The shit blog of Paul Chris Jones

Here's a list of things you can do to speed up your computer.

Note: i wrote this post in 2013 and some of the methods may be out of date. Also, I knew less about computers back then than I do now.

1) Close unnecessary programs

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Windows Task manager. Go the the Processes tab and sort the list of programs by Memory. Now close down unnecessary open programs, especially those which are using the most memory. Windows Task Manager makes it very easy to close programs, with the click of one button. For me it's particularly Firefox that uses a lot of memory: but the problem gets worse the longer I have it open for. I'll close and re-open Firefox if it starts noticeably slowing down my computer.

2) Set your computer to high performance

Type power options into the Windows search box and open it. Set your computer to High Performance.

3) Defragment your hard drive

Defragmenting essentially means your computer organises all its data. When files are saved, they can be put in scattered pieces all over the hard drive. It makes the computer have to work hard to search for all the fragments when a file is beign opened. Defragmenting organises fragments together so that it's quicker to open files.

Type defragmenter in the Windows search box and open Disk Defragmenter. From here, you can defragment your hard drive.

4) Delete unnecessary data

I've made an interesting observation that most people have hard drives that are close to being full. No matter what their maximum storage space is - 200, 300, 400GB - they fill it up. It's only when the hard drive is almost full that users start to delete unnecessary files, out of necessity.

Well, you can be proactive and try to free-up as much as you can now. This task is not easy, however. It'll involve you playing as a detective to find out what files exactly are taking up the most space.

1. First, open Computer. Work out how much space your files are taking up by subtracting the amount of free space from maximum hard disk space.

1. Now, open the Computer folder. For each folder do this: Right-click and click Properties. The properties box will open, and the size of the folder will begin to be counted. Wait until it's finished counting then make a note of the size. Compare it to the total size of the files on your hard drive. (Hint: most likely it will be your Users folder that's using the most space.)
2. When you're done, dig deeper until you find the specific folders and files that are taking up the most space. It'll probably be movie files, so you might want to go straight to where you keep these first.

5) Uninstall programs

Press the Window Key and type uninstall a program, then hit Enter. From here, you can uninstall unwanted programs that are taking up disk space.

6) Disable start-up programs

Type msconfig in the Windows search box and open it, which brings up the System Configuration tools. From here, choose the Startup tab. This will show a list of programs that run on your computer's startup.

You may be surprised at how many there are; you may have a lot of programs that monitor for updates. Uncheck the ones you don't need.

7) Run Disk Cleanup

This program deletes unnecessary files, namely:

• temporary internet files
• the contents of the recycle bin
• system error memory dump files

Type disk cleanup in your Windows search box and open it. Choose the disk you want to clean (presumably your hard drive, C:), and choose OK.

You may not free up a lot of space, however. While running disk cleanup just now, I freed up 250MB - not a lot considering my hard drive can hold up to 280GB. To free up extra space it's a much better idea to go through all your personal files and move things you don't use to an external hard drive. By doing this I freed up 100GB.

8) Upgrade your BIOS

I understand the BIOS to be the software your motherboard uses for running the computer. Laptop manufacturers release BIOS updates and apparently upgrading to the most recent can "speed up your boot time and fix annoying issues" (pcworld.com).

You can find your current BIOS version by searching for system information in the Start Menu.

To find if there is an update for your BIOS, you'll have to go your computer's manufacturer's website. Mine is Acer, and the webpage for their BIOS is here.

Actually, installing the new BIOS is extremely easy. It's usually just an EXE file which takes a few minutes to run. The computer then restarts, and that's it. Just make sure your laptop is plugged into the mains first - if your computer runs of out power while the new BIOS is being installed, it can render the computer unusable.