Six Tips for Faster Computing

These days, computers are used for nearly everything. From playing games to chatting with friends, from researching to watching the news, most people rely heavily on their computers. What happens if their computers start slowing down? Lost productivity, more frustration, and most importantly, lost time. Here are some top Tech Tips to getting your computer system running at top quality.

1. Freeze Spyware in its tracks

Spyware is something you may or may not have heard of. Some companies want your personal information more than they respect your privacy, and they install these Spyware programs on your computer (usually at the same time you are installing something else). These programs usually slow your computer down, because the more programs running at once, the slower your computer goes.

Solution: Download a FREE anti-spyware program, such as Ad-Aware or Spybot: Search and Destroy.

2. More RAM (computer memory)

Often, most computers don't come with nearly enough RAM to do what you need at the speeds you'd expect. Everything you do takes up some RAM, so if you're browsing the internet, chatting to a friend, and listening to music at the same time, you're probably already experiencing the slowdown. More RAM has an immediate and noticeable affect on your computer's speed. Often you may get 128-256MB RAM, but these days 1GB is more of the standard. Make sure to get the right kind of RAM, otherwise your computer simply won't turn on, and you'll have to hope that the store will give you a refund. 1GB of RAM will cost no more than $130, and labor is worth about $20-$30 at the computer store.

Solution: Have someone, preferably a computer geek you know, install some RAM for you, do it yourself (if your skilled enough), or take it to the computer store to add some.

3. Defragment your hard drive.

When you save stuff on your hard drive, sometimes your computer breaks it into smaller pieces to fit it on the disk more easily. You will never actually know when this happens, but it does happen often, especially if you have a lot of files on your computer. Defragmenting your hard drive makes it easier for your computer to find all the scattered files by sorting them better.

Solution: Click on your "start" button, go to "Programs"-->"Accessories"-->"System Tools"-->Click on "Disk Defragmenter." Now click the defragment button. Wait overnight, then come back. If it isn't finished, restart your computer (and close everything such as MSN, Realplayer, etc), and then start over.

4. Buy a new hard drive.

Often, just getting a lot of files will slow down your computer, but only if you have less than 25% free space on your current hard drive (you can find this when you go to the "My Computer" icon on your desktop). Hard drives allow you to save more music, more videos, more files, and more programs with ease, and if you don't have much free memory, your computer will run much more slowly.

Solution: Have your computer professional install a second hard drive for you. It will be more expensive if your computer only allows 1 hard drive.

5. Get a new video card.

If you play games on your computer, especially the newest ones, you will need a good video card. Video cards are easy to install devices that snap right into the inside of your computer, similar to RAM, but once again you must make sure to get the right kind, otherwise it may be unreturnable once opened. Video cards can cost anywhere from $100 to $500, and are a costly investment. You should only buy the video card you know you're going to need. Many web resources are available to explain more about the different kinds and needs for the various games out in the market.

Solution: Have a technically gifted (very gifted) friend of yours visit the local computer store with you, to find which kind of card you specifically need. A good video card will make any video-intensive program run faster.

6. Run less programs

This is probably the easiest option for anyone, but sometimes isn't possible. Every program you have running (Yahoo!, MSN messenger, Anti-Virus, Word, Internet Explorer) will slow down your computer. If you close the programs you're not using, your computer's speed will improve. Note that some programs shrink themselves to a little tiny icon in the bottom right of your screen, near your clock. You may have to right click this icon and select "Exit" to close the program. A couple of common examples are a smiley face for Yahoo! and a green guy for MSN.

Solution: Close the programs you are not using until you need them.

And if none of those solutions work, you just might want a new computer. New computers can be found at local stores (avoid them, however), but its usually best to order yours on the web through Dell, Gateway, or another source that specializes in these things. Depending on your needs, you could spend anywhere from $400 to $3000. If you use your computer primarily for homework, listening to music, and chat, stick around $600, but if you play the newest computer games, you will need to pay more for good gameplay.