To speed up your computer and free up space and memory for free: Go to the Start Menu> Run Type

in "appwiz.cpl" Uninstall whatever you don't need. Next, go to Start> Run and type in "msconfig". Go to the Startup Tab and uncheck everything you don't want to startup. If you want, you can uncheck everything, and your anti-virus will still restart itself when you log on. Now go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Documents and Settings> [USER NAME]> Local Settings> and delete everything inside the Temp Folder. (This is a hidden folder so you will need to have "show hidden files and folders" checked in Folder Options) All the files in this folder are just temporary files that your Internet stored for certain websites. Then go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Windows> Prefetch and delete everything inside it. This folder is like an cache for programs and should be emptied about once a month. Next, you should install CCleaner, it will get rid of alot of temporary files on your computer. It also has a registry repair system, which is easily the best free one available on the Internet: http://www.ccleaner.com/download Another option is to try defragmenting your computer. Go to the Start Menu and go to All Programs Go to Accessories and System Tools. Choose Disk Defragmenter and when it loads click defragment. Next, go to Device Manger (Start> RightClick My Computer> Properties> Hardware Tab> Device Manager) and update all drivers. Another thing I would say is to compress your files if you already haven't. Open My Computer and right click on your hard drive Check the Compress Drive button and let it do it's thing. Finally, make sure your Hard Drive doesn't have any bad sectors. Go to My Computer> Right Click Hard Drive> Properties> Tools Tab> Check Now> Check both boxes and Start. It will ask you to reboot, so reboot. This will clear out any bad sectors on your Hard Drive. These are short-term solutions however. the easiest way is to just upgrade the RAM on your system, but at least the ways above are free.

Also, get rid of Norton. It is a horrible AV and doesn't do even half the things that it should do, considering you pay for it. A very good, free anti-virus available to download is AVG 8 Anti-virus: http://www.free.grisoft.com And for any spyware problems, get SpyBot - Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirro And for protecting your personal info and files, use Ad-Aware 2008 Free Edition: http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_fr All of them are free, as powerful as paid programs, like Norton and McAfee, and don't use up as many resources. Just boot into Safe Mode (Press F8 when turning on the computer) and run full scans. Hope that helps. If your PC is taking ages to boot up and is very slow while running programs, it might be due to a number of factors.

Problem 1: Not enough RAM

RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is used as a temporary storage memory by your computer. This memory is in use when tasks are being executed by different programs. Hence, you should have enough RAM memory to process all the tasks at hand; if you don't this might cause the major slow down of your computer while it is booting up or processing tasks.

How to know if your computer has enough RAM

The programs that are installed on your computer usually have RAM requirements that are asked. If your computer has been running at a normal speed before the installation of such programs and has crucially slowed down with time, you might need to add more RAM on your computer system. Also, if your computer is slowing down every time you are processing large files, or it freezes while executing several programs at once, these might be some common signs that you need to add extra RAM.

Problem 2: Temporary files have built up on your hard disk

Some tasks might require you to leave the system working for several days and this might cause temporary files to build up on your hard disk. This might be a reason why your computer is slowing down and is taking some time to boot up as these type of files tend

to be memory consuming.Cleansing your temporary files including your Internet history including cookies gives you a larger amount of hard disk space to work with.

How to delete Temporary Files

1. Open "My Computer" and select your local drive (it is usually labeled as :\C) 2. Select the "Windows" folder and locate the folder labeled "Temp" 3. Use your mouse to right-click on the folder (not the contents) and in the "View" options, choose "Details" 4. Select all the files that are older than the current date and press the delete key. 5. When done, go to the Recycle Bin on your desktop and choose "Empty Recycle Bin" You can also choose to delete the Temporary Internet Files that have accumulated on your system 1. Go to your "Start" button and open "Control Panel" 2. Select "Internet Options" and in the section labeled "Temporary Internet Files" press "Delete Cookies" and "Delete Files" options. 3. You can also delete your history by clicking the option "Clear History" 4. When done, press "Apply" and "OK" When you finish removing the Temporary Files, reboot your computer.

Problem 3: Your computer has been infected

If your computer has been infected by a virus, a malware, a worm or a Trojan, it might have cause the slow down of your computer system and even freeze several tasks at hand. Hence, you should run a virus scan and remove all the infected files found on your system.

Problem 4: Not enough space on the hard disk

Adding very bulky programs will automatically slow down your computer system. Hence, I will suggest users with a hard disk capacity of 2GB to leave at least 250MB free and those who have a higher hard disk storage capacity to leave at least 20% of the total capacity free. This will hence allow your computer to have enough room both for temporary files and file swapping.

Defragmenting your hard disk

You can also choose to defragment your hard disk to gather some dispersed spaces that can be used by the computer again. 1. Go to your "Start" menu and list all programs 2. In the "Accessories" option, select "System Tools" 3. Choose "Disk Defragmenter" from the list 4. To start the process, click the "Defragment" button.

