Computersight -

Get rid of unwanted programs and features.

Programs and applications are often very large in terms of memory. This is especially true of games, which can often take around 5 gigabytes of memory. If you look closely at all the programs you have installed, you will probably find quite a few you can get rid of.

To browse all the programs you have installed, go to the control panel, then click on ‘Add or Remove Programs’ if you are using an XP, or ‘Programs and Features’ if you are using Vista. After the computer has searched through all your programs, you will be presented with a list of them, as well as some other useful information like how often you use them, and how much memory they are taking up. To remove them, select the one you want to get rid of, and click/right click ‘Uninstall’. Most programs will then launch their own uninstall wizard.

Remember, you are looking for unused programs. Look out especially for old games and small programs that other installers have ‘sneaked in’.

Scan and remove unwanted files.

There are a huge number of files on your computer that you use all the time, but probably have no idea exist. These include temporary files and internet files, as well as recycled files. Although then can have some benefit, after a while these files build up into quite a mass. They therefore need to be removed every once in a while.

To remove all these files, go to My Computer, then right-click on your hard disk, and select “Properties”. In this window there is a button called ‘Disk Cleanup’. Click it, and you will be presented with a breakdown of all the temporary files that your computer can do without. Select all of them, and click OK to delete them.

Note, this will empty your recycle bin, so it is a good idea to check it first.

Defragment the disk.

Over time, the hard disk gets more and more fragmented, which means that individual files are spread into little fragments over the hard disk, rather than being one complete file in memory. This greatly increases memory reading time, as the hard disk has to jump from place to place all the time.

Windows comes with its own defragmenting tool. You can access it by going to “All Progrmas”, “Accessories”, “System Tools”, and opening “Disk Defragmenter”. In Vista, the only useful option is “Defragment Now”, so use it. With an XP, you can scan the dist and get a visual representation of your disk. They both do the same thing though, so go ahead and use them. 

Unplug external devices.

External devices like gaming joysticks often need specialist driver software to run, which will launch if the device is plugged in, even if it’s not being used. So, unplug it and save all that processing power. Another useful thing to do is take disks out of the disk drive, otherwise every time you visit ‘My Computer’ it will try and read the disk.

End startup applications.

Many programs like to start themselves when your computer starts, and then hide in the background, so they can pop up very quickly when you need them. Some, like Windows messenger and QuickTime and prone to this. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to turn all these off, so you will have to hunt them down and identify them, as they usually appear somewhere in the taskbar. There are usually some options that you can set in these programs to prevent them starting automatically, and if not you can normally end them once they have started.

Turn off desktop applications.

Desktop applications are applications like Windows Sidebar or Google Desktop which run on the desktop rather than in a window. They are often very useful and have a huge number of features. However, they often take the processing power of a full application. So, turn them off.

The last option.

If your computer is still too slow, and you still don’t want to buy a new one, there is one last option. The trouble is, you can damage your computer by doing it. I would only recommend this if you really need the extra processing power.

A bit earlier I explained that some programs like to start up, and then hide until needed, and that you could find them in the taskbar. Well, the truth is that there are hundreds of other programs starting up that you never see, and need to be very clever to access. To get to them, and turn the unwanted ones off, go to ‘Start’, ‘Run’ and type msconfig. This will bring up a window, and you need to select ‘Services’. This will give you a list of all the programs that are set to start up when windows does.

Now, for each program, search it on http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/browse.php to find out if you need to be running it, and it not, disable it. A huge amount of processing power can be released in this way. But be warned. This operation can harm your computer and disable some important features. If in doubt, leave it enabled.