You might be surprised the hidden things that are going on in your computer system that is slowing it down. The Visual Effects of the latest Windows operating system, while giving your computer a cool appearance, can be tweaked to provide better performance when you choose the best settings. You can really notice a difference is system performance without noticeable degradation of video quality. You just need to adjust the settings to suit your needs.

If you have a Windows Vista computer there is a feature that allows you to disable functions and features that you do not use that will speed up your PC. But all systems allow you to disable programs from automatically starting up. Programs that automatically startup will slow down your system boot time and use operating RAM. If you do not use the programs that start up like instant messenger programs and media players then why would you want them to start up and be running all the time on your system so just turn them off.

When you perform these procedures you will feel as if you purchased a new computer system. Just being aware of what all is going on in your computer system will give you a step up and when you keep on top of your routine maintenance you can ensure that your system will keep running for you for many years to come. None of this takes a lot of time or even costs you any money.

The very first thing to know is that whatever you try to improve your computers performance you do not want to cause damage to your system. You should always use only reliable, recommended and tested methods that have proven results. Microsoft has provided many tools you can use that will safely and reliably help you optimize your computer so it will run faster.

All computers begin to slow down as they are used. Installing and uninstalling software adding more files, photos, and videos and surfing the internet all contribute to the degradation of your systems performance. But all these factors can be reversed to some degree to where your system runs almost like it is new again.

Before you begin with processes to improve your computers performance you might want to check out if you have sufficient hardware for your needs. If your processor is old and slow, you need more memory or you need a better graphics card you may be wasting time running utilities to try to improve its speed. Sometimes older systems just need replacing or sometimes, if you have an adequate processor, you can update components to get it up to specs.

When you are sure your hardware is adequate for your needs you then can run the utilities that is recommended and it will effectively help you to improve the speed at which your computer operates. These utilities include the Disk Cleanup utility, Disk Defragmenter utility, and Check Disk utility.

There are some simple things you can do to help improve the speed you experience when you are surfing the internet. The first thing you should do especially if you download a lot of stuff is to change the default limit of concurrent downloads. You can have up to sixteen files downloading at the same time from the same server if you want to. You make the change to the registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Add a new value called DWORD then add an entry named MaxConnectionsPerServer and set the value to sixteen.

Another thing you can do to improve the performance of your computer is to disable the indexing service. Indexing consumes a lot of system resources and this can have a negative effect on your computers performance. When you disable indexing you will not only free up space on your hard drive you can improve the performance of it as well. You can disable indexing in the Services tab of the Administrative Tools in the Control panel. Just right click and choose “Disable”.

The default setting for cache in Internet Explorer is set to hold a large amount of cache. This can take up precious space on your hard drive as well as causing your disk to be fragmented. When you lower the maximum size of your internet cache to be one hundred-twenty eight it provides for the optimal level helping to improve your systems performance as well as preventing any other issues.

Keeping your hard drive free from clutter is very important to it performing well. When you can free up disk space it allows your system to run smoother. You might be surprised to find how much faster your computer will run just by keeping the junk out of it. Over time there are many temporary files that are saved and many of these will never go away until you remove them. These files can take up a surprising amount of space on your hard drive as will.

Windows has provided the Disk Cleanup utility that will automatically find all the files that can be removed safely. It will scan your computer and give you a list of items that is safe to remove. It will even tell you how much space you will gain by removing these files. It is completely under your control which files you choose to remove and which ones you choose to keep.

Items that the Disk Cleanup utility will help you easily locate and remove include Java applets, ActiveX controls, Windows temp files, and temporary internet files. It will also empty the Recycle Bin, and allow you to remove any Windows component or programs that you don’t use.

The Disk Cleanup utility is found in the System Tools folder under Accessories. Be sure to run the tool on every drive and partition of your computer. All you have to do is un-check any items you want to keep after the tool scans your system.

There are a few more tricks for laptop users to get their computers to run faster. Many times laptop users will make a website available to view even when offline. This is especially done if the internet connection is dialup or slow. Making a site available this way will actually take up significant hard drive space on your laptop. As laptops generally have smaller hard drives than desktops the real estate on the drive is even more precious. Also over time these saved sites have become obsolete and dated. It is best to clean up and get rid of any offline site if you really do not need it.

An alternative to deleting files is to compress them. Compressing files will not delete them. It just makes the space they take up smaller. If you ever do need a file that has been compressed it will take it a bit longer to open up however.

The Disk Cleanup procedure is a good tool that will allow you to free up a substantial amount of drive space by removing unneeded files.

Once you have cleaned up your laptop of all these unnecessary items or compressed them to free up space the next tool to run is the Disk Defragmenter. This utility will take all the pieces of programs and files that have been scattered all over your hard drive and place them neatly in one area.

When you perform these processes you should notice a significant increase in the speed as which your laptop operates.

The operating system is specific software installed in a computer which will regulate the operations of the computer. There are specifications that an operating system requires for it to be able to run a computer. This is the reason why some operating system does not perform well when installed to some computers or laptops. The operating system is very important since it regulates the whole operation of the computer. In short, it is the brain of the computer. Choosing the wrong operating system for your computer would decrease its speed or even causes damage.

