Tejas P Mehta

Here i have listed some tips which help to improve your computer’s performance. These examples use Microsoft Windows XP. Some of the screens may differ from version to version, but overall you’ll find these tips work for all versions of Windows.
Clean up disk errors
When to execute :Run once a week

Procedure :
To run Disk Check:

1. Click My Computer.
2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click on the drive you wish to check for errors, and click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab. In the Error-Checking section, press the Check Now… button. A Check Disk dialog box displays, as shown below.
4. In the Check Disk dialog box, check all the check boxes. Click Start.

Note: Check Disk can take more than an hour to check and clean errors on your computer.
Remove temporary files
When to execute :Run once a week

Your computer have stored temporary files when you’re looking at Web pages and even when you’re working on files in programs, such as Microsoft Word. These files will slow your computer’s performance.

Procedure :
To run Disk Cleanup:

1. Go To Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup.
2. Select your drive and press OK.
3. Disk Cleanup will calculate how much space you can free up on your hard drive. After its scan, the Disk Cleanup dialog box reports a list of files you can remove from your computer. This scan can take a while depending on how many files you have in your computer.

After the scan is complete, in the Disk Cleanup dialog box, click View Files to see what Disk Cleanup will throw out once you give it the go ahead. You can check and uncheck boxes to define what you wish to keep or discard. When you’re ready, click OK.

Rearrange your data with Disk Defragmenter
When to execute : Run once a month

1. Go To Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter.
2. Select your drive and press Defragment.
3. After analyzing your computer, the Disk Defragmenter displays a message stating whether you should defragment your drive. Press Defragment to clean up your computer if necessary. The Disk Defragmenter will reorganize files by placing together and organizing them by program and size, as shown in Figure.

Install antivirus and antispyware programs

Computer viruses and spyware (hidden software that gathers information about you without your knowledge or consent when you’re using a computer) both reduce system performance. Computer viruses can not only reduce performance, but they can also destroy data. Any computer that accesses the Internet should have antivirus and antispyware programs installed.