Like how many time do I have to defrag and all.?
216803
Mainly there are two types on maintenace you need to perform. One of the posters has it correct that you need to keep your Windows patches up to date, since they usually fix security flaws. Anti-Virus software is nice to have, but if you do not download or execute unknown programs and all you do is surf the net, you truely do not need one. Defragging is good to do but you really only need to do it once a month or when you uninstall a large program of some sort.\nThe second type of maintenance is physical. Dust collects inside your computer, so peridoically you will want to open your computer and used compressed canned air to dust off your computer. DO NOT use a towel, since this will create static eletricity and that is bad. Only use canned air. Another poster said to turn off your computer when you are not using it and that is not recommended. The thing the uses the most eletricity is the monitor and all you have to do is just have that turned off when you are not using it, but you would want to keep your computer on almost at all times. The reason for this is that when you turn on your computer everytime, a jolt of eletricity goes through the motherboard and doing this on a consistent basis will wear down your computer alot and will make it more siceptible (sp) to the motherboard crashing. Keeping on the computer itself, not including the monitor, does not use that much eletricity.
641700
1. CLICK ON UR START MENU\n\n2. GO TO ALL PROGRAMS\n\n3. GO TO ACCESSORIES\n\n4. GO TO SYSTEM TOOLS\n\nU WILL SEE DISK CLEANUP AND DISK DEFRAGMENTER
378058
A) run defrag  (if you cant find it search your computer for it through start -> search\nB) Try deleting stuff that you don't use.\nC) Buy more RAM\nD) Buy a better graphics card (it has its own memory s well)
276329
It will really depend on how fragmented that 8.5 Gigs are. If its really bad could take possably 3.5 hours maybe longer and if its not that bad like 45 mins. But like i said it really all depends on how fragmented the drive really is.
401506
ok first off, have you any software that can find and delete redundant files on your pc, if not try cc cleaner, free and awesome, secondly defragment the drive if you haven't already, thirdly try and limit the amount of things running in the background as this is guarenteed to slow things down. If you have taken all these steps already with no improvement it may be worth getting a new mainboard, CPU and memory possibly a new hard drive aswell. all in all cost around £200-£300.
235379
Defrag doesn't necessarily mean "totally".  Think of the numbers 1 - 15.  They represent the sectors on your hard drive where files and programs are stored.  You have a brand new machine and load 3 programs. "A" uses sectors 1-4, "B" uses 5-8, and "C" uses 9-13.  Then you delete "B" freeing up 5, 6, 7 & 8.  But the next program you install needs 6 sectors.  It will use 5, 6, 7, & 8, and since 9-13 are already being used, it will jump to 14 & 15.  If nothing else changes on your computer, that file will ALWAYS be fragmented.  A very simple example but think of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of sectors your own hard drive might have.\n\nAs far as removing old programs, you can use the Add/Remove Programs feature in Control Panel.  Even after doing that, you should still search for files and folders and delete any remnants of those deleted programs.  Click start -> search -> all files and folders.  Under advanced options, makes sure hidden files and folders, subfolders and system folders are also checked.  Type in the name of the file you're looking for and search away.\n\nCompressed files are simply stored on your hard drive in a separate sector or group of sectors, depending on how many you have.
468504
If you run the Defrag program, it will overewrite "deleted" stuff with the files you want to keep.  If you really want to clean up the space, use a program like Webroot's Window Washer.  You can download a 30-day trial version from the Webroot website.  Set it to "bleach" the deleted area of your hard drive.  That makes it overwrite all the old stuff with 0's and 1's.
407963
Run disk cleanup in start/applications/system tools\nAnd then run disk defragmenter in the same location\nMake sure you do it in that order.\nDisk cleanup will delete unused files and the defragmenter will bring files together that are in different places on the hard drive.\ni would suggest doing this whilst doing nothing else (e.g dont run any other programs while performing these) otherwise they may not work very well. once completed restart your P.c and voila!\n\nIf your P.C is still running slow it could be some kind of "ware", spyware, malware, e.c.t.\n\nIf still no then perhaps you should consider buying some more RAM. P.cs these day's really need 512mb at least to run really smoothly through high graphic tasks, like games for instance.\n\nIf you are still having a problem email me on yahoo. good luck\n\nP.S  IF YOU ARE USING NORTON THEN THAT WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM. DON'T USE NORTON ANTI-VIRUS OR NORTON ANYTHING. IT WILL GRIND YOUR P.C TO A HALT. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER PACKAGES OUT THERE THAT DONT DO THIS AND WORK JUST AS WELL, SOME OF THEM FREE.\n\nIf your looking for a free anti-virus or spyware try AGV. search it on google or watever. Go on there site a select free downloads. I use it and it is the best one i have ever used, and its completely free!
164322
The 1st thing I would do is to delete your cookies and temp internet files. Then I would run a defrag, and see from there.
348011
Here are my recommendations.\n\nA major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.\nYou need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.  \n\nOne way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP.  It is slow but does the job rather well.  Go to:\nStart > Programs > Accessories > System Tools   and then click on System Defrag to run the tool.  It will take several hours so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.\n\nA great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the tech and user reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.\n\nAlso, another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool.  Go to Start > Run >   type in msconfig in the box and click OK.\nThis will bring up a window with several tabs at the top.  Click on the “Startup” tab.  It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources.  Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running.  Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name.  Clicking on it will remove the check mark.  Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.  Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.\n\nAnother good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM Pro. It is free and is available from www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time.  I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also.  Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.\n\n What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.\n\nHope this helps
39204
Try defraging the hard drive. Click on start-click programs-scroll to accessories,system tools then click on disk defragmenter. While in the program click on analyze it will probably tell you it doesn't need defraging but defrag it anyway.
374072
If you have internet explorer - TOOLS\ninternet options - delete temp files - ok\n\nhow long has it been since you defragged your computer\n..I do it weekly)\nand check disk for errors - monthly\n\nshould help your performance - AND\n\nhow many programs are you running at one time\n<CTRL> <ALT>  delete \nchoose Task manager - and close anything that you are not using\nuses up your RAM (how much do you have)\nmy game computer has 2 gig of RAM\n\nbest of luck
332641
delete things then defrangment go to ur hard drive right click and hit tools and there it should be defragment i do it once a week
671711
Maybe you don't have to try downloading. You can do some Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter and clearing your recent documents history, emptying recycle bin, clearing Internet search history, cache, etc.\n\nIf you want to do Disk Defragmenter, I suggest you do it during night time because this process could take lots of lots of hours. So just leave it on while you're sleeping. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Select the drive and click Defragment.\n\nTo clear recent documents history, right click Start menu > Properties > first Customize button > Advanced tab > Clear list button.\n\nDoing all these tidying may just speed up your computer. Also, uninstall programs that you are not using and delete all the folder files in the Program files that you've just uninstalled.
563425
Imagine a filing cabinet where when people take files out, they never put them back in the right place.  After a while it would get hard to find the files.  Your hard drive is simiar to this and defragmenting is like organizing your file cabinent in order for your computer to find the files more easily.  There are no disadvantages, and you should do this at least once a month, maybe more with heavy usage.
5353
If i were you i would Defragment the computer every one to two months. Defragmenting the computer helps increase the computer speed by basically defragmenting all the files to where they belong. You can access this  option by clicking on the:\n\nSTART tab > ALL PROGRAMS> ACCESSORIES> SYSTEM TOOLS> DISK DEFRAGMENTING.\n\nPS- the above step is for all WINDOWS PC.
429485
Playing games uses more of your computer's memory than just surfing.  It can overload your computer.  When's the last time you defragmented your computer?  That might help.