7 Ways to Increase Computer Performance

High performance of a computer system is the factor that every computer user looks for. Here, from the phrase high performance of a computer system, I mean the speed of a computer that is how fast a computer responses you. For example, you are trying to open a document but your computer takes more time to open the document then the usual time required to open the document. This means your computer’s performance is low. There can be many reasons for a system’s low performance, such as hardware configuration, temporary files, and startup programs. If your computer is showing low performance, you need to consider following tasks:

• Checking the hardware configuration
• Executing the disk cleanup
• Performing the virus scan
• Uninstalling the unused programs
• Customizing the startup programs
• Cleaning your desktop
• Using a pen drive

Checking the Hardware Configuration

A system with good hardware configuration provides good performance. If your system is giving low performance then first check its hardware configurations. To get a better performance from Windows Vista, your system’s hardware configuration should be as follows:
• Pentium IV processor with 3.00 GHZ speed or Core 2 Duo
• 1 GB RAM
If your system’s hardware configuration is less than the aforementioned configuration, you need to upgrade your system. You can know the hardware configuration of your system by executing the following step:

Select Start -> Control Panel -> System.

Executing the Disk Cleanup

When you work on a computer, Windows creates some temporary files that may reduce your computer’s performance. Therefore, you should continuously remove those temporary files. Apart from this, a computer contains a large number of files and folders among which some are not of your use. You should compress those files and folders. Compressing old files and folders increases the hard disk space while reduces the space for operating system to search for files and folders. This also increases your computer’s performance. You should also empty Recycle Bin folder because the files and folders present in this folder also consume disk space. You can perform these entire tasks by executing the Windows disk cleanup utility. Let’s now perform the following steps to execute the Windows disk cleanup utility:

1. Select Start -> All Programs -> Accessories –> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears.

2. Select the system drive you want to clean and click the Ok button. Now, the system starts searching for the files and folders to free the disk space.

3. After the searching of files and folders completes, the Disk Cleanup dialog box appears again. This time it shows the space that can be cleaned. System segregates the searched files and folders in to various categories, such as temporary files and files and folders present into Recycle bin.

4. Select the check boxes besides various categories in the Disk Cleanup dialog box.

5. Click the Ok button after selecting the check boxes. The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears again to confirm the disk cleanup process.

6. Click the Delete Files button to confirm and continue the disk cleanup process. The disk cleanup process starts. After the disk cleanup process completes, the Disk Cleanup dialog box disappears.

Performing Virus Scan

A virus is a program that harms your computer and reduces computer’s performance. The most common reason for a computer to come in contact of viruses is Internet surfing. When you surf Internet then many viruses may attack your computer and slow down your computer’s performance. To get rid of viruses, you should execute an antivirus installed on your computer on regular time intervals.

Uninstalling the Unused Programs

An operating system contains many programs installed in it. Those programs use the computer’s memory even when you do not use them. Therefore, you should uninstall the programs that are not of your use. You can uninstall the programs on Windows Vista by performing the following steps:

1. Click Start -> Control Panel. The Control Panel window appears.

2. Select the Classic View on the left pane and then double-click the Programs and Features option. A list of the programs installed on your system appears.

3. Select the program that you want to uninstall.

4. Right-click the mouse and select the Uninstall option.

A wizard to uninstall the selected program opens. Follow that wizard to uninstall the selected program.

Customizing the Startup Programs

Many programs load into computer memory on its startup along with the programs that are required to run the operating system. You may not need to use all of the programs that automatically start on computer startup. However, you are not using these programs; they utilize computer’s memory and therefore, reduce the performance of your computer. Some of the programs, such as Yahoo messenger, MSN messenger, Google talk, Google updates, Winamp, Adobe updates, and so on start automatically on computer startup. You should change these programs’ settings so that they will not start automatically. In Windows Vista, you can manage startup programs by performing the following steps:

1. Select Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt. The command prompt appears.

2. Type msconfig in windows command prompt. The System Configuration dialog box appears.

3. Select the Startup tab. It displays the list of the programs that startup automatically on computer startup.

4. Uncheck the programs that you do not want to start automatically on computer startup and click the Apply button.

5. Click the Ok button. Now restart the system to make the changes effective.

Cleaning your Desktop

When you start a computer, operating system loads the desktop items. Therefore, if your desktop contains more items, computer takes more time to boot and affects the system performance. You should not place heavy files and folders on desktop rather you should create shortcut of files and folders on desktop for their easy access. Shortcuts consume less computer memory than complete files and folders. A computer, which only contains shortcuts on desktop perform much better than a computer that contains heavy files and folders on desktop. You should take care about cleaning your desktop for better computer performance.

Using a Flash Drive

Yes, it is possible to get better speed in Windows Vista and Windows 7 without upgrading Random Access Memory (RAM). In Windows Vista and Windows 7 it has become possible with the help of ReadyBoost feature. The ReadyBoost helps you use a pen drive or any other flash drive as cache memory in addition with the available RAM in your computer system. The ReadyBoost feature saves your cost to upgrade RAM. It only utilizes the space available in a flash drive to use that as the RAM; therefore, you also do not need to remove available content from your flash drive. The ReadyBoost feature increases your computer's speed by utilizing the space available in your flash drive. Let's now perform the following steps to enable the ReadyBoost feature:

1. Attach a flash drive in the USB port of your CPU.
2. Select Start -> Computer in Windows start program menu. The Computer window appears.
3. Right-click the drive and select the Properties option. The Properties dialog box appears.
4. Now, select the ReadyBoost tab. It displays the following two radio buttons:

• Do not use this device: This radio button is selected by default. Enabling this radio button means you cannot use a drive to add additional memory in your computer.
• Use this device: This radio button allows you to use a flash drive as additional memory.

5. Select the Use this device radio button. Now, you need to reserve the drive space to be used as the cache memory. The space you reserve to use as the cache memory cannot be used to store items in the attched drive.
6. Move the slider on left or right side to specify the drive space that you want to reserve as cache memory.
7. Click the Apply button.
8. Click the Ok button.

A ReadyBoost Cache file will be created in your pen drive that Windows Vista uses as the additional cache memory. This file does not harm any other files on your computer. When you remove the pen drive from your computer and again attach, Windows Vista automatically uses it as additional cache memory. If you do not want to use the pen drive as cache memory for more, enable the Do not use this device radio button before removing the pen drive.