Hello!

Browsing through many forums about computer and hardware, I noticed that far too many people advised to change components such as graphics, memory (RAM) or outright changing computer for the most extreme reasons. So, I took the initiative to help the majority of people who encounter delays and other lags while they are playing games and using Windows in general. In fact, there are more and more people that know absolutely nothing about why their computers are so slow even they got the best hardware available. Here are some reasons why…

The first: Most people who are active on the computer are to young and don’t have a lot of knowledge.
The second: the lack of time due to a schedule overloaded.
The third: the lack of curiosity.
The fourth: fear of making a mistake and “breaking the PC.”

First, to make something clear: you can not screw up your PC by manipulation in the files of the operating system.

I will therefore in this guide attempt to demystify what’s and operating system is all about! I will also explain the best possible ways with very detailed explanations of how to clean your PC, increase the speed of your computer, advising several software (some are free, others are not) and especially improve the computing power to allow a good display graphic without any slowdowns. I will write through a voice recognition and write in large quantities and not to minimalist explanation, which is why I ask you the greatest indulgence concerning possible future spelling and grammar which may be invisible on a large amount of text. Of course, I am not a magician and do not think I would be able to turn a game which requires an amazing PC to run so you can play it on your old Pentium 2. I will simply give you the best advice how to improve your computers performance. I just want to advise that are very important for any computer running Windows.

Let me also clarify that I am using Windows XP Home Edition and some stuff may not be the same in Windows XP Professional Edition, or Windows 2000 as in my version.

Now let’s begin the guide!

First, it is necessary that you understand that the registry is the gathering place for all the data collection for Windows. It is therefore very important to keep a clean registry so your computer can perform better.

1: Norton Ghost.

First, it is very boring and annoying to keep re-installing Windows all the time. Therefore, it may be appropriate to have a program like Norton Ghost that will produce an image of your hard disk (partition), in this way during a crash or an unrecoverable error in the register it may reset your computer with an earlier installation that you saved in the image. It is therefore very important to partition the hard drive because Norton Ghost can not make a copy of a hard drive that accommodates itself to safeguard and / or the operating system. If you do not have the ability to partition, you can always do it with your CD or DVD drive. This software allows you to reset the installation earlier. Here is the procedure:

Create backup and just after a clean installation of Windows (add the drivers and important software files such as word processing, printer etc).

If you computer crash you can:

1. Either you can start Windows, in which case you can restore from Windows.
2. Windows is out of service because of a big mistake and in this case can not be started. Then, reinstall Windows and then immediately install Norton Ghost and start immediately restore (it will save many hours lost resettlement).

Incidentally, you can for example if you feel that your PC is stable and fast, make a new image of your hard disk (partition) so you can not go back to a completely blank disk (helpful). It is nevertheless necessary to reset after the installation process (hence the interest in making a Ghost just after formatting Ghost therefore different from the other) when you feel that your PC is back.

2: Choosing all software that is installed (even if it’s utilities).

When you choosing your software it is best if you choose software’s that use small resources. The best way is to use software equipped with antivirus and firewall but all this takes a lot of resources. That’s why I advise you to use either an antivirus or firewall. Then you can use the very good Trend Micro Internet Security (this also is an antivirus firewall Paid: 59 € to be renewed every year), which is fully configurable and consumes very little resources. Many software utilities circulating on the Internet and sometimes when you are installing them, they can screws up the Windows registry which slows down the computer. That is why we must consider before installing any software found on the Internet. In general I advise you to learn and use a single utility to a single application and not change it.

3: Avoid at all costs the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) software

It is important to stop downloading files illegally for several reasons:

First, You destroy the gaming, movie and music market. Secondly, it allows users to hack your computer to access your data. Third, the computer will be slowed down by all the spyware and advertising (adware) when installing software for p2p. Fourthly, you can get to the prison and be forced to pay a large fine because what you are doing is illegal and against the federal law.

4: Cleaning is very important and must be done frequently.

Indeed, by cleaning the registry, conducting analysts and antivirus software using the “clean”, you can increase you PC’ speed by up to 60%.

So this should be done after a Ghost of the hard disk containing Windows has been installed, and after installing an antivirus. This is still not enough to keep your computer clean at all times, here are some other good programs that you are going to need.

First: download Spybot - Search & Destroy (free) and install it.
Secondly: download Lavasoft Ad-aware 6 (free) and install it.
Thirdly: download EasyCleaner (free) and install it.
Fourth: regularly updating the first two programs (every 15 days) and its virus protections (it is better to activate the automatic update).

Spybot - Search & Destroy:

The software locks the register of your computer by asking you to confirm every change you do to the registry. It also allows us to get rid of all the spyware and part of the advertising software. It allows you to “immunize” your computer for spyware and helps you a lot to keep your PC clean.

