1) Scan For Spyware
Spyware and Adware get onto your computer on a daily basis, as they can come from things like downloads, to just browsing the net. This is usually one of the main offenders in slowing down your computer. I’d advise you use AVG Anti-Spyware (http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download-avg-anti-spyware-and-anti-rootkit), although there are many other good alternatives.
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2) Check For Any Viruses
Yes, I know this one sounds rather obvious, but a lot of computers I’ve seen in my lifetime are simply slow due to lack of anti-virus software (Or sometimes, lack of a GOOD anti-virus program). If you have the money to spend on a decent anti-virus, I’d really recommend NOD32 (http://www.eset.com/), but if you don’t have the money to spend, or you just want a good free program, go and download Avast!.
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3) Clean Up Your Registry
Registry faults happen on a day-to-day basis, sometimes occurring on their own. So a clever thing to do would be to clear up your registry, and fix these faults. I really recommend using Registry Clearer (http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm), as I’ve been using it for some time now, and I’ve had virtually no problems with it, apart from maybe the fact it sometimes takes two scans to clean the registry completely.
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4) Use A Defragmenter
By Defragmenting your hard drive, you should see results very quickly indeed. Disk defragmenter is located in Accessories -> System Tools. It will free up your hard drive, and thus, should speed up your computer.
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5) Delete unwanted files/folders
If you’ve got any old files or folders that you’ll never need again for as long as you live, you may want to delete these. This is because by freeing up your hard drive space you should see an increase in speed. I also recommend buying a back up hard drive to put the files on before you delete them though, just in case you end up needing the files again one day.
By following these five, rather easy steps, you should see an increase in the speed of your computer, and hopefully it will be as fast as when you first bought it.
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