HAK5

Haktip 22 – HOW TO: Unsluggify Your PC

This time on the show we are making my PC less sluggish with some simple upgrades.

There are plenty of programs you can download and tools that can help you make your computer faster, but I wanted to go through a refresher of some of the steps we sometimes forget to use.

1. Reboot it! All those background programs you forgot you had open or even some that you closed still may be using a bit of memory. Ever see a computer say it’s ran out of Virtual memory? A reboot can help that.

2. TSR’s – Terminate and Stay Resident programs are little software packages that launch at startup and stay launched. They make you think that the actual program boots up really fast when you really click on it, but- as much as I like vampires- TSR’s sucking up valuable amounts of RAM is just plain unnecessary.

3. Get into the habit of running a disk cleanup tool and defrag your hard disk. I use a program called Defraggler that my friend Dave turned me on to. It’s much cleaner than the built in Windows Defragging tool, and gives you a bit more customization.

4. Watch out for beta tests and brand spankin new software upgrades. Sometimes software upgrades can make your computer not work so well. For example, I had to downgrade my version of Virtual Box so that I could boot off a USB. Though this didn’t really slow down my computer, it did give me a headache.

5. Erase, start over! Maybe you just want to clean up your browser or clean up your whole computer, but sometimes just a bit of Spring Cleaning can go a long way. Uninstall the programs you never use or the ones that have way too many addons and start with a new install. MMM, so fresh n so clean clean.

6. I do this on my mom’s computer every time I visit her- along with defragging and running a registry cleaner, scan for adware/spyware and viruses. You may be the best out there at downloading the safest software, but little things do make it past from time to time.

7. Visual effects like 3D animations or moving backgrounds can really hog memory. Keep it simple and save.

8. One of my favs are all those handy windows optimization tools that you can find for free online. Check out earlier episodes of HakTip for ideas on which ones to use or try the website alternative.to if you want to try something else.

All this and a bag of chips. After the break, I have a few simple hardware upgrades that can really help that old computer if you need a cheap fix.

We’re back! Two hardware upgrades that can deslug your computer are purchasing new RAM and a new harddrive. Now, you don’t have to go as crazy as I did on my most recent computer build and buy 12 GBs of RAM, but upgrading from 512 MB or 2 GB to 4GB can REALLY make a difference.

Second, update that old hard drive. I upgraded my old 500 GB hard drive with a new 2 TB 7200-RPM drive that gave me more rotations per minute as well as more space. For the price of hard drives these days, it’s your call whether you want a solid state or a rotating disk. I like getting 2 TB for less than $100 because I don’t move my computer around much and I can get several years out of my hard drives. But hey, whatever floats your boat!

What does float your boat? Like these tips? Want to add more? Email me: [email protected] or send me a note in the comments below.

And be sure to check out our sister show, Hak5 for more great stuff just like this.

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