Optimizing Your Computer Speed

When you first buy your computer, it seems quite fast. But with the passage of time and advancement in technology most PC users complain that the performance of these machines keep on deteriorating slowly. There are basically two low cost solutions that can effectively speed up your machine. And the best part about these two methods is that you can do them yourself.

The first method is to add more RAM to your computer. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. Increasing the RAM could increase the speed of your computer. But this is dependant on your system's motherboard. For example, upgrading your computer from 128 megabytes to 256 megabytes or more can substantially increase its performance. The second solution to your problem would be to switch from IDE hard drives to SCSI. One of the reasons for slow functioning of a computer is the communications speed to and from your hard drives. And SCSI can help reduce this problem considerably.

However, if you don't want to spend any more money on your old computer and don't feel the need to upgrade it, then there are some other ways to increasing the speed of your computer at no cost. One method to a faster computer without spending any money would be to clean up your Windows registry.

The registry is a main part of your computer's Operating System. With time, as you use Windows and install and uninstall programs, your registry will get bogged down. This is one of the reasons why your computer could be slow. So, if you can clean it up this problem can be solved. However, cleaning your registry off some software could do it more harm than good. If you're trying to clean up your registry for the first time, you could seriously damage it in the process. So, before you venture out to do this, you need to do some research on the Internet and visit some online forums that can help you out.

Another way to considerably speed up your computer is by disabling unnecessary applications. The Windows software in your computer would have installed many applications, most of them you normally wouldn't need. Sometimes too many active processes can reduce your computer's speed. So, when you disable some of them you increase your computer's speed. Also, disable unnecessary services that are used by Windows Start Up.

And last but not least you could delete your history, temporary files and cookies. Go to Internet explorer and click on Tools Menu and then Internet Options. But, all these solutions come with a cautionary statement: when you delete or disable anything that you're not clear about, it's best to do a little background research or seek the advice of an expert before you do so.