How To Make Your PC And Laptop Run Faster

If you are a frequent PC/Laptop user like myself, you know your computer’s performance has declined over time. It’s inevitable.

As I began to get more involved in blogging applications, coding, and social media, it was essential that my computer run at peak performance. These are some of the steps I took.

Tips To Make Your PC (Computer) And/Or Laptop Run Faster

1) Use Of An External Drive (For Movies, Videos, Games, Images, Music)

You probably have on to move files back and forth between your PC and laptop at home and at work, but you should own at least three.

I use one for work (please note that most companies do not allow employees to store and transport sensitive information outside of your immediate work area.), one for photos, and one for scanned duplicates of important documents, resumés and references.

If you prefer to use an online service to store your photos and images, I use SnapFish.

I listen to more music on my PC than anywhere else. It just makes sense to keep these files from tying up needed storage space.

2) Select One Browser

Windows Explorer used to be the only game in town until  Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari came along. You would be surprised how many people have multiple browsers – and are using them at the same time.

Now I only have Mozilla Firefox. Yes, I even removed Internet Explorer!

Now you might be wondering how do I update Windows without Internet Explorer, right? Here’s how I do it, and you can too: To update Windows from within Firefox, just download the IE Tab add-on. Using that plugin, you can access IE only sites like Windows Update with ease.

3) Remove Unnecessary Programs or Fragments of Deleted or Unused Programs From Previous Applications

Click on the Start menu then Control Panel. Switch to Classic View if you are in Category view, and double-click Add or Remove Programs. Look for programs that you don’t use anymore, click to select them and then click the Remove button to uninstall them.

When your PC starts, Windows loads lots of programs including some you may not be aware are running. Often, these are necessary so that Windows and security software such as anti-virus and firewall can function properly. Sometimes, however, programs that are not necessary can be running in the background using up memory.

Hold the CTRL and ALT keys down and then press the DELETE key once. This brings up the Windows Task manger window which allows you to see at a glance all the programs currently running on your PC. The Applications tab will list programs such as Internet Explorer, Word and any folders you have open. Click to select a particular program and then click the End Task button to stop it.

Another way to stop a program running is if it has an icon on the Taskbar. Usually you can right-click the icon and select to Quit, Disable or Shutdown.

These methods will stop the program running for now, but it will probably start up again when you restart your PC. To prevent it from running completely, you may need to remove it from the list of programs Windows is instructed to run on startup.

To do this, click on your Start menu and then on Programs. From your Programs List, hold your mouse over Startup to see the programs currently set to start when Windows does. Right-click any of the programs and click Delete to remove them from startup.

However, not all startup programs are shown in the Startup folder. To see the others, click Start menu then Run and type ‘msconfig’ then click OK. This brings up the System Configuration Utility window. Click the Startup tab then un-check the boxes next to any programs that you don’t wish to run automatically when Windows starts.

4) Disable Unnecessary Processes

The Applications tab in Windows Task Manager only shows the main programs that are running. However, this is not everything: there are also various Processes that run too. Click on the Processes tab to see them.

Many of the processes listed in Task Manager will be legitimate tools required for Windows and other programs to run properly. But you may also find some here that you don’t need (and sometimes you may find a process belonging to a harmful virus or spyware program).

The information given here shows you the name of the process and also how much processor (CPU) time it is using up as a percentage of the total available. You can also see the amount of memory the program consumes.

You can right-click on any process and choose End process to stop it running temporarily, but it will most likely start up again when you restart your PC. You should be very careful when ending a process that you do not stop a process that is required by Windows.

You can identify what a process is for by using the Web. Type the name of the process, such as “svchost.exe” into a search engine and see what people have to say about it. If they say it is not required it should be OK to stop it. They may also give instructions on how to remove it permanently so it does not reappear in future.

5) Virus and Malware Protection – What’s the Difference?

A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term “virus” is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware  programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

If you are not ready to purchase software from the likes of a McAfee or Norton, you can download AVG for anti-virus protection and Malwarebytes for malware protection. Both offer a free user interface.

6) Purchase a New Computer

This seemed like the most logical alternative. I found an HP Desktop on sale for $750 and I tell you, it has been worth every penny. Your PC or laptop is dated and not capable of meeting today’s demands for performance.

Other Solutions

A) Run a defragmenter application regularly. Data in a hard disk is not necessarily stored in a contiguous manner. This means that when your hard disks read data, it has to jump from platter to platter, sector to sector just to get a file in its entirety.

If your data is located contiguously, then this problem could be avoided, saving your hard disk valuable read time. And as a result of this effort, your computer could experience faster disk reads and an improvement in computer speeds from 30% up to 100%.

B) You would be shocked at the amount of dirt and dust all within the internal casing of your computer on your computer’s sensitive parts, especially the parts used for cooling, such as fan. Take your computer to a computer service professional and have it cleaned.

While you are there, don’t be surprised if he/she asks you where you use your computer, what the room temperature is, and whether is a dry or damp environment. All factors play a part in your computer’s performance.