10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer Now
10. Install more RAM
The most obvious, and most effective, way to speed up your PC is to add more RAM (random access memory). You can check how much RAM you have by right-clicking on 'My Computer' and selecting 'Properties' on a Windows PC, or selecting 'About This Mac' from the menu in OS X. If you have less than 2-gigabytes (GB), it may be time for an upgrade. Even most Netbooks come with 1 GB these days, and 2 is considered the bare minimum for a Vista PC.
You can get 4 GB of memory for as little as $40 from an online retailer like Newegg.com or TigerDirect.com. Just make sure to check what kind of memory your computer takes.
Want to learn how to do it? Click here to find out how.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jim @ Feb 12th 2009 5:59PM
Hi...this is good information.....is there any website...that I can sign up with you guys...to get new updates....thanks.
need help in Oak @ Feb 13th 2009 5:12PM
this wasn't much help. i have a dual core processor: the first is at 85+% and the second is only at 9% full. i keep dragging stuff (pictures, vids, some applications) from A over to B, but it dosen't seem to help much. can i move really big stuff over (like aol entirely) - or how else can i even them out because i'm assuming that's why it runs so sloooowly? do I just drag and drop it?
please answer in simple sentences.
Me @ Feb 16th 2009 5:56PM
No matter how full your drives are as to the speed of your computer. Applications in the background running and wallpaper and icons on your desktop are your culprits. How much Memory do you have? 1 GB or more is prefferable. Also download Spotbot for free and do a search and get rid of all the junk. Also go into internet options and delete all history and temp files and cookies.
Evan @ Feb 17th 2009 6:17PM
Unfortunately, no... Unless a program is natively multi-threaded it can't take full advantage of parallel processing.
I suggest, get rid of the AOL app and setup thunderbird or outlook to manage your mail account. They run lean and clean and you'll see a noticeable difference in performance.
Debbie @ Feb 16th 2009 9:12AM
Good information, I had to learn this all the hard way. The CCleaner mentioned here is a great little tool. Also you can get alot of free downloads at CNET.COM under downloads, free keyscramblers, CCLEANER, which I love, and sitting your colors and shutting down those programs that run in the back like AOL! You can use AOL with firefox without using all their heavy stuff. You cant get into your favorites and will have to get used to it. But stops all that stuff from running in the back ground. I found all this information to be very helpful, and I have done most of it already, when I found out I had MANY bugs and was freezing all the time. Now I run very well, and my PC is five years old. teak here and a teak there. And I am NOT a PC guru! I also now run 3 real time virus watchers, and use two firewalls. Check that all out at Cnet. Also Utilities 2008 is free for 30 days, and helps you shut down programs and maximizes with help what you should do for speed. Google it on CNETS page.
me @ Feb 16th 2009 12:23PM
You missed one very important item. Go to run> type in msconfig.
go to start up> click on clear all on the bottom. Everytime you start a new program it puts itself in the start up file and starts automatically in the background. You can start anything manually and do not need it running in the background taking up resources. The only ones you might want to keep a check in would be your anti virus program. You need to do this at least once a month due to the programs getting put back in there each time you open one of them.
Evan @ Feb 17th 2009 7:37PM
This is bad advice.
By doing that you'll also disable all networking services and a ton of other features built into windows. Goodbye internet, email, etc...
If you kill startups and services look them up on Google first to make sure they aren't essential to the OS or something else you use.
Me @ Feb 17th 2009 11:30PM
No, sorry but that is not bad advice. I do it all the time and have for years on a ton of computers. As I said, you can start anything manually OR you can leave the check in the internet connection you use. After you start it manually again it will be back in the start up file anyway.
Was just trying to help so don't be cranky :)
Pops @ Feb 17th 2009 7:53AM
Site is slightly amusing. Most sites I visisted this morning loaded in 4-5 seconds. This one to improve your speed took 18 seconds to initialy load and 15 to 22 seconds for later pages to load. Wonder if they should read their own advice?
Evan @ Feb 17th 2009 7:37PM
Good information. This has to be the first tech related article on AOL news that didn't read like a product advertisement. The information presented was akin to something I would read on lifehacker. I'm surprised to say this but, I'm going to start checking aol news more often for tech news from now on. Attaboy to the author.
Lane @ Feb 18th 2009 10:10AM
I found this extremely helpful since I'm no computer techie.
Sometimes people who are forget about us who have no experience in these matters. The bottom line is, my computer did start running faster.
Kent Larsen @ Feb 21st 2009 3:03PM
My Computer is at maximum memory. Years ago, when I had windows 95, I was told to clean out my cache. That really helped. Now I have Windows XP and I can't find the right cache to clean out. I do not have that many programs on my computer so how do I clean out junk besides empting the temp. files, prefetch and running disk clean up? Seams that the cache that I cleaned out with windows 95, got rid of a lot of pictures and crap from Web pages. What do I do?
sjs2626 @ Mar 8th 2009 5:40PM
Use a program called CCleaner. The link is right here: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner and the download link is on the right side of the page.
John S @ Mar 15th 2009 10:30PM
Another speed improvement ideal is when you install software you may want to select custom install rather then the default that the program usually recommends. The custom install many times allows you to stop some of the automatic start up options and also allows you not to have things like desktop icons and auto updates done. When you select the default options many times the software manufacture sets every option it has to sometimes anoying extreme and this can really affect computer speed.
dipsygypsy @ Mar 18th 2009 10:29AM
you have to be careful about upgrading your memory.
the 32bit version of Vista won't use more than 3GB of memory, so buying 4 GB would be a waste of money unless you get the 64 bit version.