It is thought that once your computer begins to run a little slow that it’s time to replace it – but that isn’t always true! With computers, much like our human minds, once it becomes full of images, videos, and any other file that you might have downloaded, it begins to run slower! Speeding it up could be a problem for someone who isn’t particularly tech-savvy, but there are a plethora of ways that you can make your dated computer run faster, eliminating the need to go and spend unnecessarily on a new computer. Check them out:
Become delete happy
As mentioned above, if you’re cramming your computer’s memory with images, videos, movies, or even programs it will eventually become slower. Take a look at the programs on your computer and uninstall anything that you no longer need or use. Even if it’s only taking up a few MB, it will increase your computer’s speed. For more information on how to do this, check out this handy guide https://setapp.com/how-to/how-to-uninstall-apps-on-macos. We understand that with images and videos you might not want to simply delete them, and there are a few options for you to consider:
- Buy yourself an external hard drive to transfer the content to. You can buy them fairly cheap in this day and age and are super easy to use!
- Use online storage services for your images and videos. Some services like DropBox are completely free to use!
- Put all of your images and videos onto a disc so that you can enjoy them time and time again using your DVD player.
Limit what programs launch at startup
There’s nothing more frustrating than turning your computer on to complete a quick task, and then having to wait while it loads programs like Skype, Spotify, and even your anti-virus. Luckily, there are options within each program’s settings to take ‘launch at startup’ off. If you can’t find it yourself, search the website of the program to find out how. We don’t, however, recommend taking off your anti-virus because this can prevent trojans and viruses from infecting your computer.
Reduce visual effects
We’re lucky enough to live in an age where our computers have some wicked visual effects. Even taskbars these days are zooped up and kitted out. However, something as simple as a jazzy taskbar can reduce the speed of your computer. Head to your control panel and search ‘visual effects’ and turn off as much as possible to speed up your computer.
Install updates!
Finally, make sure you install updates on your computer! If you’ve got a Windows or Mac you should be notified automatically, and with a simple click of a button, your computer will install necessary updates. Failing to do so could be the sole reason that your machine is running slower! Not only that, installing an update might even make your computer run smoother than ever.
With these four simple techniques, your computer should be running faster in no time!