The first thing you should consider before installing an operating system for your computer is the specifications and requirements of the system. Usually, it can be found at the back of the box of your operating software installer CD’s. To make sure, you can also ask a computer technician if your computer has the requirements for the operating system. It is always recommended to buy the genuine installer CD for your operating system. Once you have found the right operating system which is compatible to your computer, you can proceed to the installation and formatting. It is important that you correctly install the operating system and properly format the computer. A computer with many format errors or issues would not perform well. The next important thing that should come with the operating system is the installation of antivirus software that will protect the system from virus. Lastly, you must schedule a regular scan and update for your antivirus and your operating system for an effective protection and a fast computer.

If these steps are followed and properly done, your computer will be very effective and there should not be a problem about its speed. If a new operating system will be available in the market and it’s compatible to your computer, you should have the option to upgrade your operating system to the latest version to ensure a faster speed and performance.

There are many things you can do that may help your computer run faster. But when it comes down to it if you have outdated components you may have to bite the bullet and pay to upgrade some of your components. This may be especially true if you play a lot of games on your computer. Many times the stock video card is just not up to the speed necessary for game play, especially with many of the newer, graphic intensive games.

But the motherboard and CPU speed is what really determines the ultimate speed of your PC. You can add RAM and that can help a lot but if you really have an older PC you might have to resign yourself to buy a new one. But if you want to try to salvage an older PC you can upgrade the video card and RAM to see it that will help.

If you are considering upgrading your RAM there are utilities that can determine the best configuration for your system. RAM is also pretty cheap so you won’t be out a lot of money even if it does not improve your systems speed that much. You must be sure that the memory you purchase is compatible with your system. You can check your computers manual for specifications.

Before you upgrade your video card you also need to find out what is compatible with your computers motherboard. You also have to be sure that the power supply is capable of handling the added power that it will consume.

If it takes five, ten or more minutes for your computer to boot up what can you do? You might want to upgrade the amount of RAM you have in your PC. Today you can find 1 GB of RAM for thirty dollars or less and that is cheap for the boost of power it provides to your PC.

But, even if you do not want to spend any money you can still make your computer boot and run faster.

Start by removing any unnecessary programs on your computer. If you purchased your computer from a mass retailer then it, more than likely, has a lot of programs installed that you may never use. These programs could be ones that will play or copy your Cds and DVDs, backup software, photoshop programs, anti-virus programs and more. Go through the list in Add/Remove programs and see which ones you are using and which ones you want to un-install.

Next, pick a browser and stick with it. There is no real reason to have Firefox, Safara, Opera and Internet Explorer. If there is one browser us use all the time remove any others you have on your computer. You can even get rid of Internet Explorer. If you do be sure to install the add-on for IE that will download your Windows updates.

The same goes for your Instant Messenger programs. Do you really need more than one? If not, get rid of them.

Keeping your system free from unnecessary and software that is redundant will help your computers speed.

The main cause of computer slowness is clutter on the hard drive that and if your hardware or software is outdated combined can be the cause of all your system issues. These issues can be addressed and you can improve the performance of your computer.

If your computer freezes up or crashes it could be a sign that your computer is too cluttered. There is only a finite amount of space on your hard drive and you want to be sure that it is used judiciously.

The Processor, or brain of your computer, will have to work harder – making your system slower – if you have more than one program running at a time. For example it will tax your systems resources if you have a video window up watching a movie, downloading a file and working in Excel. Increasing the amount of RAM on your system could help you run more programs if you really need to. But working smart is another thing to consider. Think before you open up a new program. Close out of programs you are not using.

If you play a lot of games on your computer then you might want to upgrade your Graphics Card. Also verify you have up to date drivers for all your hardware components. Using outdated or inferior hardware will affect your comuter systems performance.

Also programs that are running in the background should be addressed. You can stop any process in the task manager but if you don’t want them to continue to automatically startup then you should disable them using the MSCONFIG utility.

If you feel, your PC is getting slower, and the internet explorer is not loading the mails, you may have a problem in your hands. Many people become frustrated because of slow running speeds of their computer. Frustration is imminent but fear not as there are easy solutions to speed up your computer.

If your PC is taking a longer time to boot up in comparable to its normal booting speed, you can remove files from the boot menu as well as a number of unnecessary items from your desktop. Many things can happen if your PC is running overtime. If the documents do not open fast enough for you, just clean the temporary files, and go for a defragmentation. Remove the extra files from your hard drive. If you find the web pages are getting slower every time you open one, a web browser fault may be happening as the same thing happens in the operating system. To speed up the computer, the basic rule is to clean these things on a daily basis.

Another way to speed up your computer is to remove all cookies, and temporary internet files, which obstruct the browser. You can also clean up the cache and confirm that you are using faster browsers like Opera or Chrome. You can find pretty useful programs available in the market to speed things up. If not, you can always go for upgrades for your RAM. An upgraded RAM can help your computer run faster and smoother.