How to Fix a Slow Computer for Free
Level of difficulty: Easy
Slowing down of computer performance is a common experience among computer users and this problem can be caused by various possible reasons. Some of the possible causes of the slowing down of the computer’s speed and performance include limited available disk space on the hard disk, corrupted data, overheating computer, bad hardware or some software applications that had been previously installed or uninstalled by the user, and left behind fragments of bad files or confusing software.
Materials Needed:- Computer
Step 1
To remove temporary files, look for the 'temp' directory on the computer and empty all its contents. The directory can be found by clicking on 'Documents and Settings', 'Administrator', 'Local Settings', and then the 'Temp' folder.
Step 2
Look for the temporary Internet files and empty it from its contents. The temporary Internet files can be accessed by clicking on the 'Control Panel' and then double clicking on the Internet options icon. The temporary Internet file and cookies contained in this folder must be removed.
Step 3
Check for any registry and hard disk problems on the computer. For computers using the Windows 2000 and Windows XP Operating Systems, the user may check for hard disk errors as well as repair such discovered problems. To check and repair these hard disk errors, the user should right click the 'C drive' and then click on 'properties' followed by 'tools'. Checking for errors is initiated upon clicking 'Check now'. The user may opt to check either or even both the file and the physical disk by selecting the areas requested to be checked. In advanced cases, the user may use a registry cleaner for analysis of the Windows registry.
Step 4
Optimize the user’s Display settings by deleting needless visual options. This could be done by going to 'Control Panel' then clicking on 'System' and 'Advanced' tab. A performance tab click settings will appear together with a wide range of options to choose from. Tick only the essential settings such as 'Show shadows under menus', 'Show shadows under mouse pointer', 'Show translucent selection rectangle', 'Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop', and 'Use visual styles and buttons'.
Step 5
Disable the computer’s file indexing service to reduce the usage of a large amount of the PC’s RAM. The file indexing can be disabled by double clicking 'My Computer' icon and then right clicking the 'C drive' and 'properties'. Uncheck the option allowing indexing service and apply this modification to the C: subfolders as well as other files. Click on the 'OK' icon to complete the process.
Step 6
Disable the performance monitor utility provided by the Operating System by downloading and installing the Extensible Performance Counter List and then choosing every counter in the 'Extensible performance counters' window. Remove the checkbox labeled as 'performance counters enabled' to deactivate the performance counters.
Step 7
Remove Desktop picture and minimize the number of fonts used.