How to Make Your Computer Run Faster

Before You Begin

1  Back up your computer. Many of us have what feels like our       entire lives stored on our computers-photos of cherished memories,the evolution of our musical taste, school work, tax returns and, more and more, everything we need to do our work . Before making any major changes, it is always a good idea to back up essential files.

• Purchase an external hard drive that is larger than the hard drive you want to back up.Inserting the USB of the external hard drive should automatically prompt your computer to give you the option to use the drive for back up. If you need more help, read the wikiHow article about how to back up a hard drive.
• If you are worried about losing or damaging an external hard drive, you can back up important files online. Subscribe to a secure back up service (like Carbonite or SOS Online Backup). You can set your computer to back up to the cloud on a schedule or even every time you make a change to a file.[3]
• You can always back up onto CDs or DVDs, but keep them in a safe place so they are not scratched, broken, or damaged.

2 Restart your computer. This can temporarily speed up a slow   computer by refreshing the memory. Restart, or completely shutdown the computer, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on.Make sure you save any projects you are working on before turning off your computer!g we need to do our work . Before making any major changes, it is always a good idea to back up essential files.

For Windows 

1  Check your hard disk space first. Go to My Computer, right-click Local Drive, then click Properties. There you'll see a pie chart of your free versus used space. If the disk is mostly full, you will need to remove programs and files; if there's still plenty of room, there may be something wrong with your operating system.

• As a rule, you want to keep at least 15% of the hard disk space free to keep the computer running smoothly.
• If you find you simply need more space, consider buying and installing a Solid State Drive (SSD) to complement or replace your hard disk. They are faster and much more secure than hard drives.ck up essential files.

2  Remove any programs you do not use. Go to Control Panel, then click Add or Remove Programs (or "Uninstall a Program", depending on your operating system) to find a master list of programs installed on your computer. Some things will strike you as useless immediately, in which case you can remove them right away. Others won’t look familiar to you and may require some research.

• It may help to see how often you use the program. If you right-click one of the column titles above your program list, you should be able to add additional characteristics by which to organize your programs. Check Last Used On and a column displaying the last time you used each program will appear. This will quickly show you which programs you use frequently and the ones you haven't used in years.
• Don't forget to empty your recycling bin.

3    Prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the computer boots up. Some programs may start as soon as you turn on your computer, running in the background so they will load quickly when you open them. Open the Start Menu and run a search for "msconfig". Click on Startup to see a list of all the programs that run when you boot up your computer and uncheck anything unnecessary.

• You can also check the taskbar to see which programs are running on start up (be sure to click Show Hidden Icons so you don't miss any). 

4  Change the power plan of your desktop computer to High Performance. Go to the Control Panel and select Power Options. You will find a list of power plans, usually Balanced, Power Saver, and High Performance. These settings control how your computer uses power--either by lowering performance to optimize battery life, maximizing performance with major power consumption, or a balance between the two. Selecting High Performance may increase the speed and overall performance of your computer.[5]

• This is only helpful if you have a desktop PC--using the High Performance setting on a laptop will drain your battery power.

5  Remove any unnecessary entries from the Windows Context Menu. The context menu is the menu that pops up when you right-click something. Sometimes programs will ask to be added to the menu, others will add themselves automatically. To remove programs, press ⊞ Win+R to open the Run box. Type in regedit and click OK.Click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT → * → shellex → ContextMenuHandlers. From this list, delete the applications you don't want to be included in the context menu.

• Be extremely careful whenever editing something using the Registry, as using it incorrectly can damage your system. If you're not comfortable using regedit, try searching for freeware that will allow you to edit your Context Menu.

6  Install an anti-virus program, spyware scanner, and an anti-malware. The fewer bugs, viruses, and bits of adware your computer has to manage, the more time it will have to devote to other processes.

• Keep Windows up-to-date. Not only will this keep Windows itself running smoothly, but some viruses ride in on Windows updates that are downloaded long after the update is available (and therefore are not monitored as closely).

7  Run a Disk Cleanup. This can clean up hundreds of megabytes by deleting temporary files, unnecessary system files, and emptying your recycling bin.[9] Click My Computer, right-click Hard Drive, then click Properties. Click Disc Cleanup (within the General tab). A window will pop up asking which files you'd like to remove. Check those you wish to delete and run the cleanup.

• You'll want to keep any game files (unless you want to delete your saved games) and setup files.
• If you have multiple drives or a partition, you must select the one you want to be cleaned.

8  Run a Disk Defragment. When data is fragmented, your computer must search for the fragments of files that could be spread all over your hard drive. Defragmenting will organize your data and free up space so your computer can access data faster. Click My Computer, then right-click Hard Drive. After you have right-clicked, click Properties, Tools, then click Defragment Now.

• Fragmented data can be on your hard disk or removable drives, like USB and flash drives.

9   Disable visual effects. There are 20 visual effects you can turn off or on. To turn off all effects and maximize performance, click Control Panel, System, then click Advanced System Settings. Select the bullet which says "Adjust for best performance".

• If you don't want to sacrifice all the visual flair, try selecting the option which says, Let windows choose what's best for my computer.

10   Add RAM to your computer. To see if you need more RAM, initialize the Windows Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del. Under the Performance tab, find the area devoted to Physical Memory (MB). If the number next to "Available" is less than 25% of the Total MB, you may need to add RAM.

• Adding more memory may not necessarily make your computer run faster. If your computer is slow to switch between windows or tasks, or if you often have many browser tabs open at once, additional RAM may help.
• You can take your computer to an expert to add RAM, like the Geek Squad at Best Buy, or you may decide to add more RAM yourself. Just be sure to do your research before attempting to do it on your own.

11  Clear temporary files on your computer. Your computer generates a lot of temporary files each time you boot up and/or use applications. This takes up a considerable amount of space, further slowing down your system. You should clean it whenever you think your PC is slowing down more than usual. To do this, press ⊞ Win+R and then type "%temp%" (without the quotes). Permanently delete (⇧ Shift+Delete) all the files present in the folder. Just skip the files that the system says it was unable to delete.

12  Consider upgrading your computer's hardware. It could be that your computer is running slow because of the old hardware that is running the newer software. When a computer was released the hardware was designed to run a specific OS or software versions. When newer versions of the software was released it was supported by the older hardware but just. The reason your computer may be running slow or freezing is because the older hardware is struggling to keep up with the newer software. Try replacing parts and this may speed your computer up