Hey Guys,

Since its spring and I had a spare few hours I decided to spring clean my computer. I download at least one program a day, sometimes a lot more so I have to keep on top of things I use and I don’t use. The reason I download so many programs is because I like testing and trying new things. The internet is full of great freeware and I just cant get enough of it.

When I install software I tend to forget about it, and just clogs up my computer and can make it slower and not-as-powerful. I am going to take you guys through what I do. I really should do this sequence every week, or at least twice a month but time isn’t really on my side. Anyway heres the steps I take to making my computer faster/better/run smoother.

1. Uninstall Programs
As I said above I download a lot of programs, know if I just left all those programs on I would run out of space on my two hard-drives. I use a program called Revo Uninstaller, now this program is a lot better than the standard uninstaller that is found on most computers under the control panel. Revo Uninstaller scans your computer for all applications and games and will allows you to unistall them.

You simply select a program you don’t want anymore and click Uninstall, this will start the uninstall process, after the program has been uninstalled, Revo Uninstaller will look in your registry and look for folders that were not deleted in the uninstall process. If you use the Windows XP built in uninstaller, there is a high chance it will leave folders and registry entry’s on your computer, this can slow it down!

Once I have uninstalled all my programs that I do not use/need anymore I will look in MSCONFIG.

2. Managing Start-up Programs
I am a great fan of fast start up! This tip I am about to share has been posted all over the internet and its nothing new. Go to the start menu (or press the windows key) and click Run, then type msconfig:

Then press ok. This should show a box something like this:

Click the Startup tab and you will find all the items/programs that run on start-up. Now I have very little running on start-up, just basic things such as my sound card controller, anti-virus and thats it really. Nice and quick to load! I would recommend doing this as it can save a lot of loading time on start-up. After your have deselected the items you dont want, click Apply and restart your computer.

3. Defragmentation
I am not going to go into great detail as to what this does to your computer as it get a bit on the technical side, but if you do not defrag weekly then start now. You will notice a huge improvement if you have never done a defrag before as it sorts your whole computer out. I do this last because I have just uninstalled so many different pieces of software, you computer will feel the affects!

I do not use Windows built in defraggmentor, but I use AusLogic Disk Defrag, the reason I don’t use Windows Vista one is because it doesn’t show you graphically what its doing, but AusLogic Disk Defrag does, which is really nice. Your first defrag might take a few hours depending on how many files you have, also it can vary between processor speed.

Once I have done all that I will restart my computer and make sure everything is ok. I usually do see a difference in speed and things are more responsive. So try out the above tips, you might get your computer back on track!

Thanks,

WizzKid