How to Maximize Your Computer's Efficiency

There’s probably nothing more frustrating than sitting down to a busy day of work and having to wait for your computer to keep up with you. I’ve had days where I felt like chucking mine out the window because it was running so slowly. (Don’t worry; I’ve never given in to that urge!)

Most of us are pretty diligent (I hope) about keeping our anti-virus and anti-spyware programs up-to-date, but there are other steps that are also important to keeping your operating system running smoothly, and they don’t get nearly as much publicity.

Do you realize that every time you surf the Internet, open and close files, and install or uninstall software, small files and file fragments are often left behind, using up space on your hard drive and causing your system to be inefficient? Windows includes a Disk Defragmenter which reorganizes your files so the pieces that work together are closer to each other, so they can be accessed more quickly. By default, you can find this program by clicking on Start – All Programs – Accessories – System Tools.

Running the Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis (I suggest once a week) will make a big difference, but for optimum efficiency, you also need a registry cleaner. Unfortunately, Windows does not include a registry cleaner, but fortunately, you can download one free of charge by clicking on this graphic:

Be sure to pay close attention to the instructions, particularly the part about backing up your registry before running the program. The first time you run it, it will probably take quite a while, but after that, it will only take a couple of seconds, and you will definitely notice a difference!