Easy, free ways to speed up your computer

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By the Associated Press

If your computer is slowing down when it’s doing basic things such as booting up and running multiple programs at once, here are some tips for improving its performance.

- Reduce the programs that automatically launch at startup. One easy way is to do this in Windows is to click icons for programs on the taskbar, which most people have on the bottom of the screen. If you select the icons for instant-messaging programs such as AOL’s AIM service, look for a chance to adjust “options” or “settings.” Find the box that tells the program to automatically begin running at startup, and unclick it. Next time you download a new piece of software, check the default installation choices and make sure you really want something to begin running at startup.

- Cut down on add-ons. You don’t have to run every aspect of a useful program. For example, Google Desktop is great at indexing and finding the contents of your computer, but it also likes to display a sidebar full of “applets” with news headlines or stock quotes. If you use this and the computer goes into slo-mo, see what happens if you turn off the sidebar. 

- Change your Web browser or the way you use it. Browsers can get balky if you have too many tabs or windows open at once, especially if some of the sites you’re visiting have video or updating sports scores. Some tests have shown the Firefox browser runs faster than Internet Explorer 7. If you use Firefox, be sure to get the add-on that blocks Flash video from running on Web sites you have open but are not currently viewing. Go to addons.mozilla.org and search for “Flashblock.”

- Post photos or videos when you can leave the computer and do something else. Internet access providers generally let you download data much faster than you can upload it. Attaching your photo to an e-mail or sending it to an image-sharing Web site eats up a lot of time and computer resources that get in the way of trying to do other basic tasks.

- Try Windows PCs’ built-in performance-assistance tools. One involves defragmenting your hard drive. “Defragging” cleans up stray bits of data that have found their way into various places on the hard disk and can’t be accessed in the most efficient way. Go into “Programs” or “All Programs” in the Start menu, then click open “Accessories,” followed by “System Tools,” and then select “Disk Defragmenter.” It can’t hurt, but some find the performance improvements from defragging barely noticeable. You might get better results from another option in the same “System Tools” menu: “Disk Cleanup.” This deletes temporary Internet files and other junk you don’t really need.

- One thing to avoid that some recommend: overclocking, which involves tweaking your PC’s hardware settings to make the central processor or system memory run faster than the manufacturers intended. It can get tricky. And unless you’re running nuclear simulations or are a huge video game player, your standard home PC probably should be fast enough for what you need. The problem isn’t in the hardware. It’s in all the software.