EVALUATE YOUR HARDWARE
With your laptop under performing it's time to evaluate & upgrade components.Installing extra RAM is the easiest and cheapest physical upgrade you can make. Consult your laptop documentation or manufacturer to determine the type of memory modules your laptop can use If you can’t determine the type of memory from your manufacturer or your laptop's documentation, Crucial may be able to help.It has a utility that can scan your PC and recommend the type of memory your PC uses, along with other useful information, including the maximum amount of memory your PC can have. Just locate the compartment on the underside of your laptop ,unscrew it and place the RAM in its allotted position.
UPGRADE YOUR HARD DRIVE
Another upgrade for laptops is a new hard drive.If your laptop is five to seven years old, you are likely to have only an 40GB or 80GB drive.Increase drive's storage capacity with big capacity hard drives now cheaper than ever.If you choose a faster drive with more RPM (Revolutions Per Minute), it enhances the performance of Windows.The old standard is 4,200 RPM but 5,400 RPM drives are now common. Drives can now go up to 7200 RPM matching desktops drives performance.
MANAGE YOUR POWER OPTIONS
There are three Pre-made Power Options by default in Windows 7 and Windows Vista through which Microsoft manages the electricity/speed tradeoff namely (Balanced, Power Saver and High performance).You can choose either of them to suit you by selecting a plan (from Power Options in Control Panel). In each plan you can change default plan settings, like when the computer sleeps and when the display turns off.To conserve battery power reduce how long it takes to dim the display on battery to one minute. Change Turn off the display to two or three minutes, and Put the computer to sleep between five or ten minutes.You can also create your own power plan and customize it by changing its power settings.Also regarding shutdown options in laptops you can change what happens when you Close The Lid.
MANAGE YOUR START-UP
Sometimes Windows takes a little longer to start up. This can happen when too many programs are competing to start when the machine boots, resulting in slowing down your laptop considerably.But fortunately, it's easy to win things back.
KILL PROCESSES, SAVE MEMORY
Programs we run are not the only programs running on our laptop. Several programs which are installed on a laptop run in the background & are not visible on the Windows taskbar or even in the system tray. Task Manager is most useful for identifying processes which consume great deal of processor and memory resources on your laptop. If your laptop is running very slowly,Launch Task Manager to see what's going on.Open Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar, and then clicking Start Task Manager.Click the Processes tab and check the CPU and Memory columns, which show the resources a process is using. End some processes especially non-Windows processes related to unused devices or software.Task Manager also displays a list of “Not Responding” applications running under the Applications Tab,End those too.
CLEAN UP YOUR HARD DRIVE
While opening, modifying, and saving files, your computer saves new information onto the hard drive in small pieces called blocks. Windows keeps track of where it has stored the various pieces, and reconstitutes them when necessary. Over time, this file fragmentation gets worse and worse. The Disk Defragmenter utility can free up some additional space on your hard drive by consolidating those bits of files and putting them back together in one place. This increases the processing speed of your computer and programs load more quickly. With Vista and Windows 7, defrags should happen automatically.Ensure that defragmentation is enabled on your hard drive ,right-click your drive's icon in Explorer, select Properties,Tools, and click the Defragment Now button.
Also in everyday's computer usage ,Windows fills your hard drive with temporary files. Programs and several utilities ,Web browsing scatter disposable files everywhere. PC becomes clogged with unwanted files, causing it to get slower. Disk Cleanup checks your PC for unwanted temporary files, which are left behind after programs are installed, Recycle Bin and other common trash. Go to Start > Accessories > System Tools and go to Disk Cleanup. Click OK to start cleanup if your PC is really full.
Related : How To Schedule Disk Defragmentation in Windows 7
SCAN COMPUTERS FOR VIRUSES
Many of the programs running in the background could actually be viruses.Malware, spyware, and other viruses can slow down your computer greatly posing a security threat, so perform anti-virus scans on your PC. There are many anti-virus programs available and some of them are free. If you don’t already have an antivirus program, go to Microsoft Security Essentials and download and install this free and great software. Search online to find the latest & paid full versions from reputable players like Norton or McAfee .For Antimalware solutions ,try the Malwarebytes software.
COOL DOWN YOUR LAPTOP
A Major problem associated with Laptops is that they get hot which makes them uncomfortable plus heating of laptop reduces battery life greatly. Laptops need to be cooled so purchase a cooling stand (especially for gamers) which allows air to circulate under your laptop. Several laptop cooling pads are available from Logitech,Belkin and Cooler Master in affordable prices.
INCREASE YOUR Wi-Fi RANGE
You also need to increase Wi-Fi range. Few years older laptops may only have wireless B or G chips,meaning the speed and range of Wi-Fi is limited. Modern laptops are equipped with wireless N cards so if your router is able to broadcast in the faster wireless N, get a wireless N card for your laptop.
