Computer Optimization Guide

As a computer professional I often meet people with computer performance problems, and I always give them tips on how to increase the speed and overall performance on a computer.

Here is the list of things I recommend to do to optimize a computer.

Follow the tips in sequence for better results…

Prevent Programs From Running At Startup

If you have many programs installed on your computer, most likely some of those programs are running at the start-up; that’s a waste of resources on your system. to stop those programs from running at the start-up do the following:

click on the Start button then click on RUN and type msconfig. click on the startup tab on the system configuration window:

Uncheck all the programs that you don’t want the computer to open when it starts-up. some of those programs include, WinZip, Adobe Acrobat, Itunes etc. if you have a laptop make sure you don’t delete necessary mobile functionality programs like touch pad, wireless drivers, etc .

click on APPLY and then OK to restart the computer.

system configuration utility is a windows XP/Vista built-in utility, but if you want to see what’s running on your computer more in detail, I advice you to download some useful tools from the Microsoft Sysinternals site. the two tools that can help you optimize the startup process on your computer are:

• Autoruns http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
• Process Explorer http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

With this two tools you can get deeper on the computer startup process to figure out what’s hogging resources on the system.

Autorun screenshot.

Process Explorer screenshot:

as you can see, you can see everything running on your system in real time with Process explorer.

Deleting Temp files, Internet Temp files, and unnecessary junk.

After rebooting the computer from above, is time to delete some unnecessary junk: click on Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup:

at the Disk Cleanup tab, check everything you think is unnecessary. if you have office installed on the system, just leave alone the Office Setup Files all the rest can be deleted. click on the More Options tab to clean up Windows Components delete Install Programs and clean up System Restore.

Click OK to start deleting the files.

Windows Updates

after running the disk clean up utility, check if your windows operating system is up to date will all the updates and service packs. normally you find the Windows Updates option by clicking on Start>All Programs>Windows Updates if its not there, check the control panel.

Make sure your system is up to date.. until you get the message:

Make sure you update the Office suite if you have one to the latest updates and service pack as well.

Disable Services Running For Nothing.

your computer might be running many unnecessary services that only take resources out of your system. to check what services are running on your computer, click on Start button then Run and type services.msc and hit Enter.

To know what services you need to stop, read the following post I wrote when I authored helpdesk geek blog at:

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips/stopping-unnecessary-windows-services/

Disable Automatic Searching for Network Folders And Printers

If your computer is not on a network, or if you don’t need to check for network folders or printers then it makes sense to remove this option from your computer. to do that do the following, Click on Start then Run and type Control Panel hit Enter. when Control Panel comes up click on Folder Options. when the folder options window comes up click on the View tab. on the Files and Folders option uncheck: Automatically search for network folders and printers:

click on Apply and then OK after you uncheck the settings.

Disk Defragmentation

By now is time to defrag the hard drive on your system. by defragmenting the hard disk of your computer, the files will be organized in sequence, and as a result the hard drive will spin less to find the files. to defrag your hard drive click on Start> All Programs>Accessories> System Tools>Disk Defragmenter click analyze then defrag if windows recommend to do so:

click on Defragment if you get this window.

Other things you might consider to speed-up your computer.

Download BootVis to speedup the boot up process of your operating system. when you open Bootvis click on File then New and choose Next Boot + Drivers Traces

Click OK to reboot the computer.

after the computer restarts, open Bootvis and click on Trace on the menu and choose Optimize System. the system will reboot again, and it will take awhile.

Download CCleaner To Clean up the Registry

Download CCleaner from the following link http://www.ccleaner.com/download

after you install CCleaner, click on the Registry tab on the left menu and Scan For Issues:

after the scan finished, click on Fix selected issues.

Registry Hacks

Last but not least you can perform the following registry tricks to speed up your system.

click on Start then on Run and type Regedit and navigate to the following registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop find the following key  “WaitToKillAppTimeout” and set the value to 1000

look of the key “HungAppTimeout” and set the value to 1000 as well.

To prevent the computer from hanging when some applications don’t close correctly or crash during the shutoff process do the following registry hack:

On your registry navigate to the following key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and look for the following key: “AutoEndTasks” and set the value to 1.

there you have it, the Ultimate Computer Optimization Guide just like a pro will clean a computer.

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