Computers, Speed, and Maintenance

Many people today go through computers like a baby goes through diapers. My question is why? The computer you have may very well be good enough to use for the next couple of years. So save your money, and listen to a few tips that I have for you today.

First thing I would like to point out is that most people buy their computers thinking that it comes with everything they need. I'm sorry to say but your completely wrong. Today when you purchase a computer it comes loaded with all kinds of software, TRIAL software. When purchasing a computer the first thing I recommend is to invest in a good anti-virus. The best one out in my opinion is Avira which can be purchased from Avira.com or you can use their personal free version if you wish. Anti-viruses are meant to be put on new or recently formatted computers, they are not meant to clean a computer after it gets infected. Therefore investing in an Anti-virus now will save you time and money in the future.

Another thing you may want to get for your computer is a word processing software, either from Microsoft, which costs a pretty penny but is the most widely used piece of office software. An alternative would be to download Open-Office from OpenOffice.org, it provides all the basic Office needs for the home user, and costs nothing but a few minutes of downloading and installation time. This is good for a student in school who will need to complete reports,spreadsheets, or power point slide shows.

Now you have what you need to have a good basic running computer, maybe you have a few more personal software's you would like to add, but for the most part your ready to go. Now many people don't like Vista and would like to go back to XP, however for the most part this is not possible, or is not economically reasonable. To "downgrade" to XP will cost anywhere from $100-$200, depending where you get the job done. You also run into hardware issues because all of the new PCs are being designed to run Vista, and the newest operating system Windows 7.

For those of you who have Vista and XP, you can easily scrape a few things off without even noticing much of a difference on your computer's visual aspects, while increasing the overall performance, and speed of the PC. The most common thing nobody ever thinks of is "dust bunnies" yes dust bunnies, and there are tons and tons of them in the common household PC. Why? I will tell you why, the average PC user purchases their PC puts in where ever they please and that's it, not even thinking about the physical health and look of the PC. When dust collects into the PCs tower itself, it can clog the fans on the PC and its CPU ( Central Processing Unit. ) It is very important to keep the computer cool, as the hotter it gets the slower it becomes, and it could also cause permanent damage to the hardware. So my first tip is to take off the side panel, and vacuum out the inside. Simple, yet it will make your computer happy and cool.

The next thing I would like to mention is visual effects, most people don't notice how much RAM, ( Random Access Memory ) which is the memory used to run your system processes, and your own processes (ex. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.) is taken up by the visual aesthetics. If you are one of those people that still want the desktop to look nice while you use the PC, my next hint shows you how to free up some extras that you really don't notice in the first place.

-First you want to click on Start===>(RIGHT CLICK)My Computer
-Next you should see the System Properties window
-Click on the Advanced tab located at the top
-Next click on Settings in the Performance Box
-Now you should see the Performance Options window
-Click Adjust for best performance
-Then click Custom
-Next you will scroll all the way to the bottom
-Now check the last 2 boxes skip 1 and check the next 2 above that
Note: Vista users can also select an option that "Shows thumbnails" instead of default icon(Located near the top of the list)

This small tweak will allow the computer to run slightly more smoothly, and not hang as much. My final free tweak is Startups.Most people neglect all of the processes set to start-up when the computer is booted, these drastically affect the boot time. A lot of software will automatically write itself into the start-up registry so it runs every time the computer starts, however most people don't use every program on their computer every single time they are on it. To fix this, follow these steps:

-Go to Start===>Run
-Type MSCONFIG and hit OK (For Vista users the run box is located above Start after it is click ( Looks like a search bar)
-You should now see the System Configuration Utility window
-Go to the Startup tab
-Now take a look at all of the process that are running each time your computer is turned on
-If you recognize some, and you are sure you do not want them to auto start then UN-check the box
- After you have UN-checked what you deem unnecessary click apply and restart computer
-Most common things not needed to start when computer start are: AIM, AOL Updater, MSN messenger, etc
Note: If you are unsure what something is, then LEAVE IT ALONE. You do not want to turn off something critical like your Anti-virus or graphics card software.

My final tip for speeding up your computer would be to upgrade the RAM, a great site to find out how much maximum RAM you computer can hold, and what is compatible with your computer is, Crucial.com. They make it very simple to find your computer, and the correct type of RAM. Also I recommend you purchase online either through Crucial or Newegg.com, because you will find the cheapest prices online and those are very reputable sites that I myself, and many others use for all of their computer needs.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my tips on computers and speeding them up while also maintaining them. Look for more writings by myself on computers, and other technology.