Is there any way I can speed up my computer?

Question

I have a dell about 5 years old and it's really slow now. I know there's way to speed it up, like erase old stuff. How?

Answer 1

You probably need more RAM...visit Crucial, you can select your system and buy more RAM to install.

Answer 2

Julie,
if your computer is 5 years old, and has a speed of less than 1 gig/hz, then it might be slow just because all your software is too much for the older machine.

More likely, however, your machine may have many spyware programs running on it. It is really important to get a spyware removal program (some are free, like Lavasoft, Ad-Aware SE). You should run a complete scan and check all the critical items that are found for deletion. I have found that it is sometimes necessary to run the anti-spyware several times in a row in order to allow it to find spyware that hides behind other spyware.

Also, clean up your hard disk and do a defrag. Be sure you have enough free space on your hard disk for your virtual memory to work properly.

A small performance boost can also be achieved if you go to control panel>system>advanced>performance>settings and then click radio button for "Best Performance". This removes some the extra "bells and whistles" but improves performance a bit.

Good luck,
Julian

Answer 3

If it makes a grinding noise when it runs you can speed it up by adding more RAM. Right click on the C:\ drive in My Computer and look at properties. If it has less than 20% free space you may be able to clean it up by deleting unneeded files as you suggest. To begin you might go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/DiskCleanup, Click on that and Select C Drive. When it comes up Click on the More Options Tab and remove anything you don't use and all but the last Restore Point. Now go to the Disk Cleanup Tab and check everything but Compress, if that's an option, and Click OK. Now check your free space again. If you have 20% Free Space you can again Right Click on the C:\ drive and Click on Tools then Error Checking and Select all the available options. It will prompt you to reboot to do the checks and may run for an hour or more. When Windows comes back up do the same for Defragmation. Good Luck!

Answer 4

It is futile to say you want to speed your computer up. Also this would be a move that would prove ineffective, your hard drive, which is part of a shared area, of the Focal Light Projector, cannot be erased. If this data were erased, then this action would cause a paranormal shift in the galactic region above Sector 5. This would cause the Zertuis to completely decimate your existence, and then your molecules into light, that when then turn into data, then this data would turn back into your hard drive.

Answer 5

my suggestion :

1_ if ur compu is more than 6yr old better to ( get a new one.) than upgrade.

2_ so ur is less than 6yr old
uninstall any not nessesary software from ur pc
start > control panel > add remove program ( delete only the program u know )
3 _ run disk deframent evry 3 week ( start > control panel > perfomance n maintenance > rearrange item to make .....program run faster > pick ( C:) > deframent.
4_download the software that can keep ur pc clean
AVG Anti-virus
Spyware Terminator
Zone Alarm Firewall
from http://download.com all Free.

5_ Dont spend ur $$ to upgrade ur old computer Memory . save that money to get get a new pc in the next few yr.

well good luck.

Answer 6

Julia, you should definitely remove any old files from the hard drive, if the operating system is XP use the "disk cleanup" option under system tools and also try CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com to remove the other "junk" on the system. If the memory in the system is 256Meg or less and you run Windows XP you could benefit from more memory. XP runs best on 512Meg or more. Try those first and then let us know how the system runs.

Answer 7

This can be done a few different ways. You can buy RAM, which probably won't do anything since your computer is so old. Which also rules out buying a new CPU. So your best bet is to get ccleaner or something similar that will clean out your hard drive.

Answer 8

More RAM and a new processor will speed up your computer. The RAM is good but a new processor is needed with it to speed it up. And i would reformat it and take off all the extra crap too. Also you can go to start, programs, accesories, system tools, and defragment your computer too.

Answer 9

My computer, local disk right click, properties,do a 'disk cleanup'. Then click 'tools' and do a 'check now' for errors. After that and finally 'Defragment Now' and depending on how long it is since you last did one, If ever, you should get your speed up. Do it once a month and you will keep it up-to-date.

Answer 10

Get a program called Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. It will search your computer and get rid of all the spyware, etc that's bogging it down. Be sure it's by Lavasoft, though. There's a fake out there w/ a similar name that isn't good.

Answer 11

it's old...get a new one...computers generally last about 3-5 years