How to speed up your PC

Do you remember the day when you've bought that new computer? It had all sorts of unwanted software demos on it, but you've uninstalled them all, and your PC worked great for a while. But then, after a few months, performance started to decrease.

There are several causes for this, but fortunately there are also several solutions that should boost your computer's speed once again. Here are several tips that have proven to be useful time and time again.

1. Clean up the registry

Windows' registry was created with the main goal of centralizing lots of software-related information bits into a single database. I'll be frank and admit that I never liked it, though. For starters, each application may leave registry traces even after being fully uninstalled. And as the time goes by, the size of the registry grows, and Windows needs more and more time to identify the information it needs. And don't get me started on orphan registry entries; I could talk about issues like these for hours!

The good news is that there are several registry cleaning applications that do a wonderful job. Not all of them are created equal, though. In fact, some of them may even prevent Windows from running normally after a so-called "clean up"! So, do your research before investing your money into a high-quality registry cleaner. Then, use it regularly, and you will see a significant performance improvement.

2. Delete the temporary files

Anytime you visit a website, unzip a file, open a document, edit a spreadsheet or customize a presentation file, your computer creates one or more temporary files. Sometimes, these files will be deleted automatically, the moment you exit the application that created them. Still, some of them will continue to stay on your computer, wasting hard drive space, diminishing speed and affecting performance. To be on the safe side, use Windows' cleaner to get rid of the unwanted, temporary files; it does a decent job and won't cost you a dime.

3. Uninstall the unused applications

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for new applications that seem to simplify my life. I especially like the ones that allow me to save time by automating some of the tasks I'm doing manually, for example.

But as you and I test new applications, we forget to uninstall them. Maybe we want to keep an application installed for a few more weeks, until we realize if it can really be of help or not. Of course, we tend to forget about that application, and then we wonder why our computer isn't working as fast as it did a month ago.

Windows has its own uninstaller, but this isn't the best solution that you can utilize. Why? Because Windows makes use of the application's uninstaller, and if that piece of software was coded poorly, there will be several files and registry keys left behind.

Applications such as Revo Uninstaller will do a much better job; they monitor the new applications as they get installed, creating a comprehensive list of newly added files, new registry keys, settings, and so on. Then, when you will want to uninstall a particular application, Revo will be able to help you remove all its components successfully.

4. Defragment your hard drive

Only do this if you are using a hard drive, and not a SSD-based drive, though. SSDs don't need to be defragmented, and by doing that, you will diminish their life. Windows' defragmenter is a good option; it is built right into the O.S., and can be scheduled to run automatically, when you don't use your computer. If your computer isn't working as fast as it used to, a disk defragmentation may do wonders.

These tips are guaranteed to work. Apply them all and your PC will regain its speed and performance.