I'm 40 and stupid

Shrimpers are Magic · Jan 29, 2013

what is a quick and easy way of speeding up your computer ie disc space cpu usage etc.
all less than patronising answers gratefully received !

Jam_Man · Jan 29, 2013

Firstly what operating system are you using ? Windows 7 defrags disks automatically, XP you may want to rund a defrag.

Disk space doesnt generally cause a problem until you run out, so make sure you have plenty.

Check CPU usage in task manager (ctrl, alt and delete to access it). IF its constantly hight check what processes are running and using the CPU.

Having too little memory will cause issues, if you are using XP then 1gb minimum, Windows 7 2gb minimum but more the better.

WightShrimper · Jan 29, 2013

Without opening up the box, just make sure the crap is cleaned out and it is de-fragged. Best free option is to download CCleaner from Piriform, set a restore point (just in case) then run cleaner, and then click on Registry tab and run the cleaner on that. If you have a lot of websites that you use with passwords and such, it might be worth going through the cookie list and stop them from being cleaned out before you do anything else (under options tab).
Probably also worth downloading Defraggler from the same company and then defrag.
After a couple of days, if all is well, also worth going into system tools on windows start menu and going Disk Cleanup-More options-clean up all but most recent restore point......it's amazing how many of these can be stored with resulting clogging.
Other than that, look at how much memory is installed on your computer, it is often the cheapest and easiest way of upgrading performance if there is the bare minimum installed.
Good luck.

Bielzibubz · Feb 6, 2013

On either XP or Windows 7 click the start button and in the box type 'msconfig' and hit enter. In the subsequent box that pops up you'll have the chance to select what you want to stsrt when you boot your computer. This can have a dramatic effect on the overall running speed, especially if it's a bit of an oldish model. Just be careful that you don't un tick anything that your system requires to run smoothly, which you can usually tell from the location or command lists.

See pic

Mr Plow · Feb 6, 2013

Bielzibubz said:
On either XP or Windows 7 click the start button and in the box type 'msconfig' and hit enter. In the subsequent box that pops up you'll have the chance to select what you want to stsrt when you boot your computer. This can have a dramatic effect on the overall running speed, especially if it's a bit of an oldish model. Just be careful that you don't un tick anything that your system requires to run smoothly, which you can usually tell from the location or command lists.

See pic

View attachment 2069

I wouldn't recommend a novice to muck around with msconfig tbh. If a defrag/CClean doesn't help then I'd say ask an IT savvy friend to take a look at the PC and suggest some options.