Is your once super-fast, super-performance computer less effective and much slower than it used to be? Before thinking of replacing it with a newer model, try busting your computer’s speed with these tips.

Remember – before starting the cleaning process don’t forget to back up your data!

 

Clean your computer

When was the last time you cleaned your computer? Probably never, right? But did you know that more bacteria live on a square inch of a typical office desk than on the same area of a toilet seat? That’s because we clean our bathrooms more often than we clean our computers.
Just like your house, your car, your clothes or any other thing for what matters, your computer needs to be cleaned, inside and out, to prevent dust bunnies building up and overheating.

 

The outside

Start with the easy stuff and clean your keyboard and your mouse.
If you have the habit of eating in front of your computer, most probably your keyboard has accumulated lots of crumbs under the keys, so a proper clean once a week is more than necessary to keep germs away. Hold your computer upside down and shake it to dislodge debris. Next, take a can of compressed air, point it towards your keyboard and blow off the dust between the keys. Then, wipe the keyboard and the mouse with an antibacterial tissue. Make sure your computer is turned off so you won’t accidentally erase important documents.

 

The inside

Before cleaning the inside of your computer, unplug the power cable and remove all USBs and audio or video cables. Take your computer’s case to a well-ventilated room or, if possible, outside – you won’t want to breathe in all the dust accumulated in God knows how many years.
Open up the case and with the help of compressed air, blow the dust off the component inside your computer. Make sure to get between every crack and clean every part carefully.  Before closing up, make sure everything is connected inside. .

 

Add more RAM

Adding more RAM to your computer is one of the simples and cheapest way you can increase its performance. Adding, for example, 8GH of RAM will cost you almost nothing and it will make a noticeable difference to the overall performance of your PC. If you worry about the installation process, your computer’s manual should have a guide on performing a RAM upgrade.

 

Clear your hard drive

Another way you can make your computer faster is by simply removing unwanted files. Windows needs disk space to perform at it’s best and if your hard drive is full Window can start to experience delays. And good disk house keeping to keep you files organised is always good practice.

 

Close any unnecessary software running in the background

Getting rid of unused programs, add-ons, toolbars and other computer-stalling software will make a change in your computer’s performance. The problem with unnecessary software is that you install most of them along with other applications. After installing a new program, like Yahoo Messenger for example, make sure to remove the browser toolbar, update manager and other dispensable applications which came along with the software.