How to Clean and Increase Computer Speed

A bogged-down computer runs at a turtle's pace.

If you're tired of waiting for webpages to load and/or your computer is slow even starting up, it may need to be freed from clutter. Over time, files get added to your computer and weigh it down. When your computer is close to reaching its storage capacity, it slows down. Viruses, malware and spyware can also negatively affect a computer's performance. Cleaning your computer can make it run significantly faster. You can clean your temporary files, your hard drive and any malware you accrued.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Internet

Instructions

1. Clear your Web browser history. Click the "Tools" menu in Internet Explorer, and then click "Delete browsing history." In Firefox, click the "Firefox" button, hold your mouse over "HIstory" and click "Clear Recent History."

2. Run Disk Cleanup. Click "Start," type "disk cleanup" into the search box and press "Enter." After the program calculates how much disk memory it can free, a new window will display, giving you options of what you can delete. Check the box next to each file type you want to delete and un-check any that you don't want to delete. Click "OK" to run the program.

3. Scan for malware. Your computer may have adware, spyware, trojans or harmful viruses attacking its ability to process at a normal speed. Download and install an anti-spyware program, such as Spybot Search & Destroy (safer-networking.org) or SuperAntiSpyware (superantispyware.com). Update the latest virus/spyware/malware definitions and then run a full system scan. It can take multiple hours run this scan, depending on the number of files on your computer. Quarantine and/or delete anything the scan reveals.

4. Run Disk Defragmenter. Click "Start," type "disk defragmenter" into the search box and press "Enter." Click the drive you want to clean and click the "Analyze disk" button. After analyzing your hard drive, your computer will let you know if you need to defragment or not. If your computer needs a defrag, click "Defragment disk."

Tips & Warnings

• After deleting your passwords and form data by cleaning your browser history, you will need to type these in the next time you visit websites that require them.

References

• Microsoft at Work: How to Make a Computer Faster - 6 Ways to Speed Up Your PC

Resources

• SuperAntiSpyware
• Spybot Search & Destroy