Does your PC just not run as quickly as it used to? Does it take
much longer than you would like to get things done? Considering
purchasing a new PC just to get back that speed and responsiveness
you had when you first bought this one?
Well don't give up on your old PC
just yet, some cleanup and tweaking might just be all you need to
get your older PC running like new again!
(Advance warning, not for the
faint of heart, this article is both lengthy and detailed, any one
part of this article in and of itself is useful and important to a
productive windows XP experience however these tools and techniques
should be used cautiously by the uninitiated!)
Often when visiting new clients
their number one complaint is slow or unresponsive PC software,
there are a number of tasks we will perform in order to ensure their
windows XP PC is running at it's best, some of these tasks are ones
these clients could be running themselves but either don't have
the time or the knowledge to do so, I'll take the time today to
impart that knowledge to you, so that you might be able to make
better use of your time, efforts and resources.
In an attempt to help more people
get the most from their windows XP PC's I've written an
article below about some of the steps I take, the steps start simple
and straightforward and get more complicated as you go down the
list, with a strong caution many of these tasks are highly effective
but also some what dangerous to the stability of your PC, and some,
done incorrectly could completely render your computer useless, use
caution and don't tread where you don't feel comfortable, if all
else fails, call us first at (905) 366-8234, rather then after it's too late!
A fine-tuned Windows XP PC can
run quite fast even if it's seriously lacking in the horsepower
department. Before you chuck out your PC or even decide to upgrade,
try stripping some of the rust that's built-up over the years; the
results may surprise you!
It is more likely that it's your
windows XP operating system that's
slow, not the PC itself. It's software, not hardware - you know, invisible
1s and 0s held in an electric field representing your data. Your
computer is still fast, but there's a ton of stuff slowing it down.
There's more 1s where there should be 0s and your PC is killing
itself fighting an impossible battle to burn off this fat.
We've seen Pentium II machines
from early 1998 with 256 MB of Memory
run XP faster than newer Pentium IVs with double the Memory - so what gives? This article will help you figure out why your
PC is running slow and outline exact steps to fix it quickly, before
throwing in the towel with a format, restore, or new PC purchase.
The Culprits - What Slows
Down Your PC?
Before you dive into your PC, it is absolutely
critical that you determine what is slowing it down. Ignoring a bad
hard drive could lead to catastrophic damage with data loss.
Lack of
sufficient RAM completely limits a PC's performance. Spyware and malware could be having a circus inside your Windows - just like in
95% of other PCs connected to the internet your PC could be slow
because it's infected!
Lack of sufficient
RAM?
It's also possible your PC doesn't have
enough Memory. The amount of RAM your PC has can be checked by
hitting the Windows
ÿ and Pause/Break keys at the same
time. The amount is listed toward the bottom right as MB of RAM.
We've seen Windows XP run with 128 MB RAM and
it is not pretty. With 256 MB, an XP machine can survive basic tasks
as long as there is not a lot open at once. We consider 256 MB
to be the absolute tolerable minimum. The jump to 512 MB will help
speed up the PC considerably, especially if there is antivirus or
anti-spyware software running in the background. Currently 1024 MB
(or 1 gigabyte) seems to be the sweet spot, where adding more RAM
doesn't seem to be cost effective for most users. However, Video,
Audio or Photo editors can usually benefit from the jump to 2048MB
(2 gigabytes).
RAM is by far the least expensive upgrade you
can make to gain the most performance on a windows XP computer .
Seriously consider upgrading if your PC has less than 512 MB.
Contact
The Technology Coach
for assistance in locating and installing more memory for
your slow windows XP Computer
Is
your PC Infected with Spyware?
You might
try to avoid spyware like a flagged
minefield. But if kids, friends, or PC newbies are using your PC to
browse the Internet it's very likely that your PC is infected. The
basic symptoms of spyware, malware and adware are: slow performance,
pop-up ads, strange error messages, extra toolbars in your browser,
frequent web browser crashes, and slow or completely non-functional
Internet. Completely removing spyware can be a
big job. Removing 99.9% of the spyware and even
missing one piece just leaves the door open for that remaining piece
to invite it's spyware friends back in. For assistance with Spyware removal
Contact
The Technology Coach!
