One day you switch on your computer and notice it is taking more time than usual to boot up and load windows or you find it acting weird and doing things on its own and not to mention you realize many files are missing as well, it happens all the time, you just have to know how to maintain her (Your PC). I will be discussing on how to maintain your computer with my personal experience I have learnt throughout the years.
For who is this guide?
* For those who have high-end PC’s but don’t run the way it should (is slow but can be faster)
* For those who have low-end or old PC’s but want to optimize them to run the best they can.
Minimum PC Requirements
- Intel Pentium 4 3GHz
- 1GB DDR Ram
- At least 128MB DDR Graphics Card
- Windows XP
- At least 10GB HDD Space
My GUIDE will cover up the following:
* Windows Optimization Guide(Part 1)
* The Free Safety & Security Guide(Part 2)
* Software Guide(Part 3)
* Windows Customization Guide(Part 4)
(NOTE: I will not be held responsible for any damages occurred. Use at own risk, though I do know what I am doing and as long as you do it right, you won’t have a problem)
Windows Optimization Guide
(NOTE: This guide is mainly for Windows XP but can also be used for Windows Vista and Windows 7)
This guide will show you how you can optimize your computer to become faster and productive.
Follow these steps carefully
BASIC
1. UNINSTALL UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS
(If you have many installed programs that you do not use on your PC uninstall them, they use space and the more space you have free the faster your hard drive will be)
To uninstall programs…
Click Start > Click Control Panel > Select Add or Remove Programs and choose the programs you want to uninstall.
2. DEFRAGMENT HARD DRIVE
(If you have not defragmented you hard drive ever or have not done it in awhile then do it now, because it speeds up your hard drive, that way you can access files quicker)
To defragment hard drive…
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > and Click on Disk Defragmenter
Now select your hard drive and click defragment and wait patiently, this could take up 4 hours or 1 hour depending on the size of your hard drive and how many files you have.
3. USE DISK CLEANUP
(Disk cleanup is used to clean out all those junk files on your hard drive that you do not need such as temporary files)
To clean up hard drive…
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > and Click on Disk Cleanup
Now tick the junk files you want to get removed and click OK.
4. INSTALL WINDOWS SERVICE PACK/ENABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES
(Windows Service Pack has most major updates that fix bugs and errors on your Windows Operating System)
For Microsoft Windows XP
Install Windows XP Service Pack 3
DOWNLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=25129
SIZE: 544 MB
For Microsoft Windows Vista
Install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 32bit
DONWLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&id=30
SIZE: 434 MB
Install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 64 bit
DOWNLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&id=21299
SIZE: 726 MB
Install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 32bit
DOWNLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=16468
SIZE: 348 MB
Install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 64bit
DOWNLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=17669
SIZE: 577 MB
For Microsoft Windows 7
Install Windows 7 Service Pack 1
DOWNLOAD http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5842
SIZE: 1GB (1024MB)
(Enable Windows Automatic Updates so windows can automatically download and install the latest windows updates)
To enable windows automatic updates…
Click Start > Click Control Panel > Click Security Center and click turn on automatic updates
ADVANCED
1. TURN OFF UNUSED/UNNECESSARY STARTUP PROGRAMS
(If you have many icons showing at the bottom right corner of your PC then there are definitely unnecessary programs using your computers resources and slowing it down.)
To disable those programs…
Click Start > Click Run > Type in “msconfig” and hit enter > Go to “startup” tab
Now uncheck the programs you do not want running at startup and click apply.
2. DISABLE HARD DRIVE INDEXING SERVICE
(The hard drive indexing service is used for searching purposes, so that one can find what they are looking for quicker, if you do not use the search in windows then disable it)
To disable indexing service…
Click Start > Click My Computer/Computer > Right click on the hard drive you want to disable indexing > Click Properties
Now uncheck the tick box at the bottom with the title, “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching” and click apply, now wait patiently as the files of the hard drive get un-indexed.
3. CHANGE THE SIZE OF THE RECYCLE BIN
(The recycle bin keeps a certain amount of space reserved from the hard drive in order to recycle files, lowering this space can speed up your hard drive)
To lower the space of the Recycle Bin…
Right click on the Recycle Bin > Click Properties > Move the scroll bar from 10% to around 3-5% > Click Apply
4. TURN OF ANIMATIONS AND VISUAL EFFECTS
(This is the way windows looks with all the fancy graphics and effects, by turning these of you can increase the speed of opening windows and other programs)
To turn off animations and visual effects…
Click Start > Click Control Panel > Click on System > Click on Advanced Tab > Click Settings and then uncheck the buttons that are related to the effects and animations.
5. PURCHASE MORE RAM
(Random Access Memory(RAM) is the hardware that allows your pc to multitask to if you have 128, 256 or 512 mb ram, you HAVE to upgrade to atleast 1GB)
Online stores
www.phase2.co.za
www.prophecy.co.za
www.ngrcomputers.oc.za
No comments:
Post a Comment