So your computer has slowed down too much and you don’t want to or can’t do a reformat? Then this tutorial will teach you how to speed up your pc without any cost and in a short time.

Step 1: Download Spybot Search & Destroy and Lavasoft: Ad-Aware. These are free anti spyware programs that should get rid of at least some spyware. (however, if you suspect it is a virus or spyware problem, please see HERE (http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic50981.html) and follow the instructions before you continue.

Step 2: Delete any programs and files that you don’t use. This is generally the best way of speeding your pc up. Also delete any windows components you don’t use by going to start>settings>control panel>add or remove programs>add/remove windows components.

Step 3: go to start>all programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup and run clean ups on all your hard drives (make sure all boxes are ticked).

Step 4: Defragment your hard drives by going to start>all programs>accessories>system tools>disk defragmenter. Then select Defragment.

Step 5: Restart your computer.

NOTE: HijackThis may also be used in step 1 but this is for more advanced users, once again, see HERE (http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic50981.html) .

I hope this tutorial will help some people. Please feel free to make any suggestions and corrections.

Do not hesitate to ask any questions.

Good Luck to everyone.

Regards,

Korrupt

CREDITS: Hyperlinks courtesy of Spike.

What happens after I defrag my comp.? will all my files be deleted?

Running a disk defrag won`t delete anything.

So no need to worry.

Regards Howard :)

what will happen? will it go faster?

If your hard drive is fragmented(bits of files scattered around the hard drive) it will slow your system down, because it takes longer to retrieve the files.

Doing a disk defrag will reorganise the files on your hard drive and make it quicker to retrieve those files. This in turn will speed up your computer.

Regards Howard :)

Howard is right.

None of the methods posted here will remove anything from your hard drive (unless you select them to -such as disk cleanup) however, these files are not generally important anyways.

Regards,

Korrupt

The CCleaner program can help you in deleting files you don't want as well.

Just wondering if anyone used this tutorial to speed up their pc? If so, how did you go and did you find this tutorial helpfull?

Regards,

Korrupt

Not me personaly but i usualy linked them to those who ask for help, just as a foundation on the speedup/maintainance...

Also i think you need to add removing startup apps that are uneccesary via the programs itself or msconfig.. i'm pretty sure you know how to explain this more in detail :)

Don't forget about the taskbar. Make sure you don't have a million things running that you don't need or don't use. This will free up ram as well as other system resources. Especially if you don't have alot of RAM in the first place. I see this problem all the time. Another common foe is to organize that desktop! Don't save "Word" files to it. Save them to a folder on the hard drive and create a shortcut to that folder on the desktop. Organize the program icons into game/work folders, don't just leave your icons all your the place on your desktop. This will speed up bootup time and the time it takes to surf around your OS as the computer will not have much to refresh.

Thanks for the tips.

got some more for you:

In addition to defragmenting, the following will speed up a slow system:

1. ADD RAM. Anything less than 512mb on an XP system will run VERY slow period.

2. stop unnecessary programs from running. Use MSCONFIG from your RUN command or better yet, use a free applet "startup editor" by Mike Lin - google it.

3. Use Crap cleaner to clean and fix your registry.

4. Don't use toolbars and extra crud unless you really need them.

5. Check for viri and trojans frequently.

6. Use FREERAM PRO XP to free up RAM when not in use. Page file swapping will really slow a system down.

7. Use 2 hard drives or 2 partitions (the former is better). Have emails, page files, and web pages stored on the second. This will make your defragmenter work less hard.

is deleting files in prefetch and setting the registry in prefetch 2 or 5 advisable?

i know 5 doesnt exist but its weird that somehow it helps boot faster.

I know it may be a bit late to answer your post, but for anyone else:

I previously believed that emptying the prefetch folder once in a while was a good thing, but according to some stuff I read recently, it actually can hurt performance and if there are more than 128 of them, Windows will remove some automatically so you don't need to clean the prefetch folder. I will post a link when I find it again.

Edit: Read this! (http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000743.html)

How often should I defrag my system. Once in a week / Month ?
How often should I run my Antivirus , Antispyware , CCleaner, SpyBoot programs.

Arenot they protect if enabled to be running in background so why I need to run them frequently ?

i'd do defrag every once in a while, or after i've moved a lot of big files around my hdds.. You should do it when you notice your PC searching the HDD a lot compared to when its nice and defragged.

AV and other scanners should be set for their own recommended settings, usually either daily or weekly for whole-pc scan, and the resident scanner should be left on always. These scanners usually run in the background, but most of the time its just the resident scanner - only scans modules loading into the RAM for trouble - and sometimes depending on the program, you might not have it scan the whole PC, only the OS HDD etc.

Thank you very very much i will try this when i can get on the computer as i have a son who is autistic @ is always on, so be patient for a reply.
thanks again MICKMC

One thing to add. You can also go to Run and type "msconfig" and click the services tab. Click Hide all Microsoft Services, then click disable all. Then go to the startup tab and click disable all. I have found that to greatly increase the speed of computers.

Well that seems to have cured the problem, thank you very much, it is appreciated
Regards MICKMAC

is defraging in XP bad?

Whatever gave you that idea? Running a defrag in XP as with any OS is important and can be very beneficial.

Regards Howard :)

One thing to add. You can also go to Run and type "msconfig" and click the services tab. Click Hide all Microsoft Services, then click disable all. Then go to the startup tab and click disable all. I have found that to greatly increase the speed of computers.

i have just tried that advice and it prevented my av and firewall programmes from running completely. even after initiation.

But, hey, at least it booted faster, right? :p

But, hey, at least it booted faster, right? :p
Oooo ! your not wrong there mate:monkey: :haha:

is defraging in XP bad?
I've had no problems in the past,but i'm new to computers myself,your better off posting a new thread with the same question
Regards MICKMAC

I honestly dont know what gave me that idea. Must be rumors around the web or even in the talks. I believe my mom heard that from some where so I never attempted to defrag my computer since I bought it about 3 years ago. I never had any problems with being slow either, so never even thought about it. I just cleaned up my computer tonight, got rid of everything on the desktop except recycle bin and shortcuts to mostly used folders, (which I moved to the C drive)... ran ccleaner and stuff, then defraged. Was really fun watching the bars getting all organized. I think it is a bit faster. Now I just need to fix my random black screen and I"ll be happy. Any way thanks for telling me it is perfectly fine to defrag in xp.

EricSalvi.
defragmenting is a necessity:approve:

to help speed up your pc by stopping sevices.
there is a guide as to which ones can be stopped "AT THIS LOCATION" (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/04/12/slow_computer_speed_up_your.htm)

I used this, it speeded up my gaming alot! :)

thanks I have 32gb free space but my pc is working very slow.

Disk defragmenter has deteced that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on the volume : (c:)
Please run Chdksk /f.

what the hell?

Disk defragmenter has deteced that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on the volume : (c:\)
Please run Chdksk /f.
It means there is a chkdsk due to run on the primary hdd before it can start defrag. Go to Start>Run cmd and type in chkdsk. If it ask you to check on reboot press Yes and do so. Then once it runs its scan, you will be back in windows, where you can start on the defrag process

It deleted some entries. is that bad.

edit: got this

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/mass_photo/windowsproblem.jpg

hi newbie here. i downloaded spybot, how does it work? thanks.

It deleted some entries. is that bad.depends. Checkdisk deletes files if its inconsistent with whatever's recorded in its mft, or if its in a bad sector (guessing here). The only bad thing is if its an important file that you need...

hi newbie here. i downloaded spybot, how does it work? thanks.install spybot and follow the wizard that starts up the first time to download updates and other stuff. run the scanner to pick up any nasties detected, as well as use the immunize function to help prevent any nasties from affecting your system. If you are infected with something, its best to use a variety of scanners in conjunction with spybot to get rid of the infection. Read here for more info: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic58138.html

ok, thankyouverymuch

Thank you Howard and Korrupt. I tried all of the advice you gave me. No luck. As I said earlier, when I go onto a selective startup, My computer works just fine, but I cannot sign into my Hotmail account, all other web connections are fine. On normal startup, it takes even upto 20minutes to kick in and I can access hotmail but at an even slower pace than a snail.
What should I do now? Please advise.
I really appreciate this.
Thank you,
PC useless.

i think most ppl have a similar probs in start up at sometime or other.
in my case one thing was my av and firewall i uninsulated it and re-installed it and that done the trick. at sometime or other they had become corrupt. why not give a try. although i don't know what other advice you have been given already. its last and i can't be bothered to look :zzz:

Just a tip, if you download ccleaner, you can use it's "tools" option and look up and delete start up programs...stuff to avoid (usually) - aim, real player or the like, and even dell support can slow your comp down.

got some more for you:

In addition to defragmenting, the following will speed up a slow system:

1. ADD RAM. Anything less than 512mb on an XP system will run VERY slow period.

2. stop unnecessary programs from running. Use MSCONFIG from your RUN command or better yet, use a free applet "startup editor" by Mike Lin - google it.

3. Use Crap cleaner to clean and fix your registry.

4. Don't use toolbars and extra crud unless you really need them.

5. Check for viri and trojans frequently.

6. Use FREERAM PRO XP to free up RAM when not in use. Page file swapping will really slow a system down.

7. Use 2 hard drives or 2 partitions (the former is better). Have emails, page files, and web pages stored on the second. This will make your defragmenter work less hard.
very good suggestion. I got 99% of the above stuffs on my rig :D
haven't try ccleaner yet, but i'll give it a try now since when I browse my folder in my D: drive; it freeze for 3 sec before i can move again to see the rest of my 120 files in a folder, this included [movies, mp3 and other games folders]

Hello Ive noticed a few threads saying that there pc is running slow .. well heres some things you can try to speed your computer up:

Free Up Disk Space

By freeing disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:
•

Remove temporary Internet files.
•

Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
•

Empty the Recycle Bin.
•

Remove Windows temporary files.
•

Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
•

Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.


Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
Disk Cleanup dialog box

Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.

2.


In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
Disk Cleanup for dialog box

Choose the files that you want to delete.

3.


Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.

4.


When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes, leaving your computer cleaner and performing better.
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Speed Up Access to Data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to Run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals, optimally monthly, certain events warrant running the utility outside of the monthly rule of thumb.

You should run Disk Defragmenter under the following circumstances:
•

You add a large number of files.
•

Your free disk space nears 15 percent.
•

You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

1.


Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
Disk Defragmenter dialog box

Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.

2.


In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button.

After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives.

Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.

3.


To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button.

After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.

4.


To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.

5.


To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.

6.


To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.
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Detect and Repair Disk Errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

To run the Error Checking utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

1.


Click Start, and then click My Computer.

2.


In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.

3.


In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.

4.


Click the Check Now button.

5.


In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
Check Disk dialog box

In most circumstances, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

6.


If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

Threads merged.

Regards Howard :)

One thing to add. You can also go to Run and type "msconfig" and click the services tab. Click Hide all Microsoft Services, then click disable all. Then go to the startup tab and click disable all. I have found that to greatly increase the speed of computers.


I've restart my computer after doing this.. so what's next?? any harm to my computer??

Only troublle with doing what metalX suggested is it will in all probability stop your firewall/antivirus softwtare etc from running as well as possible your video drivers etc. Not really a good idea.

Regards Howard :)

as per the advice given, you can do so, provided you know what ones to leave enabled to keep yourself secure and working.

its best to google each process name and find out what they do before taking them off the list. Otherwise, go and download an app that can make that easier for you like Mike Lin Startup Editor or similar.