Not too long ago, I remember walking into my office at JFK International Airport and turning on my computer, getting some coffee, going outside for a smoke and then coming back in to see the computer booting up and getting ready for some action.  Now days, with things like WINDOWS 7, SSD or Solid State Drives, that’s a thing of the past.  But not all of us want to spring the hundreds of dollars to get that going.  But we all deserve a little bit of a quicker computer too.  Got some tips for you to getting you back (or at least close to that speed) you had way back like when you first pulled it out of the box fresh out of the store. 

With the advent of the internet, PC’s and laptops are getting loaded up with more and more junk.  Cookies, trackers, a software download here and there, free this and free that.  The next thing you know, you got bits and pieces of software all over the place.  But not to worry.  At least for users of WINDOWS XP and recent, there are a bunch of tools that you can use to speed things up a little bit at a time.  And I do realize that there are a ton of third party software items out there but for the most part, lets go with what WINDOWS already gave us.  No sense I tell you to download software and bog your computer down even more! 

First thing you want to do.  This sounds stupid but it is amazing how many people don’t do this.  Clean your trash.  You see that recycle bin right there on your desktop?  When was the last time that you cleaned that out?  go ahead and right click it, and then click to EMPTY.  BAM.  There you go.  All done. Easy right?  The next few are just as easy. 

Check Disk
This is good maintenance that you should be doing every few months to making sure that things are finely tuned.  Lets grease up the wheels before we run off and start cleaning things out too much.

• Click on My Computer
• Right click on C drive
• Choose “Properties”
• Select the Tools Tab
• Click the "Check Now" button under "Error Checking"
• Check all the boxes
• Click Start

Disk Cleanup
Did you know that every single time you go on a webpage, you bring in something called a cookie to your computer?  And when you go to thousands of websites and click here and there and check out the picture of some Olympic games or a news clip of this and that, you pile on more and more to your computer too.  Thankfully, there is a tool in WINDOWS that lets you clean all of that stuff up.  But remember, right after you do it, some of the websites that you go to might take a wee bit longer to open since you just got cleaned up the cookies.

• Click on My Computer 
• Right click on your C drive 
• Choose “Properties” 
• Select Disk Cleanup

Disk Defragmenter
This is an all too important tool that you should be using.  A lot of the performance of software applications etc.  As you use the computer and move files and programs around, it leaves chunks here and there and soon, the data is broken and doesn’t run as efficiently.  That’s when you go and use the Defragmenter that is also built into your WINDOWS Operating System.  Just remember to go ahead and use this when you are getting ready for dinner or so since it does take quite a bit of time. 

When all else fails, you can always use third party software too.  One that I personally use quite a bit in the office and in my own PC is called CCleaner.  This is straight and to the point.  Cleans out your temp files and old registry.  If you don’t know what that means, then no worries, make sure you download the free version and you are good to go! 

There are a lot more ways and I am always getting suggestions on other methods.  These are your basic easy ways to go ahead and take care of the problems that can sometimes cause your machine to slow down.  If you have any other suggestions, click on the link, send me email and for sure I will add it in the next column!  Til then.. no more April fools and get ready to finish your taxes!