In these tough economic times, replacing a notebook computer is not a desired expense. Many people believe that when their "older" notebooks are slowing down, then that means it's time for a new one. However, much of the slowing down can be limited. The computer speed is the same as when you bought it, but the clutter of the figurative gears is getting in its way.
So, here are a few tips for refreshing your notebook (many of them are not new or original, but friendly reminders.).
- Get Rid of The Junk: Your hard drive accumulates many unnecessary files - old download files, internet cache, etc. Clean it up. Delete away! You can recover several gigabytes worth of hard drive space without spending time and money needlessly searching for a larger replacement drive.
- Defrag, Baby!: As you create, delete, and download files, your computer cannot store data as one unit and instead Your computer will split it up data and store pieces in various drive locations as you create, delete, etc. This fragmented hard drive has a large amount of such scattered data and can significantly slow PC performance because files take longer to open and programs take longer to start. Running a basic defragment program on the drive helps re-organize it, so some of the speed should return.
- Clean up the Registry, too: Inaccurate registry references frequently cause computer crashes and lock-ups, while a scattered and bloated registry wastes system memory and slows down Windows processing. With a cleaned-up and defragmented registry, programs will load faster and you’ll be able to run more items at the same time, without the extra RAM.
- Get Rid of Those Unnecessary Windows Startup Programs: Think of them as advertising shortcuts. Do you really need them all to be hanging out waiting? Many software programs will load unnecessary portions of themselves during startup eating up both memory and processor power. Say bye bye to them.
Hopefully these small tips can help. As always, you can always call us at PC Fixer to help or do them for you. One service call is a lot cheaper than a new notebook.
