How to prevent your Computer from Slowdowns

These are the guidelines given below which will help to maintain your computers speed:

• Fragmented hard drive is the biggest bottlenecks of all. Disk fragmentation can significantly slow down your machine. A common cause of disk fragmentation is a disk that is too full. You should keep 20 percent to 25 percent of your hard disk space free to minimize file fragmentation and to improve the defragmenter’s ability to defrag the disk. Thus, if a disk is too full, move some files off the drive and restart the defragmenter. Once you defrag (defragment) your hard drive, you may notice an immediate and significant increase in system performance.

• Ensure antivirus software is installed, automatically checking for updates, and automatically scanning all incoming files. If there is a virus associated with a new file it will automatically be repaired or quarantined. New viruses come out daily. Because of this, the anti-virus software needs to be configured to automatically updates it self.

• When Windows boots up, one of the first things it does is check the Fonts folder and then load all of the fonts present so that they will be accessible from whatever applications you are running. The problem is that all of those fonts eat up resources, and they slow down your system, especially on boot up. To over come this problem open my computer, then double-click the Control Panel icon, and then the Fonts folder. The system will display a list of all of the fonts currently installed on your computer. Double-click any font to see examples of it. If it looks like something you will never use, select and then delete it.

• One often-ignored culprit of system slowdown is the machines BIOS settings. Slowdowns may occur if the BIOS settings do not match the optimal machine configuration. Often you can improve machine performance by researching your motherboards optimal BIOS settings, which may not be the same as the factory defaults.

There is no centralized database of optimal BIOS settings, but you can employ a search engine such as Google or AllTheWeb and use your motherboard name and BIOS as keywords to find the correct settings.

• Read the terms and conditions before signing up for or downloading anything for free on the Internet. Free downloads like Kazaa (music), games, toolbars, and coupons often come with adware or spyware. The terms and conditions of downloads explain adware will be installed on the persons machine in exchange for the free software, music, pizza or whatever. Of course, few people read these terms and conditions.

• Multitasking was a boon for which we had been waiting for years. Suddenly, we could actually set the computer to a task and that task could continue while we did something else, such as work on a document or browse another Web site. Microprocessors, even todays more powerful ones, can only do so much before they begin to bog down. If you have multiple applications open, especially if they are each working on tasks, overall speed will suffer; the multiple tasks will indeed get processed, but that processing will take place more slowly than if any one of the activities were the only one taking place.

• Modern processors generate a lot of heat. Thats why all processors require some sort of cooling element, typically a fan of some type. When the processor temperature goes over spec, the system can slow down or run erratically.

• Install a hardware firewall to keep hackers out. Hackers have automated tools that are looking for any PC connected to the Internet without a firewall. If you are connected to the Internet but do not have a firewall, hackers (criminals) will be in your PC. Beyond stealing your information they can install programs that can damage or slow your PC down. A hardware firewall to protect all the PCs on the local area network provides the best protection. Recommended hardware firewalls are Linksys, Netgear, and D-link.

• Your computer is a complex system comprising many pieces of hardware and software, all of which must work well together for optimum results. Eliminating the bottlenecks that result in system slowdowns is one major step in that process.

If you follow the above prevention, definitely your computer running better. We suggest doing these things yourself or schedule a computer professional to proactively perform and ensure these preventive maintenance steps are in place and working on a monthly basis. This will prevent computer slowdowns.

For more details on Computer Slowdowns visit our http://www.halfvalue.com and http://www.halfvalue.co.uk  websites.