Below are some steps that will you optimize your PC within just a few minutes. You can expect some great performance gains with these tweaks, but some of them are trial and error. Depending on your PC, some tweaks will work better than others.

Remove Startup Programs

Removing startup programs will decrease boot time as well as making your computer far more responsive.

Many programs run at boot time and then the process continues to run during your work session. By removing unnecessary services, you can regain a ton of performance.

To do this, type in “msconfig” in the quick search box. Or in the Run window if using XP.

Click on the Startup tab and remove any programs that you do not need. Be careful here, don’t remove anything you are not completely sure of.

Cleanup the Disk

Cleaning up your disk should be done to improve computer performance and also to free up space on your hard drive. As time goes on, plenty of junk can build up on your hard drive and this slows things down.

To do this, we use a tool called disk cleanup. This will remove temp files files, empty the recycle bin, remove temporary internet files and remove programs and components no longer in use.

1) Click start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup

2) If you have multiple hard drives, you will need to select the drive you wish to clean up, then select ok.

3) When the disk cleanup begins, it will take a few minutes to analyze your disk. This will vary depending on disk size and the number of files.

4) On the disk cleanup menu, you can now choose which items to remove. It will also provide a calculation of how much disk space will be gained.

5) If you wish to clean up Windows components and programs, click on the more options tab. You can then remove programs/components by clicking the Clean up button and selecting which programs/components to remove.

Disk Defragmentation

Files stored on your computer are often fragmented, with parts of the file stored separately across the hard drive. This fragmentation can make data access quite slow.

By running the disk defragmentation tool, it attempts to store the files in one piece, which makes data access faster and improves overall PC performance

To defragment your hard drive:

1) Click start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

2) The screen will display your hard drives and the capacity, free space, etc. You can then choose which hard drive to fragment and click Defragment. The Analyze button will give an estimate of how long the defragment process will take. In some cases, this might be a while, so you may want to click the Analyze button before performing the defrag.

Once your defrag is done, you can view a report. When you are done, click close.

Remove Spyware and Adware

It is amazing to see how many users actually have Spyware or Adware on their system, but they are completely unaware. In the majority of slow computer complaints, this is the culprit.

There is not much else to say here. You need to scan your PC for Spyware and Adware, and then remove it. There are some good products out there. If you need help, check out our downloads page, for an excellent product.

Remove Unwanted Software and Applications

If you have owned your computer for a while, it is probably packed with all kinds of software and applications. I bet that you probably don’t even use half of these. So now is a good time to remove them.

When you have tons of unnecessary software on your computer, it is going to slow it down and waste disk space too. By de-cluttering, you will get a boost in performance.

The best way to remove programs is from the Add/Remove programs section of the Control Panel. Always remove software here. Do not just delete software folders, because entries will still remain in the Registry. Use the uninstaller.

Use a Registry Cleaner

Registry cleaners provide an excellent boost in performance. Essentially they clean out the Registry and help to fix errors on your PC. The performance gains can vary, from little to massive. It all depends on how cluttered the PC is to start off with.

We recommend Registry cleaners for general optimization and PC maintenance. You can download both free and paid versions. They cost only a few bucks for the good ones, so it is a worthwhile investment. Even if you just save 20 minutes per day by having a faster PC, that equates to a lot of saved time per year, and time is money.

If you need recommendations on the best Registry cleaners, check out our downloads section.