How to Make Your Laptop Go Faster

Your laptop's loading time doesn't have to put you to sleep.

When your laptop seems to be dragging and it takes longer than it should for files to load, you can take steps to speed up the laptop. The steps can take upward of an hour, depending on the number of files and programs on your laptop. That time invested, however, can save you considerably in computer performance time.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Delete any files you no longer need. Press the "Windows" key and "E" on your keyboard to open Windows Explorer, where you can view all of your computer's contents. Uninstall any program that you don't use by clicking "Start," "Control Panel" and the "Uninstall a program" link under Programs.

2. Erase your browsing history. Delete files left by browsers and programs. In Firefox, click "Tools" and then "Clear Recent History." In Internet Explorer, click "Tools" and "Delete browsing history."

3. Defragment your hard drive. This procedure compresses the data and files in your laptop, resulting in more space on your hard drive. Click "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and "Disk Defragmenter."

4. Run Disk Cleanup. This utility searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files. Click "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and then "Disk Cleanup."

5. Scan your computer for spyware and other malware, then run your antivirus software to do a full or deep scan of your whole computer. If you don't have these types of programs, you can download free versions from free.avg.com, safer-networking.org and malwarebytes.org.

Tips & Warnings

• If your laptop is still slow, consider adding more memory (RAM) to your computer.

References

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

Resources

• AVG Anti-Virus Free: Download
• Spybot Search & Destroy: Download
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: Download