Computer Technology Tip

Speed Up Your PC

The February and March 2009 articles covered security programs that you should be running. Security is very important because viruses and spyware can slow down your computer and most anti-virus programs like Norton and McAfee also contribute to slowing down your computer. This month I'll cover some other easy to correct areas of your PC that may be slowing it down. Although I've covered this subject before I'm repeating it again for anyone that reads this column and may have forgotten the procedure.

First, you may want to review past articles on PC performance by going to our website www.hersheysmill.org, clicking on "Tech Tips", and then click on "Computer Performance and Maintenance Tips". Next, click on "Maintenance - Basic" and "Maintenance - Recommended". The overall procedure has changed little from those articles. Do a Disk Cleanup first by clicking Start, move to All Programs, move to Accessories, then System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup. With Vista click on Accessories and System Tools. Click OK (XP only), make sure all the items are checked, and click OK again for both XP and Vista. To gain a superior cleanup I highly recommend downloading and installing CCleaner. To do that, just follow the procedure in the "Maintenance - Recommended" on-line article. After cleaning out all the junk files with these two programs, then click on Disk Defragmenter which is also in System Tools. This will realign the files on the hard drive for faster startup and execution of your programs. Click the Analyze button for information about your hard drive's fragmentation then click the Defragment button. Vista analyzes automatically but don't depend on it. Click the Defragment now button for Vista.

Another important item is to reduce the number of programs that unnecessarily start up with your computer. This is an area that software manufacturers and to some extent the PC makers themselves have taken advantage. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open: field and click OK. With Vista type msconfig in the Start Search box which is above the Start button and press the Enter key. Next, click the Startup tab. Note the items checked. Each is stealing some amount of your computer's resources. The idea here is to leave checked the ones you absolutely need. For example you definitely need your security programs to start when you start the computer. Remember, unchecking items does not uninstall them but only stops them from starting up. When done unchecking unneeded items click the OK button. A Restart is necessary to effect the changes you made. You can always start your programs when needed from your Desktop icon or from the Programs Menu. You don't need them to start at boot time. Read in more detail this important speedup technique in the "Computer - Taking Control" on-line article.

Routine maintenance as described above should take place every month if you use your computer everyday. A once a week user can go two months. However, security scanning should take place weekly or more often if you are a daily user.

Another item that is also important for faster performance is the usable amount of physical system memory available. The more programs you have checked in msconfig the less usable memory you have for other things. Also, when you have many items checked they require attention from the computer's processor further slowing things down. Here's how to check. Startup two or three other programs you use frequently. For example if your computer is used mainly for the Internet start Internet Explorer or whatever you use to browse web sites along with Outlook Express for e-mail and Microsoft Word or some word processing program. Right click a blank area on the Task Bar (the bar at the bottom of the screen). In the pop-up menu click Task Manager. Click the Performance tab in the window. Now with 3 programs or so running note the available memory under Physical Memory. You should have at least 100,000 or higher available. If not you should consider adding more physical memory. For Vista users look at the Free number. It should be above 100. Adding memory is easy to do but consult your PC user's manual for your system's requirements. A low cost reliable Internet site to purchase memory is www.crucial.com. This site will offer to scan your computer, noting details such as your manufacturer, model, what memory you need, and the available memory slots.

In summary, installing my recommended security software, cleaning and defragging the hard drive, and insuring you have enough memory installed, will improve the overall performance of your PC.

Answers to your questions on this subject and others can be found on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM at the PC Club meeting upstairs in the "A" room of Winfield Hall. This room is across from where we usually have met and now will be the new PC Club meeting room.

Please Note: When you visit the www.hersheysmill.org site be sure to browse around and check out other areas. Thanks to Joan Hall our Webmaster, over half the villages in Hershey's Mill now have their own web page! Click on Villages, scroll down and click on the alphabetical link for your village. Then click on the link across from your village which says Connect to XXXX web page. If your village doesn't have a link, check with someone on your village's council. It may be a work in progress.

Don Trauger

To get answers to your questions about computers, please come to the PC Club meeting. The computer club meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in Winfield Hall.

On this website Calendar has a week's view of activities and events similar to the month's guide.