In the present world a computer is not a thing of luxury but that of necessity and this items do cost us a handful but seriously how do we go about maintaining them..

In recent times I have been besieged by people seeking help for their systems and laptops. They complain my system is too slow and take considerable time to load programs and doing simple tasks like opening a web browser takes minutes. We live in a fast paced world and you may wonder if it is worth computing at all if you have to consider how long it takes to do anything.

The truth is by default when your computer arrives it has many services and unneeded programs that can be turned off or deleted without harm. Also with a machine that has slowed over time, many things can be done to improve the speed.
So follow us on a little tweaking of your system to ensure maximum speed.

First, make sure you have Enough Memory
To check what is your system memory go to
Choose Start Button → Computer → System properties
With Windows 7 and Vista, you really should have at least 1 GB of memory and 2 GB is a more comfortable amount. Installing a new RAM is a fairly easy thing to do but you need to identify what type of RAM your computer uses before buying upgrades. We have many types of RAM like SDRAM, DDRAM and so on. You can check what type of RAM you use by following these steps on this link

http://onegig..com/2013/06/determine-what-type-of-memory-your.html


Be Sure To Clean Up Your Desktop
It's funny when i see clients have their desktop screen filled with files and folders ranging from large movie files to all kinds of programs and shortcuts. If you have a lot of big files there, that means there's trouble. It's better to open your documents folder and copy those large document files to the my document folder also copy all movie files and other unwanted folders to their appropriate locations, they don't belong on the desktop. Only leave important shortcuts that you need on the desktop screen.


Uninstall Those Unneeded Applications To Free Up Memory
Yes uninstall those unneeded programs. Ever wondered why your system is so slow when you have as much as 100 different software running. I once repaired the system of a lecturer of mine and he had software ranging from audacity, chicken invaders, football manager to virtual dj. I was like what the hell and quote me he has never used any of those applications. Also it's common amongst users to have as much as 3-5 different software serving the same purpose. A client brought a slow system to me and this is what I found.
For music alone he had iTunes, Real player, VLC, Gom player, Windows media player and zoom player all this serving the same purpose. My suggestion is choose a maximum of two and uninstall the rest; they only contribute to the slowing of your system. To learn how to uninstall a program click here.

Keep Your Antivirus Up to Date and Scan Your Disks
It's like refusing to change your car oil but expecting maximum performance. When you don't regularly update your antivirus program and do a full scan of your computer.
I do recommend a full scan once in two weeks if you use your system heavily. Another thing people using cracked antivirus software need to know is, it does more harm than good to your system. If you don't have an up to date antivirus program, and don't want to pay for a new one there are several high quality free ones available. Personally i will recommend Microsoft security essentials.
Click the link below to get more info about Microsoft security essentials.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download

Also I have seen people having two, three antivirus on the same system. The truth is friend it is not healthy as they run scans simultaneously and eat away resources meant to be used for running other system software.
And lastly to minimize resources your antivirus takes while running you can set it to always scan your system at nights or at periods you know you don’t usually use it that much lets say Sundays by 6Am or whatever suits you.

Stop Unneeded Startup Programs
New installation of software often adds unneeded startup entries in any of several different hidden locations. These programs will start when Windows starts and take up resources. The best way to do this is to follow the steps:

Press the windows key + r on your keyboard. I.e. Press the windows key and r at the same time. When the run page pops up by the bottom left corner. Type in msconfig and press enter key. Once the msconfig page comes up click the STARTUP tab and uncheck all unfamiliar things listed except items such as antivirus, wireless , Bluetooth and graphics driver(igfx) all others should be unchecked. Click apply when done. Restart your system and you should notice the difference.

Defragment Your Hard Drive Regularly
Windows Vista and 7 now includes an automatic defragment system that is enabled by default. However if you are not sure and want to set it manually start by choosing Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Defragmenter.
This should be done once in 2 months if possible and the process normally take several hours. So again do it at night or while you are at work and not using your pc.

Remove Those Unneeded Files
Hard disk begins to fragment files noticeably and slow down after passing the 50% full mark. For this reason, it is said that the single most important investment one can make to improve the performance of a PC is to purchase the largest hard drive possible. This situation will change with the advent of solid state hard drives as the files don't fragment meaningfully in these sorts of devices. At any rate if you have a hard drive and it's over 50% full, use a program like CCleaner or Microsoft's disk utility to get rid of unneeded files. Also uninstalling unneeded software can improve performance for disk space reasons and because programs often install right click options which disappear after uninstalling. This is valuable because menus are often built on the fly and take time to rebuild each time you open them. With fewer options there's faster performance.
Also i personally advice my clients to get CCleaner , it's one hell of a good cleaning software .
Here's the link to download CCleaner. go to www.piriform.com and select download ccleaner. choose download the free version.


Turn Off those Animations and designer mouse buttons.
I thought armed robbers where around when I started a friends system and all i heard on startup where gunshots and booming sounds of landmines.WTF!! It's commonplace to see different animations or programs on our system. Very common amongst us are the desktop screensavers we have and the girl dancing by the bottom right corner of most systems, but if you must know this brother, it slows your system down considerably. Also remove those annoying toolbars and never download an application just for the sake of downloading without understanding what it is used for.
The normal mouse pointers are okay, you don’t need a hand pointing to and clapping when you want to click something, to restore default mouse options go to control panel-mouse-under the pointers tab click use default, press ok and you are done.

