5 Tips to Improve Your Computer’s Performance

Computers, like any gadget or appliance, experience wear and tear. You might have been over the moon with its performance and specifications when you first had it. But over time, due to the programs and software you have installed, and all the files you have stored, it won't be how it used to be performance wise. However, there's no need to run off to the nearest computer shop to get a new one. Here are a few simple things you can do to improve your older computer's performance.

Disable Unnecessary Startup Programs

Over the course of time, you have probably installed a number or programs and applications. Most programs are designed to start automatically when Windows starts. These programs are often set by their software manufacturers to run in the background where you can't see them, so that they can open right away when you click on their icons. This can be very helpful for those programs you use on a regular basis. But it can also waste precious memory and slows down the time it takes for Windows to finish starting up, especially for those programs you rarely or never use.

To disable unnecessary startup programs in Windows 8, all you have to do is go to the Task Manager by doing any of the following:

• Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc]
• Right-click the taskbar on the Desktop and select Task Manager
• Type "task manager" on the Start screen, and then click Task Manager
• Press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del], and then click Task Manager from the screen that appears
• Right-click the lower-left corner of your screen and select Task Manager

Once Task Manager is opened, click the Startup tab. From there, you will see a list of programs and services that launch when you start Windows. Go through each program and right-click the ones you want to disable from startup, and then click Disable.

NOTE: If you are running Windows 7 or Vista, click Start, then type "msconfig" in the search field, and then click msconfig.exe to open the System Configuration tool. Click the Startup tab, and then uncheck the box next to the program you would like to prevent from starting when Windows starts. Click OK to save the changes. Restart the computer for the changes to apply.

Install Additional RAM

Adding more memory is one of the easiest and without a doubt the best thing you can do to speed up and improve the performance of your computer. The more RAM you have, the faster your Windows and programs will run. You may refer to your computer's manual for specific instructions on how to physically add more RAM.

If you are not too keen in opening your computer case and plugging memory modules into its motherboard, you can use Windows Readyboost as another option to boost the amount of memory. This feature allows you to use the storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer.

Delete Programs You Never Use

It is a good idea to uninstall all programs you do not need or never use, whether they are manufacturer-installed software or software you installed yourself. You can also delete unused files and duplicate photos while you're at it.

Another thing you can do is use a cleanup tool such as CCleaner. CCleaner helps in clearing out cache and temp files to further free up some valuable disk space. Furthermore, you can use Disk Cleanup, which is a Windows built-in tool to get rid of unused files. You can check out this guide to learn how to delete system files using disk clean up in Windows 8 or find out how to clean up all files using Disk Clean up on a Windows 7 computer.

Defragment Your Hard Disk

Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can ultimately slow down your computer. To combat this, use Disk Defragmenter. This will rearrange fragmented data so your hard disk can work more efficiently. You can defragment your hard disk on a schedule or you can do it manually. Check out Ways to improve your computer's performance for additional instructions.

Reinstall Windows

Some laptop manufacturers have a recovery partition which allows you to restore your computer to factory settings. This will erase your data, updates, software, etc. So you need to do a backup before reinstalling Windows.

Do check your laptop's online documentation to access recovery partition.

If you do not have recovery partition, perform a clean install of Windows to make it run like new. However, if you are running on Windows 8, you can either perform a PC Refresh or a PC Reset. A PC Refresh will reinstall Windows but will keep all your data, while PC Reset will get rid of everything and will do a clean install. Make sure you back up your data to an external drive, shared network drive, or to cloud.