A slow computer is real pain to use. We all want our computers to be faster and open applications in a snap. There are many ways to make computers faster. For example, adding more memory to the computer makes it run much faster. Given the cost of memory sticks these days, the is definitely a good option.
Computers can also be made faster by using a tweaking software such as CCleaner or System Mechanic. There are many ways to make your computer faster.
Make Windows Explorer Faster:
Windows Explorer automatically searches for shared folders, devices and network every time it is launched. This causes it to slow down. By disabling this option, Windows Explorer can be made much faster. Here are instructions for disabling this feature:
1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Then click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab
5. Find Automatically search for network folders and printers check box and uncheck it
6. Click Apply, then OK
7. Reboot
Optimize Appearance Settings:
Visual effects consume memory and CPU cycles. So by turning off those visual effects, you can make your computer run much faster. Windows Vista comes with a lot of eye candy and is worse than Windows Xp.
Here are instructions to configure visual settings in Windows Xp for maximum performance:
1. Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel
2. In the Control Panel click System and go to Advanced tab
3. In the Performance Options window select Adjust for best performance
4. Click OK and close the window
This will turn off all the visual effects and make Windows Xp much faster. You can balance performance and visual appeal by leaving the following options ticked:
* Show shadows under menus
* Show shadows under mouse pointer
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons
Uninstall Unwanted Device Drivers:
Unwanted device drivers consume memory and CPU cycle and do not serve any purpose. After the device has been uninstalled, each time the system starts the drivers are called and the OS checks if the device is present or not. This makes Windows slow to start. This can be solved by uninstalling unwanted device drivers.
Here are instructions to uninstalled unwanted device drivers from your system:
1. Press the Windows key + the Break key on your keyboard to open the System Properties box
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Click Environmental Variables
4. Under System variables click New
5. In the variable box type devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
6. Type 1 in the variable value text box
7. Click Ok and return to the System Properties box
8. Click Ok again
9. Go to the Device Manager tab
10. Click View – Show hidden devices
Expand all branches and search for washed out icons. These are the drivers which you should remove. To uninstall a driver, right-click on it and select Remove.
Uninstall unwanted software:
Having too many software applications installed on your computer can make it very slow. So you should remove software which you don’t use. To uninstall software Go to Start — Settings — Control Panel –Add/Remove Programs.
In some cases, you may not be able to uninstall some software. The software installer might have become corrupt. In such cases, you can use a software uninstaller. Or you can delete all the files associated with the software application and then remove all the references to the files from the Windows Registry using software such as CCleaner.
Disable Indexing Service:
Windows indexes all the files on the hard disk and creates a list so that you can search for files and folders present on your computer. Though this feature is very useful, it puts a lot of strain on system resources. Turning off indexing can make your computer much faster.
To disable indexing:
* Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel
* Double-click Add/Remove Programs
* Click Add/Remove Windows Components
* Uncheck Indexing Services
* Click Next and then click Finish
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