Problem 5: Your Direct Memory Access (DMA) is disabled

The Direct Memory Access will allow data transmission between your hard drive and CD drive without requiring the microprocessor's intervention. Those using Windows XP will not have this option set by default. 1. Click on the Start button and open "Control Panel" 2. Click and open the "System" icon 3. Select the "Hardware" tab and choose "Device Manager" option. 4. List the ATA/ATAPI options by clicking the + icon next to it. 5. Select the "Primary IDE Channel" option 6. In the "Primary IDE Properties" window select the "Advanced Settings" tab 7. Check whether the "Transfer Mode" for "Device 0" enables DMA. 8. Also, check whether the "Transfer Mode" for "Device 1" enables DMA. 9. Click "OK" to confirm the changes 10. Hence, click "Secondary IDE Channel" 11. In the "Secondary IDE Properties", select the "Advanced Settings" tab 12. Check whether the "Transfer Mode" for "Device 0" enables DMA. 13. Also, check whether the "Transfer Mode" for "Device 1" enables DMA 14. When done, click "OK" to confirm the changes

Update Your Operating System

Having the latest updates of Windows will not increase system performance. However patching up any security loop holes or performance related glitches may be beneficial. So in the long run, your system will be better off with the latest OS updates How to Access Windows' Registry In order to fix PC registry problems, you must learn the function of your registry. Your registry holds all the information regarding updates, installs, un-installs etc. Each one of those events is logged into your registry. Those entries are otherwise known as a registry key. That key needs your PC's resources and free space. The problems here is that the registry can become extremely bloated if left unchecked overtime. It must be cleaned, organized, rid of errors. If you fix PC registry problems, you will make more resources available for speed. Do a registry scan if you got more than 20 errors you should clean it. Click here for a Free scan of your registry with a RegaCure. This years' best cleaner to fix PC registry problems. How to Access Windows' Registry Editing your registry is a very sensitive process. You should never randomly edit your registry without specific instructions. If you make any mistakes in the editing process,

you can easily disable your computer from starting up properly or other vital process. Its advised that you use a Registry Cleaner to fix PC registry problems. To view comparison of the best registry cleaners on the market, click this link. How to search your registry You can easily open the registry by simply typing "regedit" into the RUN command line. Follow the instructions below: 1. Click Start 2. Click Run 3. Type Regedit into the command line and press enter. The registry should load for your review.

Editing the Registry can be used to remove files and programs that wont delete. Often the registry files are not able to be removed by the program's installer. This can cause major conflicts since Windows will still try loading the program during startup. Find the program in question and remove all files and folders in the registry branch. Backing Up Your Registry and Files WARNING--Remember to back up your registry before attempting to fix PC registry problems. If you are using a registry cleaner, this is done automatically. You can backup your entire registry by clicking "Start" and "Run" and type: ntbackup.exe, Click OK. Follow the instructions. However to copy individual registry keys follow the instructions below: 1. Click Start, and then click Run. 2. In the Command Line, type regedit, and then click OK. 3. Find and then click the subkey that contains the value that you want to edit. 4. Under the File menu, click Export. 5. In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the Registration Entries (.reg) file, type a file name in the File name box, and then click Save.

By backing up all your files using ntbackup.exe. You will also save errors and unwanted software into the backup log file. If you you are trying to delete individual software and not tweaks setting or make sweeping changes to the registry, use the export registry option.

Easy Registry Edits By tweaking how Windows searches the registry, you can speed up your computer process and cut down on process time and clutter. Try editing the the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SYSTEM >CurrentControlSet>Control>Session Manager>Memory Management> PrefetchParameters This action will help you speed up your applications load times considerable. Here is how: 1. Click Start 2. Click Run 3.Type regedit 4. Find this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SYSTEM >CurrentControlSet>Control>Session Manager>Memory Management> PrefetchParameters 5.Change the value of EnablePrefetcher, from its default setting which is 3 to the value of 5,and then restart your computer.

Windows Registry and Slow Startup Time When your computer loads Windows must check the registry to organize the overall configuration of the all the software of the programs. However, it must review the each registry entry one by one. If you have any errors, this can exponentially increase your computer startup time. The best way to increase start time is to cut down on the registry entries. Unless you want to spend ages looking for duplicate entries and errors, you may want to use software to handle this task. However, if you know what you are after you can easily fix PC registry errors by pinpointing and cleaning the registry. Scan your Computer for Duplicate Registry Keys with a Free Scan, Click Here. Excessive Shutdown Problem Time and The Registry. Although your startup procedure is more complex, your computer must also check the registry before closing. This can again take time. You should fix PC registry problems in this area to avoid long shutdown problems. One way is to alter Alter your Paging File Settings-- The paging file (Pagefile.sys) is a hidden file on your computer's hard disk that Windows XP uses as if it were random access memory (RAM). Therefore this file can be huge. On shutdown it must be cleared. Here is how: 1. Find the folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>System>CurrentControlSet>ControlSession> ManagerMemory 2. At this point you will see a list of files, Double click on Clear Page File At Shutdown 3. Change the value of the paging file to "0" Common Registry Errors When removing errors from your PC registry, you should pinpoint the error in the registry. Back up the individual file and then delete the value. When you restart your computer, the operating system may automatically repair the missing file. Or you may have to use the program installation to update the file. However you can usually find detailed instruction on how to specifically fix PC registry problems at Microsoft's Support Center

Unwanted browser objects. Corrupt Active X/COM Objects. Unused, obsolete Start Menu items. Software locations including missing, abandoned, broken or bad application/Windows paths, and links. Redundant Startup applications and uninstalled application schedulers. Orphaned shortcuts, temporary (.tmp) files and Scandisk or Checkdisk fragment (.chk) files. Missing or corrupt application IDs.

Obsolete shared DLLs and folders. Unused help file references. Residual and unused files. Uninstalled software remnants. Unused and unwanted drivers. File extensions and associations. Unnecessary fonts and recent files list.

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