This is something that I started to work on a few years ago for a YouTube video (I put most of it together, and it came out really well, but I did not finish it), but I've decided to just finally post it on my weblog as it's just been sitting in my drafts for kind of a while.
It could probably do some more good as an actual published post, and I kind of feel like I want to start using some more of my technology-related knowledge in the public part of my work.
Let me know if you guys want to read some more things like this post on my weblog!
IN THIS WEBLOG POST, I AM GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR COMPUTER.
WARNING:
BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER WITH AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, CDs, DVDs, OR ONTO THE INTERNET. I ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT (JUST IN CASE ANY IMPORTANT DATA IS LOST).
LASTLY, WHEN IN DOUBT, DON'T ATTEMPT TO REMOVE AND / OR TO CHANGE ANYTHING IN YOUR COMPUTER BY YOURSELF. YOU CAN AND SHOULD ALWAYS RESEARCH ANY TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO DO THEM BY YOURSELF ... OR JUST TAKE YOUR COMPUTER TO A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL.
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER ... OR SHUT IT DOWN AND
WAIT A FEW SECONDS TO TURN IT BACK ON.
This will refresh the memory, therefore speeding up the performance. Make sure to save anything that you were working on, as any unsaved data may be permanently lost.
CHECK YOUR HARD DISK DRIVE SPACE.
To do this step, begin by opening up the start menu and clicking on the "My Computer" option.
There you should see the label "Hard Disk Drives".
With two options entitled "Local Disk" and "Recovery".
Right click on "Local Disk" and then click on the option entitled "Properties".
Depending on what kind of a computer you are using, you might see either a pie chart or simply a sentence showing you your used space versus free space.
If less than 20% if your current computer space is free, then you might want to consider either purchasing some more Random Access Memory (AKA "RAM") or getting rid of any unused programs.
CHECK YOUR RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (AKA RAM).
This step is only a slight variation of the last one.
SCAN FOR DISK DRIVE ERRORS.
Corrupted software or metadata (and / or incorrectly shutting down your computer) can lead to disk errors, which can slow down your computer.
Consistently checking for and fixing these errors can improve the performance of your computer.
Open the start menu, click on "My Computer", right-click on "Hard Drive" or "Local Disk", select "Properties", and located in the "Tools" tab (under the "Error-Checking" section) should be an option entitled "Check Now".
When another dialogue box pops up, click on "Scan Now".
DISABLE START UP PROGRAMS.
Open up the start menu, click on "Run..." and type in "MSConfig" into the search bar that pops up. Click on "Startup", and a list of all of the programs that automatically run when you start up your computer will appear.
Disable anything that may be unnecessary.
DISABLE VISUAL EFFECTS.
This step will maximize your computer's speed and performance.
There are about 20 visual effects that you can enable or disable.
Open up the start menu, click on "Control Panel", and - from there - click on "System" and then "Advanced System Settings".
Now click on the option entitled "Adjust for best performance".
Apply the changes.
If you decide that you do not prefer this option, click on "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer".
RUN A DISK DEFRAGMENT.
Fragmented data is data that could be spread all over your hard disk drive or your removable drives (such as USBs and / or flash drives), and your computer must search for all of the fragments of these files to access them.
Defragmenting your computer's disk drive can help to speed up your computer, because it will organize your data and help your computer access this data faster.
This step will also free up some space on your computer.
Open up the start menu, click on "My Computer", right-click on "Hard Drive" or "Local Disk", and then click on "Properties".
Under the "Tools" tab, you should now find the option entitled "Defragment Now", or you can download a disk defragment program (like Auslogics Disk Defrag).
RUN A DISK CLEANUP.
This step will delete temporary and unnecessary system files, empty your recycle bin, and free up a ton of megabytes. To run a disk cleanup, open up the start menu, click on the "My Computer" option, right-click on "Hard Drive" or "Local Disk", and click on the "Properties" option. Located within the "General" tab should be an option to run a disk cleanup, or you can download a disk cleanup program (like Windows Cleanup! or Piriform CCleaner). Whatever you choose to do, there should usually be a checklist of what you can choose to get rid of.
REMOVE ANY UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS.
To do this, open up the start menu, click on "Control Panel", and then - depending on what kind of a computer you are using - you should see either an option entitled "Programs and Features" or "Add or Remove Programs".
Click on whichever option your computer shows you.
Now remove whatever you do not need.
Preferably, sort it out by the "Installed Date" option, that way you can tell the difference between an unnecessary program that you may have downloaded recently and a necessary program that your computer originally came with.
Do not delete any pre-installed system software, such as anything from Microsoft, Apple, or your computer's manufacturer (like Hewitt-Packard, et cetera).
When in doubt, do without.
Meaning: Don't tamper with anything.
REMOVE ANY UNNECESSARY FONTS.
REMOVE ANY UNNECESSARY FILES.
This step is completely optional.
Simply remove any unnecessary files (such as: pictures, videos, music, or documents) that you may have created, saved, uploaded, and / or downloaded onto your computer.
If you are going to do this step, make absolutely sure that you have your files saved onto an external hard drive (such as a flash drive or an SD card) or store it online.
Thank you all very much for reading this weblog post.
Please check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel (/AmyRoseSavage).
*Some non-affiliate links have been included within this weblog post (which means that I've included some product links within this weblog post, but I am not a representative for them, and I am not paid to talk about them.*
