by Lizzy Cornwell

Created on: January 20, 2010   Last Updated: August 28, 2010

This day and age we are used to everything happening fast. So, when our computers start slowing down after only six months of use, we get very frustrated. Fortunately, most computers are easy to speed up - all they need is a bit of cleanup, defragmentation, and tweaking. Here are five simple tips that will help you speed up your PC.

1) Get Rid of Junk

Every time you open a document, run an application, or visit a webpage, temporary files are created. These files are also known as junk files, because they can hog your computer. Another source of computer junk is the Windows registry. Every time you install and uninstall software obsolete registry entries are left behind.

Junk files and obsolete registry entries are a big enemy of PC speed and can be responsible for poor computer performance, as well as system crashes.

CCleaner is a free tool that will help you fix both problems. Just launch it, select what you want to cleanup, let it analyse your disk, and then clean the mess. After that's done, go to the Registry section, select which type of entries you want to delete, create a backup, and press Fix All Issues.

2) Defrag Regularly

The next step after cleanup is defragmentation. Fragmented disks can cause a lot of problems, from general system slowdowns to hard drive failures and computer crashes. The hard drive is the slowest part of your computer - disk heads have to move to access files. The more fragmented your drive is, the longer it takes to access a file.

Windows has a built-in defragmenter, but it's very slow and skips too many files. Auslogics Disk Defrag is a great free Windows defragmenter alternative. It can defragment both files and free disk space, which prevents new files from becoming fragmented. It's very fast and extremely easy to use. There is also a portable and a screensaver version available for download.

3) Optimize Appearance Settings

Visual effects take up a lot of system resources and if your computer doesn't have powerful hardware, it's best to adjust Windows appearance settings for best performance. Your Windows won't have that cool look any more, but it's really worth it if speed is your priority. Here's how it's done:

*   Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel

*   In the Control Panel click System and go to the Advanced tab

*   In the Performance Options window select Adjust for best performance

*   Click OK and close the window

This will turn off all

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