A slow laptop or desktop computer is a nightmare. It is frustrating and can make you miss deadline for your tasks. Most of the times, the problem is as a result of stored logs of data in the computer, making the computer to struggle with data processing. At the other times, it can be as a result of hardware wears.

Whatever the reasons may be, nobody wants a slow computer. I don’t want it, and you don’t want it, too. So how do you speed up your computer and enable it to always fire on all cylinder?

Walk with me and let me show you the smart ways I use to speed up my personal computer and that of my clients.
How To Speed Up Your Computer
1. Remove Needless Start-up Programs: By default, and through installation of apps, some apps find their way into the computer's start-up folder; by this, the apps force themselves to start immediately a laptop or desktop computer logins to the desktop.

They end up slowing down the the start-up process and also cause lagging, while running the launched apps and functions on the computer. So to speed up your computer, you need to disable, or delete, these apps in the Start-up folder.

To disable the apps on your Windows 7, click on the Start Button, and type msconfig. Launch the msconfig and select the Startup tab. All the apps starting with your Windows 7 OS will be listed; click on the apps you don't want to start with your Windows and select disable.

If you are on Windows 8, 8.1, or 10, press Control Alt Delete to start the Task Manger, then click on the Startup tab, to remove the unwanted apps.



Note: Don't disable your pointing device and antivirus, in the name of wanting to speed up your computer. Only disable the other apps you don't want to start with your computer.

2. Uninstall Apps You Hardly Use: Many of us have apps we regularly use and the ones we hardly use. The question is, why do you want to continue keeping an application you haven't launched in the past 6 months?

The application is just lying on your computer, eating your hard drive space and hindering the speed of your computer. Some of these apps may not have shortcut on your desktop -- therefore you may not even know they are installed.

Go to your Control Panel, and click on Uninstall a program to see the list of installed applications on your computer. Scroll down the list and remove the ones you hardly use; and see how that will speed up your computer and increase its memory space.

Important: Keep safe the set-up files of valuable programs, before uninstalling them.

3. Switch To Google Chrome: In the world of browsers today, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome share the largest percentage of internet users on computer.

Mozilla is awesome and has a lot of advantage over Chrome, in term of plugins that can enhance its functionality, but Mozilla is heavier and uses more system resources than Chrome.

If you check the memory usage of Mozilla in Task Manager after opening 3 tabs, it might be running to 200MB already, while Chrome wouldn't be more than 70MB for 3 tabs.

This is because Chrome is able to push some of its data processing into background.

Any application, including browsers that eat up much RAM space wouldn't help to speed up your computer. For this reason, you need to consider switching to Chrome, as it is lighter and faster.

4. Clean Browser History and Cache: The more you use a browser, the more the history of pages it stores. These page histories, even though small in size, can later add up to the size of the browser and slow down the browser and your PC.

So to boost your browser's speed, and in essence your computer's speed, you need to regularly clean your browser's history.

Aside the fact that this helps to boost your browser’s and computer’s speed, it also helps to protect your privacy, especially if the computer you use is shared with other people – the other users wouldn't be able to see the histories of websites you visited, if they are tempted to snoop on your browsing habit.

You can manually clean the history or use a third party application like CC Cleaner.

5. Empty Your Recycle Bin: You might be thinking that how does recycle bin concern the way to speed up your computer; but of course, it does. Recycle bin is like a waste bin in your house, and if not emptied, it can constitute nuisances to the house, through bad odour or by inviting rodents.

Sure, your system bin wouldn't call in the computer rodents (the viruses and the malwares), but because the files stored in the bin are still virtually stored on your hard drive, they are still eating the memory space, which your computer might have used to breath and run more efficiently.

In fact, emptying of recycle bin is one of the basic things those software that claim to help boost computer speed do. The software simply scan your computer for junk files, of which most of them are in the recycle bin, and trash them; and by that, you will be believe the software have done wonders, to speeding up your computer.

6. Scan For Virus & Malware: Viruses, malwares and spywares are the greatest problem of laptop and desktop computers, when it comes software issue; therefore, any tip on boosting the speed of a computer wouldn't be complete without mentioning them. To counter these bad guys, install a strong antivirus and a strong anti-Malware, and update them regularly.

Note that I didn't stop at installing only antivirus -- I mentioned installing antimalware, too. Anti-malwares and antivirus are two different things. Most antiviruses can't handle malware, and most antimalware can't handle viruses.

So install the two, to complement each other; but don't install two different antiviruses or two different antimalwares, at the same time!

That will negate speeding up your computer and can cause great software conflict.

7. Defrag Your Hard drive: As your computer crunches data upon data, some of the files are fragmented, leading to slow loading of the files, when trying to access them. By defraging your hard drive, you are sure to speed up your computer and boost its performance.

The process of defragging a hard drive in Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 is the same. Just go the Control Panel and change view from Categories to Small icons. Then click on Administrative Tool, and then on Defragment and Optimize Drives, to start the defragmentation process.



8. Restart Your Computer Frequently: There are some people that, to them, hibernating a computer equals to shutting down the computer. This isn't correct – perhaps this was the reason Microsoft hid the hibernate option in Window 8 and above, in order to force users to always shutdown their computer, properly.

Hibernating a computer forces it to keep logs of previously processed data, without giving it room to clear its memory. In the long run, if the computer wasn't restarted or shut down for weeks, it can reduce the speed of the computer and send it into hanging mode.

Therefore to ensure that your computer work at the optimum speed and performance, always shut down properly, when you are not using the computer; restart it once in a while, and above all, never use the power-on button to forcefully shutdown your laptop.

Doing that kills the hard drive, and that either wouldn't help to speed up your computer, but crashes it.

9. Invest in RAM & SSD: Hard drive, because of its spinning disc and reader-head mechanism, is slower at reading data compared to SSD. By installing SSD on your computer, in place of HDD, you will speed up your computer and boost its efficiency.



Also you can double the RAM. If your computer comes with 4GB RAM, you can pomp it to 8GB; but don't over pomp your RAM. Processor speed and the RAM size work at a ratio that allows RAM to be doubled, at maxim.

10. Format The Computer: This is the last resort and should only be adopted if the other options aren't giving you the speed you wanted in your system. When you do a clean format of your computer, all the logs of files, including viruses and malwares, slowing down the computer with go, and the computer will be given a rebirth that improves its speed and performance.

However, before formatting, ensure you backup your important files, including program setups, drivers, and personal documents.

Those are the tips I have used to speed up my computer and that of my clients. You should see improvements in your computer, too, by following the tips.

Source: https://www.techrabytes.com/how-to-speed-up-your-computer/