Make Your PC Very Fast
Computers are an essential and ubiquitous part of our everyday lives now. We use them for work, connecting with people, entertainment, art and a host of other things. But when we're using them, we expect them to work fast! Just like your body, a car, or any other working machine, your computer has to be maintained and cared for to be up-to-speed. There's a number of ways to keep your computer at the top of it's game, and you can find them below!
Contents
Steps
- Consider using the command-line. You can still tweet, instant message, play mp3 (with mplayer), browse the web (with Lynx or Links2), p2p (amulecmd), torrent (rtorrent), image edit (ImageMagick), read feeds (raggle), chat (irssi), ofm (midnight commander), manage downloads (axel, wget) and everything else. Linux OS and BSD makes it easier to use the command-line, whereas Mac OS X and Windows don't.
If you must use a GUI, read on to the next step. But the efficiency advantages of the CLI are as follows:action Windows/DOS Windows Powershell,
Mac OS X, Linux, BSD etc.list directory dir ls clear console cls clear copy file(s) copy cp move file(s) move mv delete file(s) del rm create directory md mkdir remove directory rd rm -rf change current directory cd cd current directory cd, chdir pwd search find grep concatenate cat cat permissions chmod chmod display/output text echo echo add user net user adduser - If you need to move all folders ending with "photos" this is easy in the command line but difficult and slow in a GUI.
- Command-line completion is also known as tab-completion and can speed things up.
- Pipe command-line output into other commands if needed.
- Shell aliases can be set in Linux.
- Remove unused softwares and programs. Sometimes programs run in the background, unseen by the user, but added together, it can take up quite a bit of space. Navigate to the Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs, and remove programs that you do not use or need.
- Run Disk Cleanup Utility. Go to My Computer, right click the system disk (usually C:/), and click on Properties. Click the button that says Disk Cleanup, located next to the graph demonstrating disk usage.
- Defragment your hard disks. Go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools, and click Disk Defragmenter. Select which disk you wish to defragment and click Defragment.
- Clean out your Prefetch folder. Go to C:\Windows\Prefetch, and delete all the files and folders inside. Then restart your system. Do this monthly, but be careful not to delete the folder, only the files inside.
- Turn your page file higher. This can be done by going to the Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Settings. Click the settings button located under "Performance". Then click Advanced, and finally, click Change. Set your page file higher, or select System Managed Size. After you have made the necessary changes, lower the maximum size to the initial size, click Set, and then restart your system.
- Adjust your computer for best performance. Do this by returning to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Settings, and marking Visual Effects to "Adjust For Best Performance". This will remove all the fancy visual effects, and change the theme back to Windows Classic.
- Downgrade your color quality. Right click your desktop, click properties, select the Settings tab, and change the color quality to 16 bit, or as low as your system will let you set it. Also avoid displaying huge desktop wallpapers, downloaded from the internet.
- Remove any malicious content such as viruses from your PC using a virus scanner. Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware or Avast Anti-Virus would be a good choice. It is recommended that you perform this step in Safe Mode. Restart your PC, and immediately after the boot screen, repeatedly press the F8, then navigate to the Safe Mode using your arrow keys and press ↵ Enter. After cleaning up your system, restart and boot normally.
- Improve your boot time. Go to Start -> Run -> and type msconfig in the field provided. Then press ↵ Enter. Go to the 'BOOT.INI tab, and check NOGUIBOOT.
- Remove startup services that your don't use. Go back to System Configuration Utility, go to Startup, and uncheck services that you might not want starting during the boot process. Make sure you know exactly which services you do not use you make these changes here. Making the wrong changes might make your system unstable.
- Clean out your Temp Files. Set Windows Explorer to display hidden files and folders by going to Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View, and select "Display Hidden Files and Folders". Then, browse to C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Local Settings\Temp. Delete only the files inside the Temp Folder; do not delete the folder itself.
- Disable indexing on your main hard drives. This can be done by going to My Computer, and disabling them under your hard disks properties.
- Remove unnecessary Windows Components. Do this by navigating to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> Add or Remove Windows Components. Be sure to check the files that you want to install or keep, and uncheck those that you want to uninstall. Be very careful here, because you can remove some programs and features that you may want to keep by accident.
- Remove your internet browsing history. Most browsers allow you to do this under their options.
- Clean your registry. You can find several free registry cleaners on the internet. You can also use a registry defragmenter to defrag your page file and registry as well.
- Avoid desktop manipulation programs such as Stardock or Fences. These programs can slow down your computer, especially if it has a low amount of RAM.
- Try adding more RAM. If your are using Windows XP, it is recommend that you have at least 512 MB of RAM. If you are using Windows Vista, it is recommended that you have at least 1 GB.
- Install all Windows updates as well as the latest service packs. This can boost your computer speed also.
- As a last resort, reinstall your operating system. This should only apply if your computer is becoming unbearably slow to use. Reformat your hard drives, and reinstall your operating system.
Tips
- Always reboot after making changes to the page file, registry, or bootloader.
Warnings
- Always use caution when making changes to the operating system. If you do not follow some of the tips here correctly, it might damage your operating system.
- These tips are designed for Windows XP. Some of them may not work with Windows 7 or Vista.
Things You'll Need
- A computer with a Windows Operating system.
