Microsoft provides several utilities that can help you improve the performance of your computer. If you have had your system for some time then you should be running the Disk Defragmenter utility on a regular basis. However most people do not use this tool as much as they need to. The Disk Defragmenter utility will take all the bits and pieces of files and programs that have been scattered all over the hard drive and organize them into a more central location. This should be run monthly and when ever you install a new program. There are other defragmenting utilities that you can use like Diskeeper. This utility actually runs in the background keeping your computer organized at all times.

In the Advanced Settings there are performance options that you can adjust and help improve your systems performance especially if it is older. You find this utility when you right click on your My Computer icon and click on properties. You can set the setting at best performance and while it will disable all the cool looking features it will improve the speed of your computer.

Drivers for your hardware components are often overlooked but can have an effect on the performance of your computer. Be sure that all the drivers are up to date. This will ensure that your system is running as effectively as possible.

When you keep up with these tasks you can be sure that your computer will run as fast as it can for you.