How to Make Your Computer Faster

A slow computer is incredibly frustrating. Whether your work machine is running sluggishly or your home computer is causing problems, you can take some simple steps to help you computer run more smoothly and efficiently on a day-to-day basis.

Clean it Up

A very common problem that weighs down many a PC is an overloaded hard drive that has to sift through too much information during every boot up or is constantly running a plethora of background functions. There are a few main areas that you want to clean up, in order to ensure better function and free up your memory:

• Uninstall unused programs – Go through your application list and delete apps that you don’t use. Often these are co-installed with programs that you use regularly or are old versions of programs that you simply don’t need. Simply deleting unused programs will generally free up a good bit of space on your computer’s drive.
• Delete temporary files – While temp files may not occupy much space on your hard drive, they can interfere with programs you use and cause them to take a long time to boot or run. Purging your temporary files on a regular basis will help programs to run more smoothly.
• Remove downloads and duplicates – Run a duplicate check on your files and delete redundant copies that weight down your hard drive. Go through your downloads folder and delete old content that you don’t need in order to free up even more space.

Consider a New Hard Drive

Over time, you will amass programs and files that you simply can’t part with. At that point, you will want to consider replacing your hard drive with something that has more storage and can accommodate your growing collection of computer content.

When looking for a replacement hard drive, consider making the switch to a solid state drive. Solid state hard drives boot up incredibly quickly and retrieve information very quickly, thanks to their solid design. They are available for most computer models and can dramatically increase your computer’s speed and function.

Reconsider Your Daily Use

The way you use your computer can contribute to its slow function, and there are some changes that you can make to speed things up. First, look for programs that begin at startup and disable them from this automatic start. Then, clean up and organize your desktop and file storage to keep important programs and documents close at hand, so you don’t have to go sifting through endless information to find what you need.