GET AMBITIOUS,BUT STAY THOUGHTFUL
With your laptop under performing it's time to evaluate & upgrade components.Installing extra RAM is the easiest and cheapest physical upgrade you can make. Consult your laptop documentation or manufacturer to determine the type of memory modules your laptop can use If you can’t determine the type of memory from your manufacturer or your laptop's documentation, Crucial may be able to help.It has a utility that can scan your PC and recommend the type of memory your PC uses, along with other useful information, including the maximum amount of memory your PC can have. Just locate the compartment on the underside of your laptop ,unscrew it and place the RAM in its allotted position.
UPGRADE YOUR HARD DRIVE
Another upgrade for laptops is a new hard drive.If your laptop is five to seven years old, you are likely to have only an 40GB or 80GB drive.Increase drive's storage capacity with big capacity hard drives now cheaper than ever.If you choose a faster drive with more RPM (Revolutions Per Minute), it enhances the performance of Windows.The old standard is 4,200 RPM but 5,400 RPM drives are now common. Drives can now go up to 7200 RPM matching desktops drives performance.There are three Pre-made Power Options by default in Windows 7 and Windows Vista through which Microsoft manages the electricity/speed tradeoff namely (Balanced, Power Saver and High performance).You can choose either of them to suit you by selecting a plan (from Power Options in Control Panel). In each plan you can change default plan settings, like when the computer sleeps and when the display turns off.To conserve battery power reduce how long it takes to dim the display on battery to one minute. Change Turn off the display to two or three minutes, and Put the computer to sleep between five or ten minutes.You can also create your own power plan and customize it by changing its power settings.Also regarding shutdown options in laptops you can change what happens when you Close The Lid.MANAGE YOUR START-UP
Sometimes Windows takes a little longer to start up. This can happen when too many programs are competing to start when the machine boots, resulting in slowing down your laptop considerably.But fortunately, it's easy to win things back.- Start Run menu, type msconfig and hit OK .
- Just go to the Startup tab.
- Click it and you'll see all the programs that are scheduled to start when Windows does.
- Uncheck any unnecessary programs on the Startup tab.
- Apply,OK. You are prompted to Restart your PC which completes our task.
KILL PROCESSES, SAVE MEMORY
Programs we run are not the only programs running on our laptop. Several programs which are installed on a laptop run in the background & are not visible on the Windows taskbar or even in the system tray. Task Manager is most useful for identifying processes which consume great deal of processor and memory resources on your laptop. If your laptop is running very slowly,Launch Task Manager to see what's going on.Open Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar, and then clicking Start Task Manager.Click the Processes tab and check the CPU and Memory columns, which show the resources a process is using. End some processes especially non-Windows processes related to unused devices or software.Task Manager also displays a list of “Not Responding” applications running under the Applications Tab,End those too.While opening, modifying, and saving files, your computer saves new information onto the hard drive in small pieces called blocks. Windows keeps track of where it has stored the various pieces, and reconstitutes them when necessary. Over time, this file fragmentation gets worse and worse. The Disk Defragmenter utility can free up some additional space on your hard drive by consolidating those bits of files and putting them back together in one place. This increases the processing speed of your computer and programs load more quickly. With Vista and Windows 7, defrags should happen automatically.Ensure that defragmentation is enabled on your hard drive ,right-click your drive's icon in Explorer, select Properties,Tools, and click the Defragment Now button.
Related : How To Schedule Disk Defragmentation in Windows 7
SCAN COMPUTERS FOR VIRUSES
Many of the programs running in the background could actually be viruses.Malware, spyware, and other viruses can slow down your computer greatly posing a security threat, so perform anti-virus scans on your PC. There are many anti-virus programs available and some of them are free. If you don’t already have an antivirus program, go to Microsoft Security Essentials and download and install this free and great software. Search online to find the latest & paid full versions from reputable players like Norton or McAfee .For Antimalware solutions ,try the Malwarebytes software.
COOL DOWN YOUR LAPTOP
INCREASE YOUR Wi-Fi RANGE
You also need to increase Wi-Fi range. Few years older laptops may only have wireless B or G chips,meaning the speed and range of Wi-Fi is limited. Modern laptops are equipped with wireless N cards so if your router is able to broadcast in the faster wireless N, get a wireless N card for your laptop.
These Speed-up tricks surely work but it also depends how one uses his/her PC ,also it isn’t always easy or possible to upgrade laptops so several small yet effective techniques come in handy.Try these for instance like
- If you find that you typically restart your PC more often than you shut down,save some time by Customizing The Power Button .
- Save Resources for e.g If you've installed an antivirus package, it's a waste of resources to have Windows Defender running as well,so turn off Defender.Also you can improve performance a little by turning off the Aero interface
- Use Fast and Effective Softwares:For e.g use Foxit Reader if you are not happy with the speed of Adobe Reader. Try Google Chrome or Safari instead of IE to speed up things.
- Adjust your Windows For Best Performance : Go To Control Panel>System >Advanced System Settings >Open Advanced tab >Settings >select Adjust for best performance >Apply.
No comments:
Post a Comment