How to speed up your pc without buying a new one

Is your computer or laptop slowing down, or not as quick as you remember? Here are a few tips and suggestions for you that are free or low cost that may avoid you spending on a new computer soon.

Uninstall old software – Probably the first best option to look at doing. Removing old programs that you don’t use anymore can drastically speed up your computer especially if these are rather large programs and your hard drive has less than 5% space free

Deleted network shares – Not so common in the home pc to have network shares/drive mapping/FTP, but in a work domain type environment it is so. Look in your File Explorer (Win 10) or Windows Explorer (All previous versions) down the lefthand side for what look like Drive Icons with brackets eg. (\\PCRepairsAdelaide) (Z:) or (FTP) and right click on this choose option Disconnect or Delete. This will stop your computer sending requests looking for that location.

Remove printers in devices – Printers that are no longer used but are still in your printers and device settings are doing the same send requests as above network shares. If you don’t have these printers anymore then go Settings, (Win 10) Devices, Printers & Scanners or Control Panel, (All Previous versions) Devices and Printers, Printer. Right click on the printer to be removed and choose remove device option.

Clean out unused files – This option will clean up temp files, system files that are not required by your system to keep functioning correctly. Windows 10 has this option made easy. In the circular cortana search box type Disk Cleanup, a small drive selection will pop up, select your system drive and click OK. Explanations and recommendations are explained. The clean up system files option is at the bottom which will dig a little deeper to windows update files which are larger and explained. Windows 8, 7 etc from the start menu bottom left choose All programs, Accessories, System Tools then disk cleanup. Same as Windows 10, check the explanations and decide if this will benefit your system. There are free tools online like CCleaner as example that will clean up these unused file, but will help uninstall trouble software that you may have come across in the first step.

Virus check – Run a virus scan on your system. Try the built in windows version you have running or if you have some other Antivirus program install then run that system scan. In addition try running Malware scans like Malwarebytes.

Upgrade to a SSD (system clone) – These might be the options that plenty of users will not attempt from my client experiences in the past 15 years. Some machines can be difficult as to can some of the system clone tools out there. EaseUS Todo backup was an old favourite I used to recommend however its now Macrium Reflect I direct clients to. Both have free versions. Depending what brand and size of SSD you chose then this will be where your cost may begin. A 120gb SSD starts at about AUD$40 and if you chose wisely then you may have a free download and instructions to another reputable system cloning program.

Upgrade to a SSD (fresh windows install) – If you have your license codes, install disks etc you may choose to do a fresh windows install and start again. Nothing wrong with that at all. Just plan ahead, download all your system specific hardware drivers before removing your hard drive and you have a running system if you don’t have another computer.

Failsafe option – Taking it to your local computer shop or pc repairer will have all the above cleans, checks and SSD install done starting at roughly a couple of hundred dollars and the old hard drive in a USB case for a spare external backup drive. And possibly returned completed the next day.

Andrew May Technology Specialist/Owner iRepair PC Adelaide PC Repairs Adelaide