I always get asked “how can I keep my computer running as fast as the day I bought it?” Here are some steps to take that are free and will help keep your computer running like the day you bought it!
Always ensure you have virus protection and that it is up-to-date. I always find that many people never check the status of their virus protection. Often check the status of your virus protection to ensure the license has not expired. If a virus protection license has become expired, this leaves your computer vulnerable to viruses and threats. Also, often check to ensure the definitions are up-to-date. Up-to-date definitions allow the virus protection software to have the most up-to-date database of known viruses that is uses to scan your computer against. In most cases, the average home user doesn’t need to pay for virus protection. There are many good virus protection packages that can be downloaded for free from the internet. Once you know you have your virus protection up-to-date, the next thing is to run a full virus scan on your computer. Note, it is always best to run these scans in safe mode if possible.
Next, and if you do not have this software, install a program that will scan your computer for malware and spyware. Many virus protection packages don’t do as thorough of a malware or spyware scan as a piece of software that is more dedicated to finding malware and spyware. There are also many good malware and spyware removal software packages that can be downloaded for free from the internet.
Now that the threats have been removed, the next step would be to do a cleanup of the system. Include even using the built in Windows disk cleanup tool. This can be accessed in Windows 7 by going to the Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. In addition to doing a disk cleanup, ensure the registry is cleaned. There are many good registry cleanup tools that can be downloaded for free from the internet.
Now that your computer has had a full virus scan, malware and spyware scan, disk cleanup, and registry cleanup, your computer will run at its full potential! Another important thing to note, any of this software is very straight forward to use. It usually only requires a couple clicks of the mouse and let the programs run!
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