Tips to Speed up Windows 7

Windows 7 is Microsoft’s most advanced operating system to date. Yet, it continues to experience some of the same issues as with the windows operating systems of the past. One in particular is that it can get slow. Slowness in windows 7, windows 7 internet slowness, as well as over all performance is impacted by a number of different things.

The first thing you need to make sure is that your computer meets the minimum specifications to run the operating system.

1. 1 GHz or faster processor

2. 2 GB Ram

3. 20 gigs of Hard Drive Space

4. Direct X 9 compatible graphics card or later

These are obviously the minimum specifications for just installing the windows operating system on your computer. The more you are above and beyond these specifications will help windows run that much better and prevent you from experiencing slowness.

Causes of windows 7 slowness

1. Virus/spyware- The biggest culprit of causing windows 7 operating systems to run slowly is the presence of a viruses or spyware on the machine. It is a surprising amount of people that do not have proper protection against these types of infections. There are a lot of antiviruses out there that are free that do an exceptionally decent job of scanning and removing viruses. AVG has an extensive antivirus that is free to download and use so if you think you are infected scan your computer with an up to date antivirus program.

2. Loading Programs – When programs install on your computer a lot of the time they are designed to start when your computer is starting up. This is good for some programs, but others do not need the same level of access. So to turn off excess background programs go to

A. Start > Run

B. Type “Msconfig”

C. Click Startup Tab

D. Uncheck any unneeded startup programs

Always double check the programs you are un-checking to prevent them from starting up. If, you are unsure which programs you want to prevent or identifying them search on Google for the name of the program

3. Performance – In windows 7, Microsoft decided to make it immensely eye appealing to individuals. This is an outstanding feature, but it does cause windows 7 to use much more of the resources available. This can cause windows 7 to run extremely slow if you are putting this on an older machine or a new one with not a lot of specifications. So, turning off some of the remarkable effects can help increase performance and prevent windows 7 slowness.

1. Start > Control Panel

2. Choose System

3. Choose advanced system settings.

4. Choose Advanced TAB

5. Choose settings under Performance

6. Choose custom Radio option

7. Uncheck everything the last four and anything that has (slide, fade, or shadow) in the name.

This allows windows 7 to still look appealing but gets rid of some of the extra “baggage” that Microsoft puts into it.

4. Maintenance – Regular maintenance of your machine is critical to keep it working properly. So, there are a number of tools that windows have built in to help you keep your machine running at peak performance.

a. Defragment- Overtime the machine will start to fragment files on the hard drive

b. Disk Cleanup- Overtime the machine will get invalid folders, cache full and temporary folders. Cleaning this out on a regular basis will significantly improve how windows 7 slowness is removed.

These are all things that you can do for free, and it just takes a little time, and research to find them. So, help your computer start running today that much faster by cleaning out some of the garbage above.