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How to Make Your Computer Run Faster 1,353,513 views 72 Editors Edited17 hours agoTwo Methods:WindowsMacintoshHave you noticed that your computer runs slower than before? Or just slowly in general? Try these strategies to make your Windows or Mac computer run faster.Method 1 of 2: Windows1. 1Check your hard disk space.As a rule, you want to keep at least 15% of the hard disk space free to keep the computer running smoothly. Simply go toMy Computer, right-click onLocal Drive, and go toProperties. There you'll see a pie chart of your free versus used space. If its mostly full, you'll want to start by removing unnecessary programs and files; if its not, you probably want to tackle the actual way your computer operates.Ad2. 2Remove any programsyou do not use. Go toControl Panel>Add or Remove Programs(orUninstall a Program, depending on your operating system) to find a master list of programs installed on your computer. Some things will strike you as useless immediately, in which case you can remove them right away. Others wont look familiar to you and may require you some research. It may help to see how often you use the program. If you right-click one of the column titles above your program list (ex. Name, Publisher, Size, Installed On, etc.), you should be able to add additional characteristics by which to judge your programs. For example, findLast Used Onon the list of options and check it; a column displaying the last time you used each program will now appear and can also be used to sort your programs. Some programs will not have been used in years and may be candidates for deletion.

When in doubt, don't remove anything you dont recognize; it may be critical to the function of your computer and if you delete twelve different things only to discover that your computer no longer works properly, it will be very difficult to determine where exactly you went wrong. Don't forget to empty your recycling bin.

3. 3Prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the computer boots.The more programs try to run while your computer initializes, the slower your startup time will be. Revise your startup programs byaltering your system configuration via MSConfig.4. 4Change power options in Control Panel, to High Performance if you have a Desktop PC as it may prevent Hardware Throttling by Manufacturer!5. 5Disable any programs which run in the background.Background applications can take up valuable CPU cycles and ram, so disable the ones you don't need.6. 6Remove any unnecessary entries from the Windows Context menu.Several programs vie to sit in your context menu, and if you're not actively using them, disabling them will get your context menu to show up much faster the next time you bring it up.7. 7Install ananti-virus program,spyware scanner, and an anti-malware also Microsoft Security essentials works well.The fewer bugs, viruses, and bits of adware your computer has to manage, the more time it will have to devote to other processes. While you're at it, make a point of keeping Windows up-to-date; not only will this keep Windows itself in better shape, but some viruses ride in on Windows updates that are downloaded way after the fact (and therefore not monitored as closely). While installing an anti-virus program will actually slow down your computer, malware will slow it down much more. If you're 100 percent sure that viruses aren't going to infect you due to your safe computing habits, you might want to disable or remove your anti virus utility.8. 8Run a Disk Cleanup.This can clean up hundreds of megabytes of temporary files sometimes even gigabytes (if you have Windows XP, Vista, or 7). It will also open a window in which you can chose what to delete. Go toMy Computer, right-click theHard Driveand selectProperties, and then clickDisc Cleanup(within the General tab). Check all the boxes except for the game files and setup files.9. 9Get an SSD.Solid State Drives (SSD's) can complement or replace your hard disk, and they are faster and much more secure than hard drives.10. 10Run aDisk Defragment.This will reconfigure the way the hard drive stores information for maximum efficiency. Go toMy Computer, right-click theHard Driveand selectProperties, then go to theToolstab and clickDefragment Now.11. 11Check for any disk errors.These will also slow your computer down. Go toMy Computer, right-click theHard Driveand selectProperties, then go to theToolstab and clickCheck Nowunder theError-Checking area. When the dialogue box opens, check both boxes. If you get a window saying that Windows can't check the disk while it's in use, click onSchedule Disk Checkand thenOK. It will run on your next reboot.12. 12Turn off indexing.Go toMy Computer, right-click theHard Driveand selectProperties, then unclick the box indicating that the drive should be indexed. Don't do this if you actually use any of the Windows Search functionality. The background indexing is what makes those searches fast and Windows is already very good about not getting in your way to do indexing while you're trying to do something else.13. 13Clear your Prefetch folder.Windows saves a file of the program you are using to make it start up faster. After years of use, this folder gets stuffed with irrelevant programs. Open Notepad and type:del C:\Windows\Prefetch\*.* /QRundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks(Copy and paste this text to ensure you dont make any mistakes.)

Save asfaster.bat(the .bat extension will run it as a batch file).

