3 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

A common symptom of computer virus infection is slow performance. Has your computer all of a sudden started taking an extremely long time just to start up? Have you started noticing strange icons on your desktop? You might have a computer virus wreaking havoc in the background. The best thing that you can do is either download a free antivirus program, or shell out a few bucks for a premium one. In today's computer age having an antivirus program is not an option, it's a MUST. There are plenty of free programs out there, and you can literally download one and use it to scan your PC in a matter of minutes! The difference between free antivirus software, and antivirus software that you have to pay for is usually real-time protection. A free program will scan and remove any viruses that you may have, but they won't continue working in the background. Real-time virus protection is usually what you're paying for, and trust me, it is well worth it. Very few things will speed up your computer faster than removing a virus. Never underestimate the damage that a nasty trojan virus can do to your PC.

A simple way to speed up computer performance is to add RAM. RAM stands for "Random Access Memory", and it is essential to the operation speed of your PC. When you install additional RAM into your PC the difference in performance, and speed is immediate. The software programs that are being developed, and released require more and more memory to operate. It seems like just a few years ago that you could get away with just a few kilobytes of RAM, but now you need at least a gigabyte to run any of the more recent software packages. Installing a RAM chip is a project that a novice can certainly undertake, but if you're not comfortable getting under the hood of your PC then take it into a computer repair business, or an electronics retailer like Best Buy. A RAM upgrade is very affordable, and can probably be done for under a $100.

Be honest with yourself, how much junk do you have on your computer right now? How many program icons are sitting on your desktop and haven't been clicked in years? How many programs do you have installed on your PC that you never plan on using? When was the last time you defragmented your hard drive? If you drove your car for 100,000 miles without ever getting an oil change would you be surprised when it broke down on you? If you want to speed up your computer you need to start performing some basic maintenance tasks on a regular basis. You should defragment your hard drive every few months to ensure that your hard drive can access data as efficiently as possible. Just go to the Start menu, go to Accessories, and then System Tools. Here you will find numerous free tools that you can use to help increase the speed of your PC. While you're at it, delete the icons on your desktop that you don't need or use. After that, go to your Control Panel and double click on Add/Remove Programs. If there are any programs on that list that you don't need or use then uninstall them. These basic things will add a significant amount of speed to the performance of your computer.