How To Speed Up Your Computer (For Real)

You might be wondering: can’t I just buy one of those Speed Up programs I see advertised? Don’t they work? The short answer is yes, they are quite productive for the person or company that sells it. As for you, they are a complete waste of money.

Please be forewarned: this article is broken into two sections, a technical explanation of how memory works, and a to-the-point recommendation for speeding up your computer. If the technical explanation either goes over your head or bores you, feel free to skip on down to the recommendation – either way, you will have a faster PC.

The root of a speedy computer is in enabling your processor (CPU) to work faster, or rather allowing the processor to execute more instructions per second. As the processor cannot automatically know what it needs to do, it requires memory, both short-term and long-term, as a placeholder for the pending sequence of instructions. RAM, or Random Access Memory, is the short term memory solution and is embedded into the computer’s motherboard. The hard drive is the long term memory device which is connected via power and data cables.

The processor can send and receive information to RAM significantly faster than it can to the hard drive, because of the distance across the motherboard and especially since the hard drive is a mechanical device with moving parts. As such, it’s incredibly useful to have the processor go to RAM for instructions as frequently as it can, and to have as large a RAM pool as is reasonable. It’s also best to make sure as much of your existing RAM is free and available as possible, to lessen trips to the hard drive for additional data.

The greatest single action you can take to speed up your processor’s performance is to add additional RAM to your computer. Windows XP, Vista and 7 will require at minimum 1G of RAM to be generally usable, and it is highly advised to have at least 2 or 3 installed to be in an optimal condition. If you have bought a pre-built unit, it’s possible that the manufacturer has leeched memory from the main RAM to run your video card, so your available RAM will consistently be less than advertised.

The second action you can take to speed up the processor is removing unnecessary programs from running in memory. Programs don’t just reside on your hard drive – programmers have a habit of making their products stay resident in your active memory. If it’s not needed, it can be removed to make room for faster CPU processing. Many pieces of software have customization options to allow the user to decide if it will load into RAM upon starting Windows, and many others are just entirely unnecessary and can be safely removed. Do not remove anything unless you are certain of what it is and its relative impact on your overall system – without knowing you can shut down minor or critical processes that will handicap things like your ability to open certain files or play certain sounds.

Some programmers are devious in their code design, and don’t make it easy on the user to remove their products. In certain cases, it will require direct modification of the system’s registry to remove the offending application. If for whatever reason you cannot terminate and remove any program, do not, I repeat, do not modify the registry unless you know exactly what you are doing. Seek the advice of an industry professional in these cases.

As a final note, defragging your computer’s hard drive in indeed helpful, and I employ it after a thorough process cleaning. However, it will not get the job done right on its own.

If you want to learn more, drop me a line.

Daniel Bradburry writes for McKinney ITVisit us anytime at www.mckinneyit.com.