Slow Computer? Top 10 Steps To Speed Up Your Computer

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Slow Computer? Top 10 Steps to Speed Up Your Computer (part 1 of 2)

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Is your Computer Slow? I help people all the time to Speed Up their computer as it’s more and more common these days that most people don’t know how to do basic computer maintenance on their CPU to keep it running smooth and fast.

This step by step tutorial is simple enough for anyone to follow regardless of how computer illiterate they think they may be to help ease your Slow Computer woes and Speed Up your Computer to be as fast as it possibly can be. So, if you’re looking to optimize your computers performance please follow this step-by-step guide and share it freely with others who you think may benefit from this information.

These steps are in a particular order for a good reason, and I’m confident that if you follow them to a T, your Slow Computer will be running much, much better for you. It does take some time, and so don’t do this when need to do something on the computer. Typically, I do my system maintenance late at night when I don’t need the use of my PC or just before starting a movie, or going to bed. Then, I periodically come back to the computer and take the next steps. So, let’s get started shall we?

Step 1: Thorough Anti-Virus Scan of Your Computer

We need to get rid of any possible bugs or viruses your computer may have. Make sure your virus definitions are up to date (typically your anti-virus software will do that automatically when you boot your CPU, however you can always just click the “Update” button within the software’s user interface) THEN, do a FULL SYSTEM SCAN. We start here to make sure to get rid of any bugs or viruses that may be causing your Computer to malfunction or slow down. My preferred Anti-Virus Program is ESET NOD32, however it is a bit pricey, and you can get a GREAT Anti-Virus (AVG) for FREE at http://free.avg.com (I would even go so far to say it’s superior to McAffee and Norton which you have to pay for).

Step 2: Remove Harmful & Dangerous Adware & Spyware

Now, we need to get rid of any adware or spyware that’s made its way on to your CPU commonly referred to as “malware” because – it’s bad. It will not only slow your Computer down by running in the background unbeknownst to you, it can potentially seriously compromise your personal information and security. Malware can record keystrokes, and a number of other things in an effort to steal your credit card information, user names, passwords, social security numbers and more.

How did it get there? Believe it or not, it got there by simply surfing the internet.

Let’s remedy the situation shall we? Download Spybot Search & Destroy: this is the direct link I point to in the video to download this great free malware removal software: http://projects.securitywonks.net/projects/details.php?file=2

Install it, run it, the first time you run it will have a “wizard” guide you through the setup. It will ask you to create a registry back up, do this (just in case). Once you’ve completed the wizard click the button with the binoculars that says “Check for Problems” this will start the scanning process. It will take some time to do a full scan. Once it’s done, quickly scan through the list of “garbage” it’s found, red means “BAD” spyware, green means “usage tracks” uncheck anything that you really want to keep, however more often than not you’ll want to have it remove everything. When you are ready, click the “Fix selected problems” button.

Once Spybot has removed all the malware from your Computer, you can click the “immunize” button on the left side panel of Spybot, to keep your CPU safe from these malware programs finding their way back on your Computer.

Spybot will now run in the background, it takes up very little energy & memory and will do a great job of preventing new malware from making its way onto your CPU.

Step 3: System Maintenance

Now that we’ve scrubbed your slow computer clean of bugs, viruses, and malware we are ready to get down to business to Speed up your Computer by optimizing your Computers performance. It’s actually really simple thanks to this most incredible software I’ve been using for over 3 years now, and I wouldn’t live without it.

Download your Free 30 day (fully functional) Trial of Tune-Up Utilities 2009 directly from HERE. The free trial will suffice to take your slow computer and help to speed up your computer in a few simple steps outlined below.

Install the free software, then, double click the “1 Click Maintenance” shortcut button on your desktop. (If you opted not to put the shortcuts on the desktop, go to start>programs>TuneUp Utilities 2009>Utilities>1 Click Maintenance) This will automatically scan for registry problems on your system components, programs, & look for any structural defects. It will remove invalid shortcuts on your desktop and quick launch bar, start menu, and history lists, & will free up disk space by removing temporary files as well as check your hard drive to determine if a defragmentation is necessary. Once it’s done scanning, (this should only take a few minutes) then click the “correct problems” button at the bottom right.

1 Click maintenance is simple as you just experienced, and I recommend you run it anytime your system feels like it’s not operating as it should, and first thing when you “boot” your CPU for the first couple days after this big clean up. Then, run it as often as you like, every few days should suffice.

Step 4: System Optimization

Now, we are going to get into some “fine tuning” of your system. Double click the Tune-Up Utilities Icon on your desktop (or go to start>programs>tune-up utilities 2009). Once it opens, it will automatically run a quick scan on your CPU for “Maintenance, Speed, and Health.” Each category will have a number of recommendations. Click on “details” of each category, and make the appropriate selections.

