How Can I Speed Up My Slow Computer?

Most Windows users will notice that as time goes by their system seems to get slower and slower. This in not an illusion! This system slowdown is a real problem and can be very annoying. However,  there is something you can do about it which should be a part of your routine maintenance. First of all, let's explore the problem. 

One thing that causes your PC to slow down is this. As files are stored on your hard drive, they may need to be broken up and saved in small fragments which are scattered all over your hard drive. This can happens for many reasons which we won't get into here in this short article, but needless to say it's going to  take your processor longer to read these fragmented files when your system needs to use them because they are scattered about.

There are a few things that you can do to correct these problems. Most users of  Windows XP and other systems can easily correct these annoying problems. Normal and routine maintenance can resolve most of these types of PC speed issues. There is a utility called the Disk Defragment utility which is built right into the operating system which can correct this kind of problem. This utility will defragment or "reassemble" the files on your drive. This term is given to the process of scanning the file system and rejoining the split files back into whole files. Why don't you go ahead and use the Disk Defragment utility on your computer and defragment your hard drive right now. Let's get started.

Defragmenting is one of the easiest ways to increase the speed and performance of your PC. The frequency of which this should be done will directly depend on the amount of computer usage. The Disk Defragmenter Utility will reorganize these fragmented files into contiguous files which increases your hard drive's reliability and performance.

This utility can be opened a number of different ways. The most common way is this: Click on the 'Start' button at the bottom left of your desktop screen on the task bar. Then follow this path:

Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter

After the 'Analyze' button has been clicked, the Disk Defragmenter program will tell you whether or not it thinks your computer files actually need 'Defragmenting'. To start the process, simply click the Defragment button.

If you're an average PC user, the standard Disk Defragmenter utility will do a fairly good job of keeping your drives defragmented and help to maintain good system performance. There are however, special software tools you can download and use in addition to the Defragmenter to do a much better and more thorough job. These are called 'Registry Repair Tools' and they do a great job of restoring your system back to peak performance by reorganizing and fixing the files in your Windows registry. Once you run the Defragmenter it is recommended that you download one of these tools and run a free scan on your system to see if any more problems are found.

The important point is that whatever product you decide meets your level of need, it doesn't do a bit of good unless this is done on a regular basis. Make it a part of your regular system maintenance.

The very best registry cleaning tools can be found here: Product Reviews - Best Registry Cleaners  

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