If your PC or laptop is running slower than you’d like, try these easy ways to speed it up. Think of it like a digital spring clean: clearing out applications you no longer use, removing temporary files which are taking up room on your hard drive, and emptying that cache!
These are chores you’d probably rather not do, but they can make a big difference to any PC or laptop. I use my computer as an example, which is a Dell laptop running Windows, but the principles apply to any computer.
In this short video, I’ll show you the manual way to do it using Windows built-in tools and then I’ll show you a very cool and trusted tool that I use to speed things up and address everything in one place using one program.
Welcome to another Systems Sunday. We are wrapping up our Spring Cleaning Your Digital Space series.
I’m Lisa Wells, your Virtual Assistant Trainer.
If your PC or laptop is running slower than you’d like, try these easy ways to speed it up. These are chores you’d probably rather not do but they can make a big difference on your computer to make it run faster.
I’m going to use my computer as an example which is a Dell PC running Windows. No matter what type of PC you have, the same principles and tools should apply.
I’m going to show you the manual way to do it and then I’ll show you a very cool and trusted tool that I use to speed things up and will address everything I’m going to show you.
First, clean up your hard drive. As your computer ages, your hard drive fills up. This slows down performance as your PC has to go further and work harder to find files and programs it needs to access.
1. Empty recycle bin and remove temporary files
Now you can use Windows’ built-in cleanup functions to create more space: they do so by emptying the Recycle Bin, and removing temporary and other files you no longer need. In Windows, just type Disk Cleanup in the search box next to the Windows Start button. A window will display and you can put checks for Temporary Internet Files, Temporary Files, and Recycle Bin.
2. Delete cache
If you’ve ever had trouble viewing a web page, either it’s not showing you the most current version, images aren’t displaying correctly, or its formatting is off, then deleting the cache is the first thing you do. This is done within each browser and don’t worry, there’s really no downside to deleting your cached files other than a webpage may load slower the next time you visit it. These aren’t files stored on your hard drive, it’s just a snapshot of what you were viewing.
Second, delete programs you no longer use.
Every year or so I’ll do a quick check to see if I need to remove programs I no longer use. Search “Add or remove programs.” In each case, you can see a list of programs and the space they take up. Scroll down the list and select the program you want to remove, then click the Uninstall button at the top of the window. Remember you want to delete only programs you don’t use.
It isn’t always possible to completely remove all traces of a program using the Windows utility. For this, you need a third-party tool such as Revo Uninstaller. You can find the programs mentioned in the video in the Resources area below. You can then scan for and remove leftover files or Registry entries.
Third, stop programs from starting automatically. This is more of a ‘why is my computer starting so slow” issue and it’s because when you start Windows, a lot of other programs are also starting up, and many of these you don’t need. Search “task manager” in the search bar next to Windows button. Choose Startup Apps from the left menu. The status will show either enabled or disabled and you can toggle using the selection at the top.
Finally, here’s a very nifty tool that addresses everything we talked about, it’s called CCleaner and it’s what I use.
Here’s a quick run-through.
It has a cleaner function to clean off your hard drive. It also has Tools to uninstall programs, check for programs that start up automatically, and disable them. It also has other cool features such as a duplicate finder so if you’re one of those people who have duplicates of photos in five different folders this is for you.
It’s a free program but I paid for the CCleaner Pro version, so be sure check it out and see which version makes your life easier. I put a link in the Resources area.
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Have a great week!
Catch up on other Spring Cleaning Your Digital Space episodes + resources mentioned in the video:
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