How to Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly

Learn how to keep your computer running smoothly and avoid freeze ups, crashes, and sluggishness.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer

1. Get Rid of Unused Programs
   Computers come with a dazzling array of stuff on them, but a lot of it is free trials, and if you don't buy the full version, the trial sits on your computer taking up space. Other programs are things you don't really use and can also be removed. Make sure you are logged on as an administrator or know the administrator password if you are not. If you have Windows, go to your start menu button on the bottom left of your computer screen. On the right hand side of the menu you will see an icon for Control Panel. Click on that. A window will pop up with a lot of icons on it. Depending on your version of Windows, this will come up in Classic View or Category View, but either way is fine. Look for the icon that says Add or Remove programs and click on it. This will bring up a window listing every program you have installed on your hard drive. You DO NOT want to get rid of anything that says Microsoft or Service Pack or Driver, as removing these will cause you serious problems. But, you can get rid of those free trials, like Norton or BitDefender, as well as anything you don't use, like games or DVD maker software. If you aren't sure what you can get rid of, shoot me a message and I will be happy to help. And don't worry, Windows has a recovery system built in, so if you do get rid of something you need, you can go back an reinstall it later.

2. Clean Your Hard Drive
   One of the easiest ways to help your computer remain at optimal performance is to regularly clean your hard drive. As a technology coordinator for a small school, I have to deal with a lot of junk that kids put on computers, and I always start out by doing this. If you are on the internet a lot, as I am, I would recommend once every 1-2 weeks. If you have Windows, go to your start menu button on the bottom left of your computer screen. Click on All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools. Under System Tools there are several options; click on Disk Cleanup. A window will pop up asking what drive you would like to clean; select (C:)and click on OK. Don't select (D:). That is your recovery drive and you should not take things off of it yourself. Your hard drive will automatically be checked for unused files, errors, messages sent to Microsoft, things in your recycle bin, and other information your computer keeps but doesn't really need. When it is finished, another window will pop up listing everything that the cleaner found. You can check the boxes that have information you no longer need (usually most boxes) and click OK. The cleaner gets rid of the junk and helps keep your computer happy. Depending on how many bytes the cleaner found, this can take from a minute to 10 minutes.

3. Defragment Your Hard Drive
   Running the defragmenter can cause your other programs to run slowly, so it is best to do this when you are not planning on using your computer. If your computer is running Windows XP, you need to do this manually. Go to your start menu button on the bottom left of your computer screen. Click on All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools. Under System Tools there are several options; click on Disk Defragmenter. A screen will come up that says Disk Defragmenter at the top. Click on the drive (either (C:) or (D:)) you want to defragment and click on Analyze at the bottom. The computer will check and see if you need to defragment or not, and a screen will pop up saying either to defragment of that you do not need to defragment. If you need to, select defragment, if not, close the window. It will run automatically in the background and close itself when it's done. If your computer has Vista, it is probably set up to do this on a schedule, automatically, without you ever having to worry about it. The problem with that is that some people don't have their computers on when the defragmenter is set to run, so it never actually gets done. There are two ways around this. First is to change the schedule. Go to your start menu button on the bottom left of your computer screen. Click on All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools. Under System Tools there are several options; click on Disk Defragmenter. The Disk Defragmenter window will pop up. You can choose to remain on a schedule, but you might have to change the time. To do this, click on modify schedule and choose how often, what day, and what time you want to run it. Once a week is usually best. If you do not want to change the schedule, click defragment now and the defragmenter will run on its own in the background and close down when it is finished.
   
   That's it! Try to follow thes steps regularly and your computer should run better and make you a happier person!

[tnpos]

on 7/1/2009 Well written! Thank You for sharing! 5 and rec! PaL