Over the past one or two decades
PCs have become an integral part of our lives. We use them as sources of
information, to shop, to play, to work and much more. As a leading piece of
technology, PCs have enjoyed rapid development – new and better software and
hardware features are released for them every day.
If we want to enjoy these latest
developments and the benefits they bring with themselves, hardware upgrades are
in order. However, not everyone can afford to buy new parts for their computer
and even if they can, it’s hard to keep up with the market. So, short of
breaking the bank, what else can be done to improve the performance of the PC?
- First and foremost, you always need to take proper care of your PC’s safety and security, i.e. make sure that it isn't infected with any viruses, spyware and so on. In addition to jeopardising the safety of your data and personal information, viruses take up some of your PC’s resources and thus hamper its capability of operating at optimal speed.
- Another very important thing is to regularly clean up your hard drives of unnecessary data and software. That includes deleting the files in the Recycle Bin, the temporary files and the data you no longer need, and uninstalling the software you no longer use. The more information your PC has to handle at any one time, the more memory it will use and the slower it will be.
- You may find defragmentation to be quite boring and time-consuming but it is a necessary evil. Defragmentation eases your PC’s access to all files and thus increases its speed. When you delete files, they leave gaps in the file structure of your hard drive and when you access one of the remaining files, they have to be located. Defragmentation fixes those gaps and gathers everything in one place so they are more easily found and opened.
- If you are finding your PC’s start up time frustrating, you can reduce the number of programs that start automatically. You might have used a program regularly once, but do you still use it now? Think about what you really need when the PC starts and what you can start up later if you want to.
- Don’t go overboard with the visual effect you allow your operating system to display. No matter how advanced the hardware is, having to display numerous effects can hamper any computer’s speed. Enjoy them for some time if you must, but simplify them afterwards to really benefit from the money you’ve invested.
- If all this sounds like gibberish to you, there are programs that can improve your PC’s speed for you. The market is literally flooded with them so you need to properly investigate before investing, but most of these programs perform little tweaks here and there that help the overall performance of the machine.
If your PC still isn’t satisfying
you after all these corrections, the time for new hardware or an entirely new
machine has arrived. After all, no matter how much you patch it up, it will get
old one day, it’s just the nature of things… With so many discounts on hardware
available these days, though, it might not be so unbearable to equip yourself
with a brand new PC in no time.
Rita Rova is a technology writer
for Love My Vouchers – the
voucher code website that lists the latest discounts on PCs, laptops and mobile
devices available from top UK stores.
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