2001
If your computer is more than a few years old, you may have noticed a marked decrease in performance over time. When the PC was new, it was super speedy, but now it takes forever to start and lags when switching between programs.
You might think that your old computer has reached the end of its days, but that might not be the case. In many cases you can restore the performance of an old PC and squeeze more life out of it. The following changes will cost you little, if any, money, and they may be able to bring your old computer back to life.
#1 — Add More Memory
If you are comfortable cracking the case on your computer, adding more memory is the most cost-effective way to speed it up. No matter how old your PC may be, adding more RAM should boost its speed and make it more useful.
Adding memory may not make your old PC new again, but it will give it a new lease on life. Memory prices are pretty low right now, so you should not have to spend a lot to get a good result. You can go online, plug in the make and model of the PC and get an instant memory recommendation. If you do not feel like shopping online, the local computer store should have
the memory you need.
#2 — Clean Up Your Hard Drive
You might not think that hard drive space would have an impact on PC performance, but it does. If your hard drive is getting full, offloading old files to a thumb drive or deleting unwanted ones can boost your speed and help you get more done.One way to clean up hard drive space is to do a search for files ending in .tmp or starting with ~. These temporary files can take up a lot of space over time, especially if your computer is more
than a few years old. Clearing out those temp files can give you extra space and help your computer operate more efficiently.
#3 — Stop the Startup
When you start your computer, a number of programs start with it. In some cases that is fine, but other programs could be clogging your memory and slowing down your PC. Changing the startup properties of those programs can speed up your computer considerably. There are certain programs that truly need to start with your computer, like your antivirus and antispyware programs. You should be able to change the startup of other programs to manual without much trouble.
#4 — Boot Your Browser
If your PC is slow when you surf the web, the processor may not be to blame. Some Internet browsers are faster than others, and running the wrong one could make your old PC work even harder. If you are still using Internet Explorer, try downloading a different browser and comparing its performance. Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are both lightweight and easy to use, and many people find that they run more efficiently on older hardware.