Cleaning up your PC is also important to keeping it running well and
keeping its resources available for things you need or want. For example you can start by uninstalling any software that is not needed.

Next, cleaning your temporary file folder and temporary internet file folders can also make a difference. When you surf the internet, your browser downloads and saves file in your temp area because it is faster to read from your disk that to read over the internet. That way, if you go back to a page your recently browsed, the browser reads it from disk, thus speeding up your response time. Over time you may accumulate so many files in these temporary areas that it takes longer to search the disk than it does to search the internet.

To improve performance, these areas should be cleaned regularly. You could do this manually, but there is software that will do this more easily. Get a could PC maintenance tool that will do this for you.

Another easy task is to stop programs from launching automatically. These programs not only slow your PC when it starts up, but may be using resources your computer could use for something else. Not every program need be stopped, but you should pay attention to those you seldom use.

Improvements from these easy steps could be marginal, or could be significant. The improvement depends on the condition of the items above.

I regularly use and highly recommend a “free” tool called CCleaner.  This multipurpose tool does much more than just clean your temporary files.  It also allows you to manage your start up programs and more.  Down load a free copy from here:   

Check PcSecurityBlog.IsItFriday.com in a few days for Task 5 of Seven Tasks to Speed Up Your PC, “Task 5 – Optimize the Hard disk“

©2010 PC Security And Maintenance Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The reason this site is about PC maintenance and PC security is that they
are often related. Such is the case with viruses on your computer. Poor
security, i.e., lack of virus software, or opening unknown and unexpected
e-mail attachments, visiting certain web sites, or plugging in your
friends flash drive could deposit a virus on your PC.

The fact is the viruses usually do more than just damage your computer
files. The viruses use lots of your PC’s resources trying to protect
itself and trying to find a way to sneak out of your computer and infect
someone else as well. As a result these viruses can slow your computer to
the point where it is almost unbearable, or worse.

So you can see, the result of careless, or lack of good security
practices has a direct effect on your PC’s performance. So in this case,
what looked like a maintenance/performance issue was really a security
issue.

Running the latest version of some of the leading anti-virus software
should overcome these problems. Users who do so will see improvements in
the performance of their computer, not to mention protecting their
valuable information.

I highly recommend  ZoneAlarm as not only an anit-virus program, but a part of a comprehensive approach to complete PC security.  I have used ZoneAlarm for over 5 years and have never had a virus infection.  It is an excellent start to securing your PC. Check it out now.

Check PcSecurityBlog.IsItFriday.com in a few days for Task 3 of  Seven Tasks to Speed Up Your PC, “Task 3 – Delete and Block Adware and Spyware”

©2010 PC Security And Maintenance Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 PC Security And Maintenance Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 PC Security And Maintenance Blog. All Rights Reserved.