PC Speedup?

[Twill]

Hi All,

Quick question: does anyone have any PC Speedup tools they can recommend? Do these things really ever work, or are they a bit of a con?

MY Win7 laptop is now booting unbelievably slowly. I mean, seriously seriously slowly. I've tried removing all software etc I don't use regularly, but it's a three-year-old windows install, and I wonder if it's just getting cluttered behind the scenes. Would any kind of cleanup or speedup tool help?

Any thoughts welcome, thanks.

 

[abacus]

There is no magic solution, however it sounds like you have a lot of programs that start up when the system boots (A lot of programs add this feature) and disabling the ones you don’t need will decrease boot time.

Make sure your Windows installation is fully updated and all your drivers are the latest.

Defrag the system drive

A good free utility is Advanced System Care (You can also upgrade to the full version for minimal cost) http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html which will give you all the above and more in one place. (As mentioned at the beginning don’t expect miracles)

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

I use CleanMyPC. It scans your registry, hard disks, does complete program unistalls, secure erases, and lets you check your startup programs. Available for download for 40 bucks or so. I have it on four pcs.

 

[dcanham001]

Hi Twill,

I recommend Glary Utilities. Available for free or you can upgrade to the full version for a fee. I've never felt the need though as the free version does loads of things which may help speed your PC up, including a start up manager and registry defrag

 

[MajorFubar]

I've not got a solution but I feel your pain. Wifey's Windows 7 laptop is about three years old and now takes so long to boot to the desktop that she no longer shuts it down daily, she just puts it to sleep and reboots every few days, yet the only thing she's ever installed on it above and beyond the factory settings are Office 10 Home & Student, AVG antivirus and Java / Flash updates as and when prompted.

 

[laserman16]

Bit drastic but you could try a reset to factory condition, which means re-installing windows from either your back up discs you maybe made when the machine was new or use the re-install from the partition reserved on the HDD for this purpose. Had a problem with my laptop slowing down and this cured the problem.

Don't forget to back up everything you want to save first as the HDD is formatted before the re-install.

 

[LateDev]

It is not drastic, it is however the only way to make sure that windows keeps its integrity.

Solutions such as those described above do work to a certain extent, however they are reliant on the system being in a stable condition in the first place, which many systems are most definitely not. They are a quick fix at best. Some like system mechanic have problems when MS essentials is left running.

The first thing to try with any microsoft O.S. is to run malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/lp/lp4/?gclid=CPSkx6v69boCFerjwgodAhcAXw

Use the free version, which is excelant.

Next you will want to head over to Microsoft to their fixit page http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/ go for the Fix performance, errors or crashes

You can go through all the others on there at your leisure, but each will tell you which problems you may have and how to fix them or if it is too long winded, or if those measures fail, re-instal windows.

 

[laserman16]

It is not drastic, it is however the only way to make sure that windows keeps its integrity.

Solutions such as those described above do work to a certain extent, however they are reliant on the system being in a stable condition in the first place, which many systems are most definitely not. They are a quick fix at best. Some like system mechanic have problems when MS essentials is left running.

The first thing to try with any microsoft O.S. is to run malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/lp/lp4/?gclid=CPSkx6v69boCFerjwgodAhcAXw

Use the free version, which is excelant.

Next you will want to head over to Microsoft to their fixit page http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/ go for the Fix performance, errors or crashes

You can go through all the others on there at your leisure, but each will tell you which problems you may have and how to fix them or if it is too long winded, or if those measures fail, re-instal windows.

Good post. By drastic, I think it was meant for people who are unsure about what they are doing, I dont see it as drastic myself, bit of a doddle really.

Agree about the Malwarebytes, I tend to run it every day along with a good antivirus.

BTW welcome to the Forums.

 

[jjbomber]

I would look at the system start up comfiguration. Look in there first. It will tell you which programs automatically start up when you switch the computer on. Most of these are running in the background and you don't need them. Apple itunes is the worst offender. Just uncheck the box next to the programs you don't need all the time. Then restart the computer and it will open without these background programs running. You will need to do this each time you update one of these programs, as the update automatically reverts the program back to 'run at start-up'.

The help and support tag will run you through it if you are unsure. Just type in system start up configuration.