Lavasoft Ad-aware 6:

This software is the complement of Spybot - Search & Destroy because it deals with clean and remove adware in the registry and the rest of the hard drive. It is better to disable its automatic analysis in order not to be disturbed in its work.

EasyCleaner:

This software allows you to clean up your PC in a comprehensive way, but here we will use it only to delete all entries outdated, invalid and unnecessary Windows Registry. It is crucial to launch this program after the previous two.

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Let us now take a look in detail at all the stages and the optimization of Windows.

A: Accelerate and clean software starting with Windows.

We begin by explaining some things. The computer first loads its drivers then follows the software, Internet connection, printer drivers, word processors etc. This software (available right next to the clock) is permanently the software Windows started. This opens up a large number of software and most of them are not always used (not to say never for certain).
It is therefore essential to start the computer with the bare minimum then open oneself according to your needs. To do this, click on “Start”, “Run” and type “msconfig”. Immediately, select the “Selective Startup” then go in the “Startup”. By blowing up the tab in the “Command”, you have the details of the directories in which Windows starts these programs. Now simply disable all the programs you don’t need. This is actually easier if you press CTRL, ALT and delete. Then you will see your task manager, than you simply disable all the files where it does not say “system” under them.  
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B: Spybot - Search & Destroy.

Once you installed it restart your machine. A new icon next to the clock would appear. This is the little program that lets you protect your registry from any changes. You can accept (for example when you know the origin of a change) or reject (if you are unsure of the origin of this change). When you launch the program it takes you to the main window offering to update (that is the first thing to do). Then I suggest you go to “Immunize”. The program will check how many spyware are blocked. After this verification click “Vaccinate.” After that, go to Search & Destroy and click “Check All”. After a few minutes, you will have all the spyware that are active in your computer in the window there. Once the analysis is complete, you must click on “Correct problems.” The program will create a system restore point and then it will ask for confirmation. The blocker register Spybot may ask you to change permissions (normal since it touches on the register to destroy spyware), accept without thinking. As a result of a correction of a few minutes, your computer does not have any spyware that will accelerate the computer slightly, and freeing some of its resources (as spyware continuously scan your files and connections to Internet sites), and finally it will increase your Internet speed connection.

C: Lavasoft Ad-aware 6.

After the installation, click on “Start”, “Run” and type “msconfig”. Here, we repeat a portion of cleaning up the tab. Start and run Ad-aware 6 (under “Lavasoft”). Once you have finished and clicked on OK, reboot your machine.
Open and click the small globe with a magnifying glass at the top right corner and then click on “Sign in” to perform the update. Now click on “Consider” tick “Option Review default” Now then click “Next”. The analysis is carried out to your memory, the hard drive and most importantly the register. At the end of this analysis, check the elements in the analysis report and click “Next” and then confirm the removal of items marked (perhaps that Spybot will ask again for permission). Then, you are free from all adware that slow down your Internet connection.

D: EasyCleaner.

Now that we are done cleaning the registry and hard disk, it is wise to maximize the speed of the PC when cleaning the registry and the latest small traces of spyware and adware (in the registry). We are going to launch the software immediately then click on “Register.” Now click on “Find”. The search for unnecessary admissions is done automatically. At the end of it, click “Select All” then “Delete all”. It is quite possible that Spybot ask you again authorization which is normal because we touch the register. Close all windows and then restart your computer.

E: A virus scanner frequent.

It is vital to protect the computer to perform a complete analysis of its hard drives with the virus scanner at least once every 15 days. Similarly, it is crucial to activate the automatic scan e-mails and keep the firewall activated when we must make a visit to a site that can be classified as “dangerous”, disable it when part of a network or over the Internet to increase the speed of the connection. I also recommend that you use an online E-mail provider like for example Gmail from Google or Hotmail from MSN. If you use Outlook it is important to understand that this software is directly from Microsoft and receives e-mails on your hard drive, including the viruses.

F: The good reflex.

As soon as you feel that your machine slowed again, repeat all the steps above. Do not forget to update your graphic drivers every two as well as drivers Chipset your motherboard.
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<!–[endif]–>G: Dust.

Also astonishing as it may seem, dust plays a major role in the speed of electronics! Do not hesitate to make clan your machine for dust, especially plugs on the outside on the facade at the front but also but most importantly, inside! So take your screwdriver if necessary to open your PC and then take your vacuum cleaner (with the aspiration lowest for not picking components of the motherboard and other cards) and then clean well all of the Interior (especially the fan central cools the processor, RAM which are generally small cards long but very few large positioned vertically on the motherboard and graphics card).

Normally, after all this, your PC is “clean” and should no longer have slowdown problems