Is your computer slowing you down? Is your system not running at top speed? Does it seem like it takes an eternity for your computer to boot up or a file to open? Before you get frustrated and throw the computer out the window follow the steps below to help speed up your computer and keep it in tip-top shape!

Remove Unnecessary Files”
Over time files start to accumulate on the hard drive of the computer. Though many of these files are needed there are many files that are not necessary and can be removed to free up disk space and help increase performance. Windows 7 comes with a utility called disk cleanup that helps identify and remove files that are no longer needed.

Use Disk Cleanup
Click on Start |Programs |Accessories | System Tools then select Disk Cleanup
The disk cleanup utility will calculate the amount of desk space the can be freed up and display the files that will be deleted in a dialog box.
Review the files to be deleted in the Disk Cleanup Dialog box – any files that should not be deleted should be unchecked
When finished reviewing the files to be deleted click on OK

NOTE: If you have several drives the utility will need to be run on each drive.

Increase Speed of Data Access
As files are saved and moved around the hard drive they start to get fragmented which slows down file and hard drive access. There is nothing that can be done to prevent the fragmentation but there is a utility that can be used to defragment the fragmented files. This will help increase file and disk access speeds.

Click on Start | All Programs | Accessories | Systems Tools then select Disk Defragmenter
From within the Disk Defragmenter dialog box select the drive to defragment then click on Analyze disk
The disk will be analyzed to determine whether it needs to be defragmented and how long the process will take.
If the disk analysis recommends that the hard drive should be defragmented click on Defragment disk
Once complete the Disk Defragmenter displays the results of the process – to view more detail click on View Report

Detect and Repair Disk Errors

Click on Start | Computer then right-click on drive to check
Click Properties | Tools
Under Error-checking click Check now…
Check Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
If the utility can’t access the hard drive a dialog box will appear to allow for scheduling the disk check the next time the computer start – click on Schedule disk check to schedule