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8 Easy Methods To Freeing Up Your Laptop

By: Simon Burdett

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Over the years I've use notebooks, I have noticed a pattern: the longer I've owned a Laptop, the slower it appears to run!

A lot of people will keep their PC until it gets so slow that they think they need a newer, faster model. This is not always the issue.

Some feel like the basis it is getting slower is since it is getting older, when this is clearly not the issue. Your laptop should run just as fast as the day you brought it home – all you need do is apply these 8 simple steps, and your PC will be operating as it have to be! - that is, not freezing up! computer.

1. You have to clear your Tempory Files on a regular basis, at least once a week to be safe. You need to clear this storage space, since it gets filled up with junk files your PC just doesn't need to run, usually from startup. This will slow your computer's processing ability, or run-time, in that way slowing down the launching of your programs and applications. To clear your Temporary Internet Files, you go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Then choose to Delete Cookies and Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files.

2. To further speed things up, close down any programs you aren't using. Unnecessary programs and/or applications that you leave running simply eat up your laptop's run-time, or processing speed, thereby slowing down everything else.

3. Scan your hard disk(s) for errors.In general, the majority notebooks only have one hard disk, while you can obtain another external hardrive for added storage space.

For a Windows 95 onwards, double-click My notebook. Right-click your C-drive, and then click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check your computer for errors. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My notebook. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties, then click on the Tools tab. If you choose to do a Comprehensive Scan, this will check your laptop's hardware for any physical disk damage or sector damage. You may then choose to fix any problems it finds. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top choice is for the file check, and the second preference is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Hit OK, reboot your laptop, then let it run

4. If you can't afford software to tune up your PC for you, they can be pricey, if you have Windows XP, you can reorganize the performance yourself. By default, alas,EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very well-organized for performance, but rather for appearance. That's just Windows for you, like it or leave it. You can turn off a few of the unessential features, and Windows will still work just as well, and perhaps even faster.

To do this, right-click on My notebook and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don’t need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without.

6. Use a high-quality AntiVirus product to prevent viruses from taking over your system, such Norton 360, which I use.

7. Prevent Spyware. A lot of notebook users have Spyware and don’t even know it, and when they're PC alerts them to this fact, they have no idea how to get rid of it. If you've been taken to websites that you had no intention of going to or you get pop-ups when you aren’t even on the Internet, or if your PC has been running very slow of late, for no reason, you almost certainly have Spyware.

In some situations, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, at this point, all you can do is just backup your essentials, and do a total re-boot of your notebook's operating system. This is the final, extreme act, only to be done if you have (a) backed up everything first, and (b) think you have no other option. It is a difficult thing to do, trust me on this, since you know you will only have to set up your PC exactly the way you like it, and this takes time. Again, this is a last resort, so look into all other avenues ahead of doing this.

8. Lastly, Defragment your hard drive(s). NOTE: Your PC requires at at minimum 25% of free space for the Defragmentation to execute. The defragmentation will still work with only 15% free space, but it can take quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any superfluous files before deframenting your drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Laptop, then right-click on the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now…

If you follow these steps, your PC have to start to run a lot faster and more efficiently. It probably won't be running at the speed when it was new; that takes the purchasing of registry cleaning program for that, or an IT person to "clean it out" for you.

Happy 'puting, everyone!

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

My name is Simon Burdett from South Australia, I'm trying to make a living on the 'net. For all your sofware needs, please go my website

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