Run it! Simply double-click the file to initialize. In a few moments, the command prompt will disappear and your programs should run more smoothly.

14. 14Change Prefetch Parameters.This a dangerous task to complete unless you follow these steps exactly. If you're not sure about anything, dont continue. Go toStart>Runand typeregeditto initialize the registry editor.

Go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Control>Session Manager>Memory Management>Prefetch Parametersto access the parameters.

Double-clickEnablePrefetcher.Once the new window pops up, there should be a small, editable text box with the number 3 in it. (Windows allows 4 options: 0, 1, 2 and 3.) 3, the default, fetches everything.

Change this to2. Your PC will boot a lot faster and your PC performance shouldn't be affected.

ClickOKand thencloseregedit.

15. 15Disable any fancy Windows effects.Go to Control Panel>System>Advanced System Settings and click on the bullet which says 'Adjust for best performance'.16. 16Add RAM to your computer.To see if you need more RAM, initialize theWindows Task Managerby pressingCTRL+ALT+DELETE. Under thePerformancetab, find the area devoted toPhysical Memory. If theFreeamount hovers around zero but the computer is still slow, you may need to take your computer in to add RAM or evenadd more RAM yourself.17. 17Restart your computer.The computer usually needs to reboot to implement changes.18. 18Remove gadgets you don't use.All gadgets that are running slow down your computer.19. 19Log off the users who do not want the computer.Switch user your account then if you see that many users are logged in, log them off.

Method 2 of 2: Macintosh1. 1Check your hard disk space.As a rule, you want to keep around 30% of the hard disk space free to keep things running smoothly. Simply right-click theHard Driveicon on your desktop and go toGet Info.2. 2Uninstall unnecessary programs.You can eitheruninstall them manuallyordownload a program to help you sort and delete them. Some things will strike you as useless immediately, in which case you can remove them right away. Others wont look familiar to you and may require you to do some research. When in doubt, don't remove anything you dont recognize; it may be critical to the function of your computer and if you delete twelve different things only to discover that your computer no longer works properly, it will be very difficult to determine where exactly you went wrong.3. 3Delete files you don't need.Unless you have very little storage space on your computer or simply have an abundance of unnecessary documents, deleting small files won't make much of an impact on your computers overall function. However, any large files like movies you never watch, photos you don't need, or songs you never listen to can really gum up the works and should definitely be removed. Don't forget to empty your trash bin.4. 4Prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the Mac boots.The more programs try to run while your computer initializes, the slower everything will be. Go toSystem>Preferences>Accounts>Login Items. Select any items you dont need and click the minus (-) sign to remove them.5. 5Repair the disk.Go toApplications>Utilities>Run Disk Utilityto repair both the disk and the disk permissions. Its a good idea to run this once a month or at least once every few months.6. 6Remove unnecessary dashboard widgets.Even if you dont have the dashboard activated, these widgets can eat up RAM by running background updates while you try to do other things. If you have OS X 10.4.2 or later, simply use the Widget Manager: go to theDashboardand open theWidget Barby clicking the plus (+) sign; clickManage Widgetsand then either deselect widgets to disable them or, if theyre third-party widgets, remove them completely by pressing thered delete button, which is a circle with a line through it, and clickOKto confirm.7. 7If you use Mac OS X, download a free program called Monolingual.With OS X, much of your computers hard disk is devoted to virtual memory and gets eaten up by language-availability software. Monolingual will allow you to remove languages you dont use on in order to free up space.AdAre you an expert onPain relief?If so, share what you know aboutcontrolling pain.Please be as detailed as possible in your explanation. We will take your detailed information, edit it for clarity and accuracy, and incorporate it into an article that will help thousands of people.Top of FormTell us everything you know here.Remember, more detail is better.Bottom of FormTips It is best tocreate a System Restore pointbefore you uninstall any programs or make any changes, so you can revert your computer back to a safe point if anything goes wrong. As a general rule, it is best not to fiddle with anything you are not sure about. Try reading through several guides on the web to understand what you are doing before you do it. If you want to be really careful, install a virtual machine and experiment with changes there before doing it on your pc. A clean install of the operating system will make your pc run much faster, but will erase all your files.AdWarnings Never delete system32 files on Windows!These are critical to running the OS correctly and will break your computer. Do not delete "shared" files!Sometimes, a program you dont want shares files with programs you do want, making those files unsuitable for deletion. Deleting the incorrect shared file can have wide-ranging consequences.


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