Who enjoys waiting for programs to start on their computer? No one I assume. Friendly Computers found these quick tips which should help speed things up:
A few seconds can seem like an eternity when you're waiting for a computer program to load. Want to speed things up?
There are a number of things you can do.
Get rid of unused programs: The more you have installed, the slower you system will run. Just remember you can't remove a program by deleting its shortcut from your desktop. You have to go to the control panel, look for the Add/Remove program feature and use the "uninstall" command.
Disable unneeded start up programs. Look at the little icons in the system tray next to the clock at the bottom of the screen. Many of these programs launch every time you start your machine. By disabling the programs that automatically launch and are rarely used, you get things going more quickly.
Lauren Young with PC Tools says to delete temporary Internet files and empty your recycle bin.
"Files that you delete from your computer are still actually stored in your recycle bin and will continue to take up valuable hard drive space."
You should also "defragment" your machine. This process takes parts of files scattered throughout the hard drive and brings them together, making your machine run more efficiently. Many new operating systems do this automatically. If you're doesn't do it automatically, you can do it yourself every few months.
If you've done all this and your computer is still really sluggish or suddenly slows down, you may have picked up a piece of spyware or adware. Use on of the free spyware removal tools listed below to scan your system:
- Windows Defender
- Ad-Aware
- Spybot
