So, that blazingly fast computer you bought a while back just doesn’t seem to have the horsepower it used to have. You turn it on in the morning, head off to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, and drink it, before the desktop even appears! You time internet downloads with an hour glass. Before you send that PC to the glue factory there just may be a number of things you can do to make that old nag run like a thoroughbred once again!

A caveat first, the suggestions here are limited to PCs running different versions of the Windows operating system. While some of these ideas may apply to another OS like Linux, this hub is intended to help Windows users. So, with that in mind, here are 5 things you can do to make your PC run like a racehorse again.

Get More RAM

The single most important thing you can do to increase the performance of your computer is add more RAM. RAM is an acronym that stands for Random Access Memory. RAM is where the applications you use and the associated data are loaded when you use them. Your computer has a finite amount of RAM and running large or multiple applications can use it up very quickly. Once it is used up, your computer has to start swapping memory images to and from the hard disk to simulate more RAM.

Most systems today come configured with the minimum amount of recommended RAM. Why not add real RAM to help alleviate this problem? Simply going from 512 MB (megabytes) to 2 GB (gigabytes) of RAM may resolve your computer speed problems entirely. Most types of RAM are readily available, easy to install and much less expensive that buying a faster computer! Just be sure to buy the correct type and amount of RAM for your PC. See your computers motherboard manual for information on compatible RAM types.

To find out how much RAM your system has Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information. The total amount of system RAM will be listed in the right panel in the ‘Total Physical Memory’ item.

Free Up Disk Space

A limited amount of available disk space can degrade your systems performance. By freeing up disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool available with MS Windows will allow you to free up space on your hard disk. It helps you identify files that can be safely deleted, and then you can choose which to delete or not.

Disk Cleanup will help to:

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files (i.e. Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

To Start Disk Cleanup

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
2. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

Once you have selected the desired drive, Disk Cleanup will calculate how much space it will be able to free up.

3. In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.

3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.

4. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes.

Defragment Your Hard Drive

When files are stored on your hard drive, they are not necessarily stored in one continuous space on the hard drive. The system will attempt to reuse hard drive space by breaking up files into smaller pieces and storing them in reused on the hard drive. Then, when called upon, the system will reassemble the smaller pieces into the complete file and make it available for use. This reassembly process takes time.

If you system is more than a year old and has never be defragmented, you may have noticed more hard drive chatter as the system retrieves the file portions from the various parts of your hard drive. Disk Defragmenter is another Windows utility that examines your hard drive that consolidates fragmented files on your hard drive and rewrites them to the hard drive in one continuous space wherever possible.

You should think about running a disk defragmentation when:

• You’ve just added a large number of files
• Your free disk space approached 15%
• You install a new version of windows
• You notice increased hard drive chatter when opening larger files

To start Disk Defragmenter:

1. Click Start, click on All Programs, click on Accessories, click on System Tools, and then click on Disk Defragmenter.

Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.

2. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, highlight the drives that you want to defragment. Then click the Analyze button. The utility will analyze the selected drives and let you know if you should defragment the drives or not. You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.2.To proceed with defragmentation, click the Defragment button. Note: There isn’t a graphical interface in Windows Vista to display the defrag progress. However, your hard drive is still being defragmented.

3. To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.

4. To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.

5. To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

Protect Your System from Malware: Spyware, and Viruses

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate and damage your computer without your knowledge or consent. It is generally considered to include computer viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, some adware and other malicious or unwanted software.

Spyware is software illicitly installed on your computer usually when you are surfing the internet. Spyware collects personal information without your knowledge or permission and reports it back to its creator. Logon credentials (usernames and passwords) and financial information such as account numbers all are fair game.

Viruses, trojans and their ilk can be used to do anything from create a backdoor (allow illegal access) to your computer, to destroying data and even disabling your system. Keystroke loggers, botnets and dialers all fall into the malware category. Some malware can be extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to remove. Sometimes it is ultimately easier to start over by wiping the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system.

Thus, it behooves you to take proper care in protecting your system from malware. You should make use of Windows Defender if your version of Windows has it. Third party software, such and Zone Alarm, Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy can be installed to help protect your computer.

Eliminate Unnecessary Background Programs

The Windows operating system is notorious for not managing its resources well. There are a number of hidden services and functions that are loaded into RAM and run each time you boot up your computer. Many of these are completely unneeded but take up valuable system resource nonetheless.

Some unneeded Windows services that you can turn off:

• Automatic Updates Service - Automatically, installs periodic updates to your Windows OS. Personally, I think it is better to control which updates are installed on my system. Turn this off.

• Messenger service - If you computer is not on a network, then you won’t be receiving alerts. You can safely disable this service.

• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service - If you're still running WINS and NetBIOS on your network, you'll still need this. If you run only TCP/IP, you can probably disable this service.

• Upload Manager Service - This service lets your system send Microsoft information that's used to search for drivers for your system. I prefer to explicitly manage the drivers I use, so I disable the Upload Manager service.

• Task Scheduler service - The Task Scheduler lets your computer run programs and scripts on a predetermined schedule. Some third-party software may use this service, so be careful. You can see if anything is using this service by opening the Scheduled Tasks folder in Control Panel. If it is empty, you can disable the Task Scheduler.

• Error Reporting service - Remember those annoying messages you get when an application encounters an unexpected error and Windows wants to know if you want to send an error report to Microsoft, this is what does that. As Microsoft almost never responds to these error reports, you are safe turning this one off.

• Remote Registry service - If you are not on a networked computer, you can turn this off without problems.

• Server service - If you are not on a networked computer, you can turn this off without problems.

• Computer Browser service - Again, if you are not on a networked computer, you can turn this off without problems. Besides most network clients don’t have need to run this service anyway.

Be aware that there are risks in turning off important Windows services. If you are unsure if a service is needed or not, leave it alone. Managing Windows services this way is a trial and error process so keep copious notes about your actions so that you will know which services to restart should you encounter problems. It’s an excellent idea to create a system restore point before changing these values. To change these settings you will need to access the Service manager.

1. Click Start, click on Settings, click onControl Panel, click onAdministrative Tools, and then click on Services.

2. To change the startup type of a service between Automatic, Manual and Disabled, double click on the required service and select the desired option from the listbox titled ‘Startup Type’ in the General tab.

In Closing

If you make some or all of these changes to your computer, you will most surely see a noticeable improvement in your systems performance. Please exercise caution, especially when disabling Windows Services, as undesirable consequences may result. As mentioned earlier, please create a System Restore point before trying any of these tips. It is also a good idea to back up your data prior to running the Disk Defragmenter.

Some System Performance Tools You May Find Useful: