ThePCdoctor Computer and Network Services:  Tips, Tricks and Traps!

 

This discussion is by no means complete, however I do attempt to detail as many general tips that any user can perform to speed their system up to point that it is quite noticeable and appreciable. I also mention a few tricks and traps.

 

 

One of the key elements to increase system performance is the act of running a file defragmenter on your hard disk. Having said that, it makes no sense to defragment a hard disk that is full of clutter, so let’s clean that garbage out.

 

  1. Clean up the clutter. First, run the built in Windows Disk Cleanup tool (right click a hard disk -> disk Cleanup). The process will start and perform steps such as compressing old files (these are files that are seldom used, but necessary). Then you will be presented with a dialog where-in you can choose what to clean up or not. Let him do his job and clean up everything,
  2. Cleanup your Internet Temporary Folder. Run your Internet Browser and use the appropriate Tools option menu choice to clear out temporary Internet files (cache),
  3. Cleanup your desktop. Delete unnecessary or unused shortcuts,
  4. Empty the recycle bin,
  5. Clear your most recent documents. Right click the task bar -> Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize -> Clear. This will clean out recent documents that you have loaded, recent Internet files and a few other useless items,
  6. Speed up your systems video response. By this I mean turn off unnecessary Menu features, such as Scrolling, Right click the desktop -> Properties -> Appearance -> Effects. Enable or Disable features that you feel are (or are not) important,
  7. Run the Windows Defgramentation Tool. Click Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools and choose Disk Defragmenter. Depending on when (or if) this has ever been done, it may take quite awhile. It’s worth it. The built in Windows Defragmenter does an adequate job, but you might want to consider purchasing a third party tool, such as Perfect Disk,
  8. If you are going to install a piece of software, I strongly recommend performing a System Restore! In fact, I recommend doing this periodically. The purpose here is to store a snapshot of your system software and registry settings (amongst other items) so that you can restore it to a previously known state,
  9. Update drivers. This is extremely important. Vendors are always updating drivers for video cards, disk adapters and other key system items. I don’t recommend using Windows Drivers if there is a vendor specific driver available. Google the InterWeb for vendor drivers. Be careful here though, you could render a device (video for example) inoperative. So, what to do it this happens you ask? Go back to System Restore and RESTORE the system! It’s usually that easy to recover from this kind of issue.

 

 

This is by no means a complete list of the steps you can take to increase or improve performance, but for the most part they will help and you should notice a difference.

 

 

So here is a trick to keep in mind. Should you happen to get a Virus or Bot or Trojan that annoyingly changes your Internet browser so that you can’t even browse the web properly, perform a System Restore. It will effectively remove the entry (entries) from the registry, thereby giving you your system back. THEN, run your virus scan on the Documents and Settings folder. All should be well (or at least better).