What else could it be?
If all of these other things are not the
problem, your PC is probably just cluttered with junk and
needs a tune-up. This article covers a quick (45 - 60 minute) tune-up
for Windows XP. The basic approach: Visual effects, Add/Remove
Programs, Startup folder, temp files, registry cleaning, CCleaner,
services, then defragment really sums up the services we provide to
all our new small business and home office clients on our first
visit, try them yourself and you'll see why!
Shown below is the before and after CPU usage
from a typical tune-up of this type. The PC tested here started with
42 processes using over 152 MB of memory. After the tune-up, this
was dropped to 23 processes using only 63 MB of memory.
Before: |
After: |
|
|
To see your
current CPU and memory usage, hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE
and view the Performance tab. The number of
processes is listed in the bottom-left corner. |
Step 1: Turn off the fancy graphics
The visual effects, that is animations,
shadows, and extra Windows XP polished interface, eat up CPU and
memory (especially on older PCs). Hit the Windows and
Pause/Break keys or right-click on My Computer and choose
Properties. Navigate to the Advanced tab, then click the
first Settings box under Performance.
PC's older than 5 years should
be set to Adjust for Best Performance, newer PC's can use
custom and adjust the settings manually by un-checking all the
boxes except for:
-
Smooth edges of screen fonts
-
Smooth-scroll list boxes
-
Use drop shadows for icon labels on the
desktop
-
Use visual styles on windows and buttons
If you plan to use Common tasks such as the
built-in Windows Explorer CD Burning Utility, you may want to leave
Use common tasks in folders enabled. Read through this list
and determine what else you may want. Test the settings using the
Apply button before deciding you're OK with changes.
Turn off your background image
(wallpaper) and you'll
notice the desktop comes up slightly faster. It also (depending on
the detail of the image) will give you more free memory. This can be
accessed by right clicking the Desktop, choosing Properties,
Desktop, and looking under Background.
Sure, it looks plain. But it helps a bit with resources.
Step 2: Remove
Extra Programs
In general, the more programs you have
installed, the more memory they are using. This isn't the case with
all programs, but it's still good practice to remove programs you
don't use. You'll save hard drive space and even system memory if
the programs load at Windows startup.
Add/Remove Programs
Enter the Control Panel (Start, Control
Panel or Settings/Control Panel) and go to the Add/Remove
Programs applet. The list of programs you'll see rarely contains
anything essential to the PC's operation. Most of the programs were
installed by a user and can be removed if they are not required -
just don't remove Microsoft Office and so-on if you plan to use it!
Go through this list and remove all the
programs you're positive you don't use or need. Anything
you're unsure of can be researched on
Google before you uninstall it.
The most common troublesome entries we
uninstall are: AOL, AOL AntiSpyware, Yahoo Toolbar, Wintools,
Viewpoint Media Player, Freedom, Speedway, Weatherbug and various "Deals",
which are almost always spyware.
Additionally we'll remove programs installed
for one-time use or that we thought we'd use but never did. If you
don't use AOL feel free to remove any reference you see. Don't
remove any drivers unless the hardware has been removed from the PC.
If your antivirus or anti-spyware program are expired and out of
date, you may as well uninstall them since they are taking tons of
resources and newer, free alternatives are available online.
Removing some items here will require a reboot.
Step 3: Clean-up
the Registry and Temporary Files
The best tool we've found to clean up
temporary files and the registry is
CCleaner.
Overall this is one of the best tweaking programs out and can
definitely help you easily fix issues with your system. Download and
install this program, making sure not to turn on extra features you
won't use like the Yahoo Toolbar it tries to install.
Run the program and uncheck any specific items
you don't want it to remove. If you require it, go through the Advanced
Options and check any entries that you require to fix issues with
your PC (such as Window Size/Location if one is resized awkwardly).
