You’ve got a new PC and it’s blazingly fast. But after a while it may start to run slower, and as time goes by, it may even freeze frequently and you would have no choice but to force restart. To keep your PC running like a new and well-oiled machine all the time, here are a few things that you can do.
Registry Errors
Through prolonged use, your PC will accumulate errors that are not automatically fixed. When a program is installed, entries are added to the registry, but they won’t be removed even after the program is uninstalled, and this takes a toll on the computer’s speed. If the registry hasn’t been cleaned for a few years, thousands of registry errors would be accumulated. However, unless you’re a computer expert, it’s better not to modify anything in the registry on your own, because one small mistake can render your machine useless. It’s better to use software like CCleaner to do the chore. Simply run the program and choose to clean the registry, and you should notice a nice boost in performance.
Temporary Files, Cookies, and Cache
When the PC is running, lots of temporary files are kept in background. And when you use the internet, cookies are stored in your browsers by websites, while an offline copy of the web pages you visited are kept in the cache. All of these have to be cleared periodically or your machine’s performance will be affected. If you don’t want to do this manually, you can always rely on free handy tools such as Privacy Eraser.
Viruses and Malware
Thousands of threats are lurking on the internet, and most of them are downright destructive. So if your PC doesn’t have any anti-virus or anti-malware programs installed, better fix it now. Even if you’re on a low budget, you can always choose from a wide range of free software out there for better protection.
Defragmenting
To give another huge boost to your PC’s speed, defragmentation of your drives is essential. But what causes fragmentation in the first place? Well let’s think of the hard drive as a large vault with many different slots. When a file is saved, slots 1 to 10 are occupied, then another saved file fills slots 11 to 20, and so on. But when the file that occupies slots 1 to 10 is deleted, the second file doesn’t move to fill the space. So when a new file is saved, certain pieces of that file might be saved to slots 1 to 10, while the remaining parts are placed around slot 100,000. Eventually, your PC will have a hard time locating each and every fragment of a file. So when defragmentation is performed, bits and pieces of the files will be reorganized and regrouped for faster and easier access. Windows has its own Disk Defragmenter and you can schedule automatic defragmentation. Depending on the amount of files, the process may take a few hours to complete.
Maintenance Goes a Long Way
To keep your PC running in the best possible condition, it’s better to perform the above maintenance tasks at least once or twice a month. This goes a long way and can save you from headaches brought by those annoying little pet peeves.
