Make A Computer Run Faster - With Software

Let's face it if you use the internet as much as I do your computer may not be as resourceful as it once was. This usually doesn't happen overnight but can easily accumulate over months and years however many computer users who use their systems for daily tasks don't even realize this is happening.

Then you have power users such as myself or those who are [in the know] notice when even the slightest degradation occurs in their systems. People like my brother could tell you his standard operating temperature of his CPU and at what RPM's his 6 different fans are running but that's an article for another time.

There are several factors that can cause computer crud ranging from internet cache, registry corruption, temporary files, memory dumps, windows error report logs, installation or removal of programs and so fourth. There are also other factors to consider such as viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and other malicious programs. You will often find the latter more prevalent in Window operating machines but that doesn't exclude the other operating systems from still being vulnerable.

Now you may be asking yourself "What if I'm not technology friendly?" Well that's an easy area as most of the programs I use to repair computers are not only friendly but almost fool proof. Many have easy navigational menus (or GUI's) that allow almost anyone to use them without causing any system harm. So if you suspect your computer may be running a bit slow or just feel like doing a little computer house cleaning to help free up some space and possible improve response time then keep on reading.

Since many of the computers I seem to work on are Windows based operating machines much if not all the software I'll be discussing will be Windows oriented.

So how do I normally approach cleaning a windows operating machine? Well the first thing I do is scan the machine for viruses or malware and any other malicious software. Typically in that order and almost 9 out of 10 times I come across one of the above. However I will discuss dealing with viruses and worms in another article.

Now I start looking at the common causes or the slow down factors as I like to call them. One area I always check is the System Configuration start up tab. You can access this by going to Start>Run> and typing msconfig. This will bring up the System configuration menu. Then click the "Start Up" tab on the top. This will list all the programs that automatically enable themselves at start up. Some of these items should be left alone while other ones can be disabled to increase your load time into windows. If you are uncomfortable or not sure about which one is safe to disable I'd suggest leaving it alone. However should you want to disable a program you can select the check box to the left of it to uncheck it, then click apply and close the system configuration. You will probably be prompted with a dialog box asking if you want to "restart" or "exit without restarting." That option is entirely up to you and should do no harm either way.

My next step involves checking for malicious programs that can cause harm such as spying on your activities or logging your passwords as well as programs that allow unauthorized access. A program that I have used most often is Malware Bytes Anti-Malware scanner which is FREE without annoying popup's or nagging reminders. Once I have my scanner loaded I click the radio button to perform a full scan and allow it to work. Often if you are just doing routine maintenance doing a quick scan is fine.

So at this point I have determined the system is now free from malicious programs. So now to check the system for the rest of the collected crud. For quite a while I was doing this by hand until I came across another FREE program called CCleaner. I use this program on EVERY client computer I work on once before I start and just before I give the computer back to the client. CCleaner allows you to check and specify the areas that commonly collecte useless data or files and easily allows you to remove them with a click of the button. Under the cleaner menu which looks like a broom on the top left it lists several options to check or uncheck. The program comes with standard checked settings and if you're not sure you can even click analyze to see how much space is being wasted with the collected crud. After the analysis is complete continue by clicking "Run Cleaner" and allow the program to do what it was designed to do. Depending on how much time I have I usually always check all the boxes when I run it on a clients computer and have never ran into an issue all these years but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

So you've ran the cleaner and all that wasted crud is gone and now you have newly freed space that can be properly used. But don't close CCleaner just yet, let's take a look at the Registry shall we, the blue cubes just below the broom. When you install a program or remove a program or make modifications you modify the registry one way or the other. This can easily become cluttered with obsolete files, unused extensions by programs you've long removed and items that are no longer needed. By removing these registry keys you can also often speed up your system to a certain degree because now your computer is not searching through obsolete data and keys. When using CCleaner to clean up your registry allow the default settings to stay the same and click on "Scan for Issues" once the program is done scanning you can now click on "Fix Selected Issues." At this point the program will prompt you to make a backup copy of your registry which is optional. I often don't but others may feel more secure doing so. I have found it best to often scan two or three times just for continuity sake and to pick up any straggling registry keys that may have been missed.

Once that's all said and done I reboot the computer and see how long it takes to load into Windows and also test the response times of the programs. Then I let the client test things out themselves since they know their system better than I do and often the response I get is "Wow, I didn't know it was actually this fast."

I use many other programs for further in-depth testing and repair processes but the two I listed above are staples in my tool kit. Both programs are free to use, almost have no limitations and are not inundated with advertisements or nagging prompts. I am in no way affiliated with either company nor am I a paid endorser I just enjoy using their programs. You can download them at their respective sites listed below:

CCleaner - http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

This is my first article, hopefully you have found it useful or insightful. Please feel free to leave comments as I am always looking for feedback good or bad just be polite. Thanks for reading!

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