Is your computer or laptop very slow when starting up and shuting down? By adjusting some settings in Windows, your computer can run a lot faster.
I have some tips for speeding up your start up and shutdown times which are very easy to do for most beginner to intermediate computer users.
These tips will help make your computer start up or shut down times a few seconds to minutes faster during start up and shut down. Plus, your over all responsiveness and speed of your computer will be faster.
Operating and Software tips for speeding up your computer.
1. Disable startup programs which you do not need. In Windows, go to the start menu, then click on the Run shortcut icon , type in msconfig in the run box, and click ok. Click on the Startup tab, and uncheck all the programs which you do not need or want to run during start-up like instant messengers, e-mail clients, media players. Also, go to the Boot tab in msconfig, and check the “No GUI boot” check box. Lastly, click the apply and OK button on MSconfig.
Note: make sure not to un-check your anti-virus, anti-spyware/malware or firewall software if you have any security software installed on your computer.
2. Defrag your Computer’s hard drives with a hard drive defrag program like the one built-in to Windows.
3. You can also try switching anti-virus software to a more light weight anti-virus like Microsoft Security Essentials, Comodo Internet Security, Avast, etc.
4. Do a disk clean up, and scan disk on your computer.
5. Before shutting down your computer, exit all your programs including the programs in your system tray on the bottom right.
6. Switch to the classic theme for Windows XP-7, so your computer has the basic gray theme from the Windows 95-me theme.
7. Scan your computer for viruses, spyware, and malware to make sure there is nothing unwanted running in the background.
8. Uninstall programs which you do not use.
9. Update your software like Antivirus, firewall, instant messenger to a newer version since there might be performance improvements.
10. If your computer can’t handle newer software look for lightweight alternative software, or keep using the older version of your software
11. Run Windows Update, and install all updates, patches and service packs for Windows and Microsoft software.
12. If you have more then one antivirus, firewall or antispyware program running, uninstall one of them, and only keep 1 antivirus, 1 firewall, and 1 antispyware program running at one time.
13. Some antivirus programs also come bundled with an antispyware, firewall, antimalware, and parental control software, so you can uninstall the rest of your security software, and only have the one antivirus program running.
14. Turn-off your wall paper in Windows since wallpapers use some RAM and CPU cycles to display a picture on your desktop.
15. Turn-off your desktop animation for Windows Desktop.
16. Close Desktop widgets, gadgets, etc on your desktop if you have any installed.
If you want to easily speed up your computer, I recommend tou buy New! TuneUp Utilities 2011. since it can disable unused programs, and clean up Windows for improve speed.
Hardware upgrades which should speed up your computer start up and shutdown time.
1. Install more RAM.
2. Upgrade to a faster CPU/Processor.
3. Upgrade your computer’s motherboard, so your computer can use a faster CPU and better RAM.
4. Upgrade to a Solid State Hard drive or a faster hard drive with a faster rotational speed like 10,000 RPM for the drive which you installed Windows to.
5. Use a dedicated video card if you are currently using onboard video since onboard video card use some RAM for displaying video on your monitor.
6. Make sure your computer hardware, fans, and internal parts for your computer are free of dust since dust can make your computer slow, and some computers and laptops will slow down your computer from overheating or melting caused by dust inside your computer case.
7. Check to see if all your devices, and computer parts are all working properly in your Windows device manager. If any parts are not working properly, try uninstalling their driver software, and installing the latest version, or replacing the hardware.
8. Turn-off your scanners, printers, external devices and unplug all your USB flash drives before shutting down your computer to prevent your computer from hanging from a device which is not turned off yet.
9. Use a Flash drive to use as a readyboost drive in Windows Vista, or 7.
In summary, I find disabling start-up programs in MSconfig, choosing an anti-virus which use low system resources, and adding more RAM to your computer are the easiest way to speed up Windows’ start up and shutdown times.
However, installing Windows or any operating system like Linux, Mac on to a Solid state hard drive will speed up your start up and shut down times the most. But, SSD drives are expensive, and installing an operating system on a new drive can be very time consuming.
This helps alot to increase user experience on windows 7. I also wrote an articles about Fixing Windows 7 Slow Internet. We both are writing about the same topic, no?