Troy M. Bouman

Troy’s Quick Guide To A Faster PC

Written January 2014

Have you ever said to yourself, “My computer is really running slow.  What can I do to speed it up?”  I have been asked this question many times, and this post is my attempt to help with this common issue!  This quick guide explains what I do to speed up any Windows computer.  There are three main steps:

1. Running anti-virus, -spyware, & -malware programs
2. Preventing unnecessary programs from running at startup
3. Uninstalling programs that are not needed or used

1) Anti-Virus

Personally, I do not pay for any virus protection software, because there are spectacular programs out there for free. Below are the three I use. In general, I run scans with these at least once a month or as needed if my computer is acting slow or I am getting a lot of pop up messages. I would also like to point out that the best anti-virus or -malware is to avoid downloading and installing files from websites you don’t know or trust.  This is especially true with files ending in .exe.

• Windows Defender: Constant protection. This is a free program preinstalled on Windows. It provides a firewall (i.e. prevents malicious activity from getting in) and it serves as a general virus scanner.

 

Setup instructions

1. Open Windows Defender by pressing the Windows button () and searching “defender”
   
2. Make sure the firewall is turned on, automatic updates are turned on (even though they are not in this picture), and malware protection is off. Don’t worry, we’ll be installing a program soon to specifically cover malware. We turn malware off here so the two programs don’t fight. 🙂
   
3. Now Windows Defender will be protecting your computer. I would suggesting scanning at least once a month or if you computer becomes slow. You can manually start a scan by pressing the Windows button, searching “defender” like the first pictures shown, and selecting “scan for viruses now.”

• Spybot: This removes any spyware  from your computer. Spyware is software that enables an unknown person/computer to obtain information about another’s computer activities by transmitting data secretly from their hard drive.

 

Installation instructions

1. Click this link to download Spybot
2. Install the software, but be sure to uncheck any boxes during installation that prompt you to install additional programs or toolbars. The additional software may even require you to push the reject/deny button (as opposed to accept). So read each installation page carefully.
3. Now open Spybot (Start–>All Programs–>Spyboy – Search & Destroy 2–>Spybot-S&D Start Center), update it by pressing the “Update” button, and run a scan with the “System Scan button”. You should run a scan once every month or as needed
4. Once the scan is complete, delete the files it says that contain spyware

• Malwarebytes: This removes malware. Malware is software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems.

 

Installation instructions

1. 1. Click this link to download Malwarebytes
   2. Install the software, but be sure to uncheck any boxes during installation that prompt you to install additional programs or toolbars. The additional software may even require you to push the reject/deny button (as opposed to accept). So read each installation page carefully.
   3. Now open Malwarebytes (Windows Button–>All Programs–>Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware–>Malwarebytes Anti-Malware), update it (the software will load a screen automatically saying the database is outdated by x days. Just press yes to update now), and run a scan by pressing the “Scan” button. You should run a scan once every month or as needed
   4. Once the scan is complete, delete the files it says contain malware

2) Stop services and programs from starting when you boot

Every time your computer boots up it automatically loads software. This software is comprised of programs (e.g. dropbox, a virus protection software you have, etc..) and services. A service is a program that runs in the background. Examples include the service the makes your printer work when you hit print or the service that automatically backs up your computer. Unfortunately, as you use your computer, the number of these programs and services can build up and severely slow it down. If you have had your computer for several years, you probably have many unnecessary programs running in the background. That is why it is important to prevent unnecessary programs and services from starting at boot.

Instructions on preventing programs and services from starting at boot

1. First, open msconfig with the Windows start button
   
2. Go to the service tab, check the box by “Hide all Microsoft Service,”and then uncheck all of the services you don’t need to run at startup. If you are unsure what a certain service is, then I usually uncheck it. Especially if it has a weird name. With each additional program that starts at boot the longer it takes to get everything loaded and running.
   
3. Open the Startup tab and uncheck all programs you do not want to start when the computer boots. With each additional service that starts at boot the longer it takes to get everything loaded and running.
   
4. Press Apply and then OK. A message will pop up asking you to restart. Restart to complete the process. When you boot back in, a “System Configuration Utility” box will pop up saying have made changes. This is expected, just hit OK.

3) Uninstall programs you don’t use

As you use your computer, you build up a long list of programs that you never use.  This may be a converter you downloaded to use once, two years ago, or an accidental installation of a piece of software that tagged along with something else you downloaded. Regardless of why you have those programs there, it is important to remove them. Having unused and unneeded programs on your computer takes up space, but can also slow your computer down.

Instructions on how to uninstall unnecessary programs

1. Open the control panel
   
2. Select “Uninstall a program”
   
3. Go through the list and uninstall every program you do not use by selecting it and pressing uninstall at the top.
   
4. Restart your computer

BONUS:

Disk Defragmenter:
After moving files around all of the time, your computer can sometimes think certain spaces on your hard drive are being used, when they are actually not. This tool forces your computer to relook through your whole hard drive to reorganize and make sure it knows where all of the available spaces are. You hard drive is like a big warehouse with shelves and bins. Your computer has to know what spaces on the shelves are being used and which ones are not. A defragment is sort of like an audit of your warehouse space. Here are the steps to defragment your hard drive:

 ->All Programs–>Accessories–>System Tools–>Disk Defragmentor–>Run defrag on each of your hard drives (you may only have 1 hard drive to defragment)

Disk Cleanup:
Many programs, including Windows, create temporary files. These files are designed to be used for a short period of time and never after that. This tool looks through all of your temporary files and shows available files you can delete to get more space. Here is how to use it:

->All Programs–>Accessories–>System Tools–>Disk Cleanup–>Run the cleanup and delete all temporary files and log files you don’t need.

Upgrade Your Hardware:
Honestly, at some point you may just need to upgrade some of your hardware to bring your computer up to speed. Think of this like trying to become a superior race car driver.  Even if you learn to become excellent and efficient at driving a manual transmission, it is only of half the battle.  Eventually, you would also need to upgrade to a newer, or larger, engine that can go faster.  Like improving your driving skills, software optimization can only do so much toward speeding up your computer.  Sometimes, it is also necessary to upgrade your hardware.  On almost every computer, the cheapest and easiest way to do this is to upgrade your RAM. RAM is basically the fast access memory that is in between your hard drive and your processor. You can use this guide to see which kind you need for your specific computer and how much it would cost. I would price compare with Amazon and Newegg to make sure you get the best deal. A RAM upgrade would probably only cost you $20-80, but would help a lot. There are plenty of YouTube videos describing how to replace RAM yourself. Here are examples for desktops and laptops.

Conclusion

Keeping your computer running fast takes some work, but once you run through this guide a couple of times it becomes a very fast process and will end up saving you a lot of time in the end.

What other steps do you use to keep your computer running fast?

Let me know if you want to see a guide for Mac or Ubuntu, if something is unclear, or if you want me to expand on a section. Thanks,
-Troy