You've had your computer for years and it's starting to show. You find yourself cursing at your computer more and more for being unbelievably slow and now you're starting to experience crashes and dreaded stop error codes. You decide that you've had enough and you want to buy a new computer. If you have a really old computer then it might be time, but if you've only had your PC for a few years then it might not be worth the expense. Besides, new computers never really stay fast for very long.
A PC's performance can wither from age but this isn't the main cause of slow down. They simply get unnecessarily pushed to their limits. Serial down-loaders like to download and install programs like it's Christmas, even if they will never ever use them. Lack of hard disk space because of excessive programs will slow your PC down. Hold your horses though, because there's a right and wrong way to remove programs.
Poor removal of programs leaves behind useless registry keys and unneeded drivers and files. Registry problems cause software and hardware incompatibilities as well as the notorious unmountable boot volume blue screen, or BSOD. Resintalling Windows is a possible solution for slow computers, but it's a bit of bother. A fast computer you will get, but you'll have to add any updates and programs back on that were removed during the reinstall.
There's a simpler way to keep your computer running smoothly and speedily and that's by continuous maintenance. Yes, it sounds like work but once you get into the habit of maintaining your computer it'll take just minutes a day. It's also a far better choice than experiencing computer crashes and blue screen error codes. The following are some maintenance tips you can start today:
Firstly, avoid installing programs you don't need. With so many free applications on the Net, you might get addicted to adding new ones to your computer, but don't. Go to your programs and note all the ones that you have used in the past 2 months. I'm pretty sure you don't even know what half of them even do.
Once you have a list of programs you don't need, you can begin to remove them one by one. Uninstall programs the correct way by using the Remove Programs utility. Delete any old files and folders that you don't need anymore. For data you want to keep, such as music and photos, you can move them to an external USB drive or copy them onto disk. Making more memory available will make your computer run faster.
Defragment your drive several times a month to help speed up programs and use the Clean Disk utility to delete temporary files. Applications that start automatically during startup slows your computer down. If you see lots of application icons on the bottom right toolbar that you don't use, disable the auto-start function on each one. Of course, antivirus and auto-update functions should be left on. If you feel comfortable in doing so, you can also use the msconfig command and disable any startup programs. You will notice that your PC doesn't lag as much during boot-up and shutdown on doing this.
Lastly, daily scanning of your PC with an antivirus program should be carried out. You'll be surprised at how many nasty bugs your PC can pick up from surfing the Net nowadays. Bots, Trojans, viruses and malware can render your PC useless and even steal personal data. You'll be surprised on how much faster you can get your PC running from the tips mentioned.
The unmountable boot volume blue screen of death can be fixed easily. Visit my blog on how to stop error codes.
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