Pc Help

Defragmenting in Windows XP

2008-09-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

First of all make sure you have enough time to complete the defragmentation, the amount of time will depend on how much use your PC has had since the last defragmentation.

To start the defrag utility, click on the Start button, then hover your mouse over all programs, then hover over Accessories, then hover over System Tools, then click on Disk Defragmenter.

This will start the defrag utility, you will see the defrag dialogue box as shown in fig 2.1.

In our example in fig 2.1 we have just one hard drive, if you have more than one hard drive then it will be visible in the window.

The next step is to highlight the drive you wish to defragment (one left click on the drive), then click on the Analyze button, this will check the selected drive for fragmentation, the utility will then tell you whether the drive needs defragmenting or not.

If the drive needs defragmenting simply click the Defragment button, once clicked the utility will begin defragmentation of the drive, it may take a few hours depending on the size of the drive.

Once it is complete simply close the defrag utility.

Delete Temporary Files

2008-09-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

To open the Disk Cleanup utility:

click on the START
then either PROGRAMS (WIN 98/2000/Millennium) or ALL PROGRAMS (WINDOWS XP)
then hover over ACCESSORIES, SYSTEM TOOLS and then click on DISK CLEANUP

(NON-XP users may be prompted to select the drive that you wish to cleanup. In most cases it will be the C: drive that you need to select)

You will then see the following dialogue box appear:

Once the utility has finished analyzing your hard drive the following screen will appear:

Tick the boxes of all the different types of temporary files that you would like to cleanup. In most cases you would tick all of the boxes, you can view the associated files by clicking the VIEW FILES button..

When you have finished with your selections, click the OK button.

You will then see a dialogue box similar to that shown below:

Once the dialogue box has closed your temporary files have been removed.

Speed Up Vista Startup

2008-09-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

So your tired of your computer starting up slow and you want to know how to speed up vista startup on your machine. Trust me we have all been there at some point in time. It can be extremely frustrating when your computer takes longer to get up and running in the morning than you do! Unfortunately if you have owned your computer for any length of time then it has no doubt become much slower than it was when you bought it. Its ok though, there are several simple ways to speed up the vista startup time on your computer and actually make it run faster than the day it came out of the box!

The two primary causes of your vista startup slowing down over time are corruptions in the registry of your computer and excess programs running during your startup. If you want to speed up vista startup on your computer then these are the problems to address first. The registry controls your computers operations with a set of keys or codes that correspond with each operation.

If your registry becomes corrupt and the keys no longer match up with the operations then your computer has to work that much harder to do what it needs to do and this leads to your slow startup time. The other issue is with the programs you are running during your computers startup. If there are an excess of applications and programs running while your computer tries to start up then it takes your computer a lot longer to startup. You may be surprised at how many programs are starting up with your computer that you have no need for and are not necessary for your computers performance.

If you tackle both of these problems your computer will run as fast if not faster than the day you purchased it and it is quite simple to do. For more info on how to fix these problems and some other easy tricks you can use to speed up vista startup on your computer then check this site out. It offers several simple ways to speed up the startup time on your computer.

Speed Up My Computer

2008-09-24T20:48:00.001-07:00

It is inevitable. I call it digital inertia. It builds up within any computer from the moment it is assembled, sold and fired up for the first time. All computers, no matter how fast, how furious, become lumps of porridge within a few months. Some last longer, but the build up of digital dust mites and laziness is something none of us can avoid. Our speed demon has become a horned turtle and we always ask ourselves what happened? We find ourselves turning to our technologically inclined friends and asking "How to speed up my computer?" There are a lot of factors involved, but I'll tell you some sure fire ways to speed up your computer in 1 hour.

Over time, because of its dedication to keep up to date, you will realise your program task bar is full of programs, some of which you have no idea how they got there in the first place, and some of them you haven't even used past the first 'fire it up and test it' phase. All these programs after a while end up putting a lot of clutter in your memory, because over time, the information gets fragmented and Windows has to constantly re-fragment the information, seeking it out from hidden digital cul de sacs, weaving it together for a program launch. Defragment your disk! It will take you less than an hour - maybe more if you have the entire Guggenheim museum stored in your hard disks. You will notice a 50% increase in speed, guaranteed. Other than Windows disk defragmenter - there are plenty more efficient and speedier, full featured defragmentation programs out there for you to use.

Another reason for the gradual decline in speed could be that a PC is overloaded with information. Take a look at your start-up programs and the programs you have running in the background. Are they essential? A full featured anti-virus program cuts quite deep into the virtual memory. Scrutinise all the programs you have and delete and uninstall the ones you don't need - especially the ones that are using up precious memory. Just press Ctrl-Alt-Del, and run through the processes tab - a lot will be revealed to you. If, by chance, you need all those programs, then don't fret - upgrade your memory. Buy an extra stick of RAM if your PC is overloaded with your high memory programs.

Optimise, optimise, optimise. I can't stress this enough. There are so many programs and registry cleaners out there on the internet that help to clean out the registry, all loose floating files in hidden temp and system folders and any digital stragglers choking the otherwise fine machinery of your speed demon computer. A program like this does everything from A-Z, sniffing out all possible sectors of your computer, including that all important brain box of a registry that basically controls EVERY aspect of your computer. Keep it up to date and clean - that makes the difference between a running computer and a stuttering computer.

So, there you have it, sure fire ways to speed up your computer. Of course there are so many other ways and so many different sectors that need addressing, but these are some of the common and major issues plaguing PC users the world over.