How to Make Your Computer Run Faster and Smoother

Speed up your computer!

If your computer is running slower than normal or if your computer is locking up on you, there are some steps you can take to make it run faster, smoother, and better. This article will show you how!

Instructions

1. If you have anti-virus and anti-spyware software, you should first run this to make sure it's not a virus slowing down your computer.

2. Next, empty your browser's cache. This is very easy to do and is one of the best ways to make your computer faster.

   Firefox browser:
   http://www.ehow.com/how_4741605_delete-browsing-history-firefox.html

   Internet Explorer browser:
   http://www.ehow.com/how_4745564_delete-browsing-history-internet-explorer.html

   Safari browser:
   http://www.ehow.com/how_4750745_delete-browsing-history-safari.html

3. Remove applications you no longer use. Applications take up space on your hard drive, and it's always worth keeping your computer's hard drive uncluttered.

   To delete an application in Windows to help make your computer run faster and smoother:
   Go to: Start > Control Panel. Double-click Add or Remove Programs. Find the program you wish to remove, click on the name of the program, and click remove. If you receive a prompt asking you if you want to remove the program, select yes.

   To delete an application on a Mac computer or laptop to help make it run faster and smoother:
   Clearing applications on a Macintosh computer isn't as easy as it is on Windows. Many people just drag and drop the application's icon into the trash. While that gets rid of the icon and some of the application's parts, it does not get out ALL of the program in most cases. Many programs also leave a file in the LIbrary's System Preferences. You could delete that program's system preference file, but that still might not delete the whole program. It's recommended that you get a program specifically for deleting applications on Mac. AppCleaner is a free (donation-based), easy to use program that will delete ALL of an application's files. Install AppCleaner and run it. Instead of dragging and dropping an application's icon into Trash, you drag and drop it into AppCleaner. Easy! There are other programs similar to this one online, such as AppDelete and AppZapper.

   Always be very careful when you delete files to be sure you don't delete something important to your computer. It's generally somewhat difficult to do so, but always possible.

4. Empty your recycle bin (Trash if you're on a Mac). If your computer begins running out of hard drive space, it will eventually slow down. Go through your computer and clean it out, deleting duplicate files and files you don't need anymore and throwing them out. Get an external hard drive to store files you want to keep but do not need frequent access to. (Be sure to back up your external hard drive if you won't be keeping the original files on your computer!)

5. If you are on a Windows computer, run Disk Defragmenter. If you are on a Mac, run the Disk Utility called Repair Permissions.

   Disk Defragmenter:
   Go to: Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
   Press Analyze once in the program too see if your computer should be defragmented, and if so click the Defragment button when ready.

   Mac's Repair Permissions:
   Go to Applications > Utilities.
   Double click Disk Utilities.
   Select your startup disk.
   Go to First Aid > Repair Permissions.

   This will repair any invalid permission settings on your computer that might be slowing it down.

6. If the above steps do not work, you might want to see how much memory your computer has so you can determine whether or not it's time for an upgrade. To do this, copy and paste the following link in your browser or see the resources section below: http://www.ehow.com/how_4747380_how-much-memory-computer-has.html

Resources

• See How Much Memory Your Computer Has