Have you ever been in the middle working on your computer and suddenly it froze, crashed or came to a slow crawl? And you had to restart, lost your work, lost time and felt so enraged that if you had an ax... WAIT, don’t kill the computer. Here are 6 tips to speed up computer.

1. INCREASE VIRTUAL MEMORY

Virtual memory is the space your computer uses when it's short of RAM (Random Access Memory), which is the memory used when running programs like Office Suites. Resetting the virtual memory usage on your computer, also referred to as pagination, is great way speed up computer. DO NOT exceed the limit given in the properties box of your windows system.

To access and reset the Virtual Memory:

On the Start menu, click My Computer. The My Computer window is displayed.

Click View system information. The Systems Properties dialog box is displayed.

In the Systems Properties dialog box click the Advanced tab.

Under Performance, click Settings. The Performance Options dialog box is displayed.

In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

Find the Virtual memory area. Click Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box is displayed. Here you can change the pagination file to add more memory and speed up computer.

2. STORING FILES ON THE MAIN DRIVE

Do not store lots of data on the main drive, which is where you install your windows operating system. Storing software like games, finance programs and other software on another drive of your computer is another way to speed up a computer peformance and especially with Dell computers.

3. RESETTING START UP MENU

The speed with which your computer boots, especially used cheap laptops, depends on the amount of programs that are set to be started automatically at booting. Removing unnecessary and unwanted programs from the start up process can greatly speed up computers at the start up level.

4. TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE:

Having the system restore option on takes a lot of space from the hard drive. Freeing up a lot of physical memory by turning off system restore can significantly speed up computers.

To access System Restore:

click START

click ACCESSORIES

click SYSTEM TOOLS

click SYSTEM RESTORE

Once there you can edit settings and then turn off the system restore option.

5. CLEANING INTERNET CACHE AND COOKIES:

Temporary Internet files affect browser speed, as well as, computer speed in general. Regularly cleaning the cache and cookies will make your browser and computer perform at a faster speed.

To Clean Internet Cache and Cookies:

click Tools from your browser toolbar

click Internet Options to delete and clear cache and cookies.

This should be done on a regular basis to ensure ongoing improvement of computer performance.

6. DEFRAGMENTING THE DISK

Regularly defragmenting the disk drive will speed up computer. This tool can be accessed from the Start Menu then Accessories then System Tools