Speed Up Your Computer

Tips to Speeding Up Your PC

We all could use a faster computer, or at least most of us think so, but there really is quite a long list of things you can do to speed up the performance of your computer. Certainly buying a new one will speed things up temporarily but if it is in fact your computer using habits that are slowing down your pc and not time some of the below methods will make that computer feel brand new.

MSCONFIG

Risk: Low
Gain: Depends (can be minimal to amazing)

With literally every version of windows (except 2000 and 95) Microsoft includes a tool called MSCONFIG, which can be run by hitting run and then typing its name. Then of course editing the startup tab. This tab indicated all of the things starting up along with your computer and a vast majority of them are not required and only slow you system down in the long run. Below you will find a short video on editing the startup group.

Upgrading RAM

Risk: Low
Gain: On systems with less than 512MB currently large otherwise minimal

If your system currently has less than 512MB of ram and your running XP or newer you could benefit quite a bit from a simple ram upgrade. In most cases you would be surprised how easy it is to do and also how cheap it can be. Typically, Dell and HP ship their computers with the absolute bare minimum in Ram and have done so for many years, so if you own one of these mainstream brands a simple RAM upgrade could really perk up your systems performance.

If you already have 512MB or more, and your not doing anything intense you should have enough. (Unless your trying to run vista them a massive upgrade is needed) Below I have provided both a link to check out some RAM from pretty much the best company out there, and also a video on how to upgrade your systems RAM.




 

Upgrading CPU

Risk: Medium
Gain: Decent

Upgrading your systems processor is a little more difficult than the two previous options but if your looking to bump you speed it can also be a great way to jump maybe 500Mhz or more. It is a little more complicated also because it will involve a little more research. You will first need to find out how fast of a processor your current motherboard will even support. Typically this information is found on the manufacturers site. In order to find out information on your system board you will need to open your computers case (perhaps a good time to clean it?) and look at the board itself for a model number. It will be printed right on the board and will usually look like MV-543P or something.

It is certainly possible you may only be able to jump a 100-200Mhz, and in most cases unless it’s free the Return on Investment just is not there. However if you find you can jump 500Mhz or more I would say go for it. If your system is older check ebay for a used processor you might be surprised how cheap they are, otherwise I would recommend using something like Newegg to order new processors. Below is a video on upgrading your processor its super short but really, so it upgrading your processor. I will also try to give you an example or two on where to find the model numbers and then how to look it up.

Fresh Copy Of Windows

Risk: High
Gain: Typically Great

Ah, the good old fresh copy of Windows. As someone who reloads windows practically weekly I know a little about the benefits that can be gained from doing this even as a home user maybe once a year. After spending many years in the compute repair business and charging hundreds of dollars for windows reloads I understand a little about the potential gains from this. By a fresh copy I mean formatting (deleting all data) your hard drive and reinstalling windows fresh like from the factory. I labeled the risk factor on here as High because well, if you have data you cant lose and fail to back it up, it can cause a lot of problems, also with older operating systems finding the right drivers can be an issue and if you don’t have another computer in the house to just jump onto to download drivers and install you could find yourself in some hot water. The thing is, if you prepare, download all drivers to a CD, make sure you backup all necessary data, and make sure you have the CD for all software you need to reinstall, this can be a great process, and once you have done it once you will see it is a lot easier than you think. I will try to post a video on this soon if you’re interested to see it done, let me know.

-Reloading Windows Video-
To sum things up these are just a few ways to speed things up. Avoid utilities that claim to speed up your computer, there all a scam. Browse the web safe, install only what you need and uninstall programs you do not use. That should help prolong the life of your computer. If it’s started to slow down on you, hopefully this article helps.

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