Perhaps the Ultimate PC Help Question...

[Si Hunt]

And one which is currently plaguing me from other people both at work and elsewhere...

How can I make my PC go faster?

What's truly the best program to use to speed up a PC bootup and running speed? CCleaner clears up old files, but doesn't really improve speed. WinPatrol is good, but requires a bit too much knowledge of dozens of mysterious programe to be helpful; you're too scared to remove anything in case it turns out to be vital!

Si.

[Lissa]

It depends which OS you're using. Vista has a lot of visual settings that can be switched off (eg the see-through glass effect) and these can give a performance boost.

Winpatrol is best for disabling things you recognise - iTunes helper, Roxio disc monitor, Quicktime updater etc. Basically, anything it lists that belongs to a multimedia application can be disabled. Likewise, anything that is part of any program you think you click on the icon to launch. You can always Google the full executable name to find out if it is vital or not.

Security software can slow a PC down - especially if the Windows firewall is on as well as a 3rd party firewall. You might want to look into buying something with a smaller resource footprint.

And - expensive but true - if you're using Vista then upgrading to Windows 7 does shorten the boot time and make your PC feel more responsive. Though if you've got a Vista disc, a clean reinstallation would achieve some of this.

[Si Hunt]

This is all happening with people who don't yet have Vista or Windows 7. My Dad's PC literally took 5 minutes to boot up at the weekend.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

One important factor is RAM - if your PC hasn't got much memory it will run slow. These days you want between 1-2GB of RAM (my work PC has 256MB and regularly gives low virtual memory warnings, as such it is painfully slow at times).

[WhiteCrowNZ]

One issue which can help - just about every piece of software you download loads up as part of boot up. You can go through and remove some of them from the startup - so only load up as needed.

You can do this using msconfig ...

http://cococokie.wordpress.com/2007/...from-msconfig/

Also look through your program list, there might be programs you've installed and don't really need.

I know what you mean though - my Vista desktop has 4GB machine, dual core 3.6GHz - so you would think reasonably fast, but it takes about 10 minutes. Gates only knows why.

[Philipnet]

I would recommend the standard tips:

• Check the hard drive
• Defrag the hard drive

To check the hard drive, right click on the C:\ drive (or which ever) and click on the Tools tab. Click Check Now, tick the two boxes and click Start.
If you then get prompted, click Yes - but note that your machine won't reboot there and then, but the next time you start it it will check it's hard drive(s).

Then - once you've check it - you can defrag it. I use contig (don't ask), other people recommend Defraggler http://www.piriform.com/defraggler , but anything is better than the Windows default one .

[Si Hunt]

Great, thanks Phil that sounds like really sound advice. I'll try it on someone's PC at work.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Other things that can speed a PC up...
Ensure you have a GB of free space on the C drive, as Windows will use this as a 'swap file' space, to store things that don't fit in RAM.
Go to Control Panel - Add Remove Programs and get rid of everything that you don't use.
Don't let your virus scanner run all the time. By all means, run a full scan regularly, but don't leave it going all the time as it slows things down.
Don't use a desktop picture. How often do you see the desktop anyway?

[Pip Madeley]

I've got hold of some really good software that gives your PC/laptop a thorough cleaning, I'll bring it for you on Friday Si

[Si Hunt]

Great, thanks Pip!

Si.