- 1). Remove any software you no longer use by going to the Control Panel and choosing "Add/Remove Programs." Remove any unnecessary programs---this clears up disk space, which helps improve speed and performance, and may also eliminate some unnecessary processes, which can also slow down your computer.
- 2). Stop unwanted items from starting up automatically when your computer starts. Go to "Start" then "Run" and type "msconfig" in the "Open" field. This will bring up the System Configuration Utility. Choose the "Startup" tab and remove checks from any programs you don't need to start up automatically. If you're not familiar with the process names, be careful about disabling them. An Internet search can help you determine if they're programs the system needs on start up. But if your computer has been launching a dozen programs on start up you'll notice a significant improvement in speed once some are disabled.
- 3). Clean unnecessary files off your computer with Disk Cleanup, which you can find by selecting "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools." When you click on "Disk Cleanup" it will automatically start calculating how much space you can free up. In the "Files to Delete" list you'll see a list of locations with the amount of disk space you can clear off in each, which can be a very high number if you've never done it before. Check the boxes by the files you want to delete and click "OK." After a prompt asking you if you're sure you want to perform the action Disk Cleanup will delete the files, clearing disk space and allowing your computer to improve its performance.
- 4). Defragment your computer. Go to "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and choose "Disk Defragmenter." Choose the drive you want to defragment and click "Analyze." This will let you know if your disk needs to be defragmented. A badly fragmented disk can take a long time to defragment, so be sure to do this step at a time when you won't need your computer for a while. A defragmented disk means a faster computer, since the computer doesn't spend a long time searching for fragmented files.
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