How to Make Your Computer Run Faster The performance of all Windows computers will degrade over time unless general preventive maintenance is performed regularly. But even the most proactive user cannot make an older machine perform fast in the digital era without making some hardware changes. With that said, what you do on the computer largely dictates what steps need to be taken to improve you computer’s performance.

PCs purchased before the year 2000 may simply not have the capability of upgrading. For instance, a motherboard on an older computer might only have two RAM slots and support only 256 MB of memory. While you can still run XP on this machine, it will only perform simple tasks efficiently. If you decide to upgrade the motherboard, that’s great. But now the CPU no longer fits and the RAM will also need to be replaced. At this point, you might want to consider getting a new PC. If your computer is relatively newer, it’s quite possible to upgrade your RAM without any problems. Sites such as Crucial.com will can scan your PC and let you know the type of memory that can be installed. So why should you upgrade your RAM? Your computer uses RAM to load all active programs. Once the capacity of the RAM has been filled, the computer begins using the slower hard drive’s swap file as RAM. This is a tremendous performance hit. The more memory you have, the faster your PC will run. Your computer is also affected by lack of maintenance. Be sure to defragment your hard drive, run Disk Cleanup and clear your browsers temporary files at least every three months. To access these tools, go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools. Your computer will also load many programs at startup you probably do not need. You can run the Microsoft Configuration utility to prevent these programs from loading into memory. To do so, go to Start>Run and type msconfig and hit OK. Under the Startup tab, uncheck any programs you know do not need to load. Lastly, the most common performance hit comes from viruses and spyware. Make sure you are running an antivirus program like AVG and a spyware program such as Spybot Search and Destroy. We have a listing of several of our favorite programs on our computer software downloads page. Once the above steps are taken, be sure your computer is in an open space where and the fans are clean and working. Heat buildup in a PC will slow the processor and may even cause it to lockup or shutdown. If you have any other questions about how to improve your computer’s performance, please be sure to visit our free computer repair support forums.

1. Tips On Cleaning Your PC
2. Tips To A Healthy Computer
3. Defragging Your Hard Drive
4. Microsoft Update
5. Clean Your Computer
6. Tips to Organize Your Computer
7. Some Good Tips to Follow
8. Online Backup Software