Turn Off Fancy Desktop Backgrounds, and Screensavers
Elaborate background pictures and fancy screensavers can take up an enormous amount of
RAM memory and Hard disk space. Also windows gadgets have been know to slow down system considerably. if you happen to use Vista or Win 7 close all the windows gadgets by clicking the red x close button by the top right corner. They have also been know to be a source of malicious attacks as third party developers have used gadgets to steal or pass viruses on to unsuspecting users. That's why gadgets won't be shipping with windows 8.

Good luck. If you have any further questions you can contact me here or check the blog link below for more updates..


http://onegig..com/2013/02/is-your-system-too-slow-heres-help-you.html

I fell short in most of them especially having movies folder on my desktop, gear_of_war as my desktop theme, and etc/passwd on my hard disk

nice

saintiyke: I fell short in most of them especially having movies folder on my desktop, gear_of_war as my desktop theme, and etc/passwd on my hard disk

hmm...ok..

Then maybe you make amends then..

thanks awfully..it was indeed helpful

Nice one dude,although i'm already used to organizing my system.

CCleaner is an excellent tool that helps you clean-up your browsers cache and more. I personally use it to free up memory from my fab-four browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and IE. It also purges Thunderbird email client. I'll also recommend Revo Uninstaller. Normal the built-in un-installer does an incomplete job. It doesn't control your Windows registry regedit.exe for remainders, so the registry bulks up with time and slows down your pc. Now abeg, don't grab any windows registry cleaner on the web and start using it, NO NO. You might run into serious trouble. ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE TOUCHING IT. Revo is freeware, it does a good job if you use it to uninstall your windows app.

After installing Revo also do this; Run it, click the Tools tab -> then AUTORUN MANAGER. Therein you'll see your startup-programs and their path. Jot down the apps listed and investigate them, many might be left-over apps u don't use anymore. Take them off. I never let the list go over five items. They drastically slow down boot-time.

Now to surf faster a dedicated DNS service might do the trick. Try OpenDNS or Google Public DNS. Both are free services. They can speed-up your internet 100 time. Use this program to test which is better for your zone. http://www.kabatology.com/12/29/find-the-fastest-dns-server-for-your-computer-with-namebench/

That's all i have for you SIR. Good day

Here's an article on How to fix a slow, hanging or crashing PC ...hope it adds to what these great minds have posted.

Bros, e been don tey wey I know many of these things, but I no lie you try well well, at least most learners go grab plenty. God bless you!

Thanks man for all the tips. I'm more concerned about the CCleaner, can i get it from local stores coz the amount on the site you recommend is much converting to naira. What do i do, i need it badly ? or Can you do me the favour of sending me the upgrading key to insert in the trial version. Thanks, waiting for ur reply.

OppyG: Thanks man for all the tips. I'm more concerned about the CCleaner, can i get it from local stores coz the amount on the site you recommend is much converting to naira. What do i do, i need it badly ? or Can you do me the favour of sending me the upgrading key to insert in the trial version. Thanks, waiting for ur reply.

download the free version. It works and needs no activation.

OppyG: Thanks man for all the tips. I'm more concerned about the CCleaner, can i get it from local stores coz the amount on the site you recommend is much converting to naira. What do i do, i need it badly ? or Can you do me the favour of sending me the upgrading key to insert in the trial version. Thanks, waiting for ur reply.

go to www.filehippo.com

ccleaner is free

I'm on it, I'm I'm I'm I'm on it...

noted

Noted.

if i remove my themes,mouse pointer,ashawo dancer then my lapi no go sweet me again nah.

Goood and indeed very helpful post. If only we have more of these insightful posts on Nairaland front page (instead of Petty issues about Tonto Dikeh).

Sky-walker:


go to www.filehippo.com

ccleaner is free

yeah.i like the site die.the main part of it is that they keep updating their softwares nd everything is free

Excellent. Would need tips for telephones too. I use a nokia 3310 and it is so damn slow!!!!!

my system is coded can't facebook

God bless. thanks man i'd try these suggestions. when I use some other computer systems other than mine, I see the difference in speed, then I know that I have to do something about mine. Nice write up.

pls i need anti virus key ooooooo avast internet security or norton antivirus key any body wanna heLP ME FPR free should mail me on dareexcel2003@yahoo.com thank u..........pls note NOT de avast free antivirus ooo but AVAST INTERNET SECURITY

Ok. Tnx

Very helpful

ELABORATE PLS

naffysa: my system is coded can't facebook

woow nice piece of tutorial here, slow computers can make someone run mad

ControG: thanks awfully..it was indeed helpful

TRUE

Thanks 4 d info.
I've bin tryin 2 instal MSE 4 smtym now bt d response i kip gettin is dat ma version of windows isnt genuine. I formatted ma system smtym ago and av since bin battlin wit d windows issue. Any urgent help pls cos ma system currently has no antivirus