Then click Run Cleaner at the bottom right. After several
seconds it should complete, giving a detailed report on resources
recovered.
In this case, 1.3 GB of space was recovered!
CCleaner also has some other
cool features. Click the Issues button on the left and it'll find
problems in the Registry. It might be a good idea to quickly browse
the list to determine what kind of problems were found. Most of
these can be fixed safely using the Fix Selected Issues
button. Additionally the Tools tab can be used to uninstall more
programs, delete broken uninstall links, and turn off additional
Startup programs.
Step 4: Removing
Programs that Run at Startup
Removing extra programs that run when Windows
starts will greatly increase its performance. These programs usually
load in the system tray at the bottom right, but sometimes you won't
see the programs at all. Note that these programs typically do
not need to run at startup to function! From the Start menu,
choose All Programs, then right click Startup and
choose Explore. Delete any repeat entries or shortcuts you
are sure you can do without (we'd remove the stuff relating to
Microsoft Office, Real Player, Quicktime, etc.).
Very rarely do you need any startup shortcuts in this folder. Repeat
the process right clicking on the same place and choosing Explore All Users
this time if you have multiple user
accounts.
Now open CCleaner as mentioned above, navigate
to the Tools option to the left, then click Startup. This tool
cannot break your PC, but at worst limit its functionality. As long
as you are only turning off startup programs here, your PC can
recover from damn near anything you turn off. The
tool tells you where in the registry to find the keys that it's
going to remove and the program path it executes.
You may find lots of old useless programs lurking here.
Most 3rd party program can be removed from
this list unless it involves an all-in-one printer or the PC is a
notebook (in which case you'll want to keep support for the touchpad
and power management).
We recommend removing "Save", "Weather",
"Deals", etc. as these are generally Ad-ware. Turn off anything
relating to Real Player (keyword being "Real"), Quicktime (such as
qttask), and findfast. There are
online lists
available detailing all the startup files such as this one.
If you're scared to turn something off, check
to confirm if it's required. Each program here is DIRECTLY RELATED
to the system's performance, particularly its free memory and CPU.
This program allows you to
manually edit even more startup items including Toolbars, Browser
Help Objects, and some Services. Make sure to remove references to
uninstalled programs or expired antivirus/anti-spyware applications.
Step 5: Clean
your Desktop and Start Menu
This would be a great time to clean-up some
other key areas to the PC's response time and zippiness. I'd start
by deleting extra icons and downloaded files on the Desktop (visible
quickly by hitting the Windows and D keys
simultaneously). Delete lots of stuff here! These icons may not seem
significant but they're taking some memory. Also, navigating a
cluttered desktop is damn near impossible. For now at least create
subfolders such as Downloads, Text Documents, and so-on and store
the majority of files in these. A clean desktop will probably
increase your productivity even if it doesn't help the PC's
performance much.
This would also be a good time to clean up
your Start menu. Open it up, find shortcuts that you don't use,
right click the entries and choose Delete. You can also remove
shortcuts to programs that you only run when you open a data file.
For example, the shortcut to Quicktime is probably unnecessary, as
you'll open this program automatically when clicking Quicktime
movies.
Wrap it Up
These steps take about 45-60 minutes to
complete once you've learned the process. As a habit we tend to run
basic tune-ups on just about every PC we touch and the results are
always worthwhile.
Keep an eye on system resources
(CTRL-ALT-DELETE) and choose the Performance tab as you install new programs to determine if more
tuning is necessary. Don't forget to update major system drivers
(especially video, sound, and chipset) and run Windows Update
regularly for new patches and fixes.
You'll find some great tips on automating
many of these cleanup tasks in an article we published last month
titled Automating
system maintenance tasks in Windows XP.
If you have any questions or concerns about
any of the steps above it's always better to err on the side of
caution,
The Technology Coach is always
available to help with these tweaks and many more if these just
aren't enough to get things running smoothly we can always offer assistance and advice on purchasing a new
computer that will suit your business needs best!