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Computers, you can't live with them, and you can't live without them. When they start to clog up and become sluggish, living without them becomes more appealing. While computers naturally tend to get slower over time, there are several things you can do to improve their working speed. This is a quick guide to provide basic tips on how to deal with speed issues.

*Clean the registry. All applications ever installed on your machine are registered with the operating system. Programs and files that have been deleted are still logged in the registry, and your machine will 'hang' because it is trying to find components that are no longer there. So buy a good registry cleaner, like Registry Fix, which will scan your registry and remove any errant files.

*Defragment the hard-disk. Your system is designed to place persistent memory in certain locations on the disk drive. These aren't necessarily in a logical order and parts of files can be in separate locations. Again, the computer may hang while looking for separate parts of files. For this there is a defragment option as part of your system. On Windows systems go to Start > Settings > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Using this will tidy up the hard-drive, helping it to retrieve data faster.

*Clear the browser cache. If your computer seems to be at its slowest when you are browsing the Internet, your cache could be holding you back. Every browser has one of these caches (known as Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer), which can hold up to several megabytes of stored web-pages. It is a good idea to clear these on a regular basis. In Internet Explorer go to Tools > Internet Options > Delete Files. You can also try clearing your history and cookie lists, also found under Internet Options, as these will also add to the time it takes for your browser to download sites.

*Install a Security Suite. Companies like Norton and McAfee provide a complete security suite including ant-virus software, a firewall and spy-blocker. Internet threats can seriously damage your computer as well as slow it down considerably. There should be nobody, in this day and age, who takes Internet security lightly. If you go on-line, you need to be protected. Install the highest security applications you can afford and set them to update, and scan your computer, regularly.

*Restore the system. Over time all computers tend to get clogged up with bits of program and various chunks of code that do nothing but slow your machine

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