I am going to give you tips on how to utilize all system resources you may have on your end such as the size of your hard drive, your system RAM and your operating system itself.

Operating System

As for anyone using the computer for their everyday task; for the job, entertainment or just for their random internet browsing, maybe the term (Operating System) (OS) is not totally new for you. The longer you use the computer, the longer you interact with it, so you would probably get more familiarized on how to manipulate it more effectively to satisfy your requirements. Unfortunately, like our heart, it should be checked regularly especially when the system is on its later part of its life. In human, the general knowledge is, when a person reaches forty, visit to a doctor becomes a must. Well you may not want to use your computer for forty years so the comparison in my opinion is just six months for a computer to have its first checkup.

 The first thing I would recommend is a full physical examination. It may include cleaning the individual computer part, upgrading something like the memory card or change a damaged component although it is rare. You can do it yourself or if you want, computer technicians are always ready to get your money and do the work for you.

 Next is your OS.I’ll discuss here about the Windows operating system in particular as I never used the other choices available on the market.

Sometimes the most affected when you use your system more often is the Windows registry. This is where all of the system settings are stored. So when you install and uninstall a program, you also modify the contents of the registry and overtime, some issues will arise if you don’t maintain it regularly. You can access it by typing the word “regedit” (without the quote) on the run dialog box if you want to manually delete anything but be very careful or I advise you to just seek for help if you’re unsure with what you are doing.

Your hard disk and your RAM

Do you perform Disk cleanup? It is a builtin feature of Windows but again other utility software have this also on their options. To use it, right click the drive you want to clean for example your C drive, then click properties.

Note: To do this, click start, then click Computer or MyComputer to see the list of your drives.

It deletes the junk files like the files from the temp folder. You can free more disk space by doing this weekly and you can also prevent further problems.C cleaner can do just the same.

Another utility that is included in MS Windows that you can use is the Disk Defragmenter. Acording to Wikipedia, it is a computer program designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique commonly known as defragmenting. The purpose is to optimize the time it takes to read and write files to/from the disk by minimizing head travel time and maximizing the transfer rate. As of Windows XP, Disk Defragmenter is also used to improve system startup times. I defragment my hardrive once a month or once every two months but the choice is all yours; but you need to know that it’s best to do this at night as it will take a few minutes or even hours to complete depending on your system resources.

Note: You can still use your computer during the process.

One third party software I know which also has this feature is System Mecanic but I haven’t used it for years now and I’m unsure about its effectiveness compared to the one already included with Windows.

Programs that Run when Windows Starts

 

 You can use MS Config (another feature of windows) to control which programs or drivers should be on start-up to reduce the load of your memory (RAM) when you log on to Windows.

 Type “MS Config” (without quotes) on the run dialog box. Then, go to Startup page and uncheck everything you don’t want to automatically start everytime you use your system. Don’t forget to press Apply and OK button. Sometimes, the computer requires you to restart but you can do it later.

There is also a small utility software which you can use for this task and is called (Autoruns) and can be downloaded from Microsoft’s website.

 These are just few of the things you can explore if you think you want your system perform to its best specially when you’re considered as a “heavy user” a formal term for “computer addict”; just kidding!

On my next articles, I’ll be discussing more on  this topic like how to choose a good security software, what do I think is the best free anti-virus, how to go online safely etc.

Enjoy with your computer and be safe always!