something called PC Health Advisor. I was initially wary because it sounded like a scam, but I used the trial and it really sped things up. It does alot of registry cleanup and cache emptying that I found gave a large speed boost to my computer. I found the program at www.fixmypcfree.com.

It's legit!

If you want a faster computer, then you need to free up some disk space, use an anti-spyware, clean up your registry, and defragment your files. Actually, all of the options given above are helpful in improving a computer???s performance. Computers become slow for certain reasons, but oftentimes, they are just cause by too much unnecessary programs and applications, full recycle bin, faulty registry, and fragmented files. So, if you want to improve your computer, you better take a look at its settings and remove unnecessary stuff.

As we all know, Trojan and spyware could make pc running slowly, If feel pc run slower than before, it is necessary to run Anti-virus software immediately.(http://www.trojanremove.info)

My daughter put me in charge of resolving why her computer was slowing down (2 years old only).

I tried following some of the advise in this thread but it hardly helped the boot time and hard drive.

I installed a slowpc fighter tool from www.spamfighter.com/SLOW-PCfighter and it found a lot of duplicate content and registry errors but only allows me to automatically delete some (wants me to buy to fix everything).

Are these programs ok to automatically remove junk files and stuff like this or should I go after it manually? Would like to keep this computer for 3 more years