If you’re not sure how fast your internet speed is go to http://speedtest.net/ click on the yellow star on the map, give it just a few seconds and it will tell you how fast of a connection you have.

NOTE: on speed, there is a drop down for “visual effects or appearance” it’s up to you, but if you like the way your buttons look, and your theme, select “Do Not Optimize Visual Effects” this is usually one recommendation that I don’t do because I like some of the luxuries of my visual appearance.

I do however, take all their other recommendations, and recommend you do so as well.

Step 5: Remove Unnecessary or Unwanted Programs in Start Up

Okay, we are coming along quite nicely don’t you think? Now, let’s speed up your computer by getting rid of unnecessary programs that run in the background and basically just slow your computer down by removing them.

In tune-up utilities, you’ll have a sidebar on the left, click the “Increase Performance Option” start at the bottom option with “TuneUp StartUp Manager” it will bring up a list of all the programs that automatically start and run in the background when your CPU is booted. This is the cause of many “memory hogs” which don’t need to be there running all the time when you don’t need them. What I really like about this tool is that it will give a description of what each program is and will categorize them as “unnecessary, no clear recommendation, or Necessary.” Obviously, you’ll leave the “necessary” programs alone, then selectively remove every program in the other two categories that you can “live without” them running non-stop which slows your computer down by using up precious RAM that you will make available helping to speed up your computer.

Remember, you can always “open” a specific program when you need it. Often, if this is your first time doing a thorough maintenance, there are likely several programs there that you don’t even recognize in your Start Up. Selectively remove them. I like to keep my start up programs to the bare minimum and only start “necessary” programs unless there is one that I “really-really-reeeally” want them there.

Step 6: Free Up Disk Space by Removing Temporary and Unnecessary Files

Okay, we’ve got our Start-Up programs narrowed down to only the one’s that need to be there. Now, there is a ton of temporary and cache files that can be removed. In Tune-Up Utilities click the button on the left side panel that says “Free Up Disk Space” it will run a scan to determine what unnecessary files you have on your computer that can be removed. Once the scan is completed you’ll see how much disk space you can free up by “taking out the trash.” Click on the link that says “unnecessary files and backups” quickly peruse all the selected boxes and then when you are ready, click clean. Now you’ve likely freed up several gigs, and Don’t worry as this WON’T delete your most recent restore point created in case you need to restore your system for some reason.

Step 7: Uninstall Programs You No Longer Use, Want, or Need

Now, still in the “Clean up Windows” option, click on the “TuneUp Uninstall Manager” click on the little calendar looking button (on the left sidebar) that says “Programs not used for a long time” and selectively remove programs you’re likely never going to use again. Then, click on the bar graph looking button that says “rarely used programs” and selectively remove programs you’ll likely never use again. Then quickly scan the list of installed programs and remove any programs you don’t want or need anymore. Once you are done removing unwanted programs, close the programs window.

Step 8: Run the “Disk Doctor”

Click the button on the left sidebar that says “Solve Problems” then select “TuneUp Disk Doctor” and follow the prompts. Once this process is started, it will shut down your CPU and restart, it will then perform it’s “doctoring” and this can take some time, even a few hours, so do this when you are ready for a movie, bed, or going out for a while and don’t need the PC you are working on for at least two hours or so.

Step 9: Run 1 Click Maintenance Again

Once your CPU is booted back up, run “1 Click Maintenance” one more time for good measure and to “tie up any loose ends” from the previous steps.

Step 10: Pat yourself on the Back

Congratulations! You’re done with your basic Computer Maintenance, and your Computer should be back to its old self, running as fast as it can, loading as fast as it can, and performing up to par.

Now, if you’re still not satisfied or just want to continue improving speed and performance: Max out the RAM capabilities, do a google search for your computer model and RAM or make a phone call to a store that sells computer hardware to determine how much RAM your CPU can handle, what type you’ll need, and get as much installed as possible! RAM is cheap these days, and time IS money, so don’t skimp out on your RAM.

I sincerely hope this has helped to bring your slow computer back to life and running as it’s designed to run. Now, I put this together to help others get their computers back to running great, please “pay-it-forward” and share this document or blog post with as many people as possible.

Download the PDF file of this article HERE

To Your Success & wHealth!

Zeb Olsen

“Helping the Best, Get Better”

www.ZebOlsen.com

This article was originally posted by Zeb Olsen at www.ZebOlsen.com you can read about the author at http://ZebOlsen.com/about-me/