There’s nothing more annoying than sitting down at your PC and waiting, and waiting, and waiting…. A slow computer means that you sit there staring at the screen, rather than getting stuff done. To improve your PC performance, there are a few simple steps that you can take to make it run faster.

One of the best ways to ensure that your PC runs faster is to keep all of your Windows software up-to-date. This means ensuring that you have the latest version of Windows. Most of the time, Windows update will do this for you automatically, but if not, you can update manually by visiting the Control Panel (Start – Control Panel), then clicking on the Windows Update button. For Windows 7, this is in the System and Security category.

Another tool to improve computer speed is defragmenting your PC. Defragmenting is a task which undoes fragmentation, so that related data is all contiguous on the hard disk. To skip over the technical details, this essentially rearranges information, leaving you with more hard drive space, and faster speeds.

If you’ve got money to spend, adding more RAM memory is another relatively straightforward way to boost PC speeds. RAM memory is not used to “store” data in the same way that your hard drive does. It’s more like short-term memory. If you are not technically-inclined, or familiar with PCs, you should probably not attempt to add more RAM yourself. Most PC shops will do this for you.

Overheating is another possible cause of PC slowdowns. Your computer is like any device – it generates heat. Particularly when performing resource-intensive tasks. These can include using graphic design programs, or gaming. Even standard computer use generates some heat. Your PC has fans and vents to ensure that it stays cool enough, but these can become blocked over time. Ensure that your PC remains dust free, and clean of all animal hair or other possible blockages.

Finally, ensure that junk files are not dragging you down. Junk files can be anything from registry clutter, to temporary files, or unneeded toolbars on your browser. They are unwanted files or programs that take up space, and, if there are enough of them, turn your PC from a race car to a slowpoke. Clean out your PC periodically, and you’ll see a significant lift in speed. This can be done manually, or with third-party software utilities.

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