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Speeding Up Your Computer

Even if your computer is running very efficiently over time it will appear to be slowing down. It is not slowing down, but as processor technology improves companies like Microsoft feel they are able to make their software more sophisticated and perform more tasks which make more demands on the processor. Because of this over time your older computer will not be able to process the more complex and improved software.

Tasks that may improve the performance of a PC

• Checking your Processor and Memory

• Windows Updates

• Running the “Tidying Up” Utilities

• Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool

• Running the Anti-Virus Software

• Checking the Apps that are running in the Background

• Uninstalling unwanted Programs

• Speeding up your Internet Browser

• Getting a new PC.

Checking you Processor and Memory

It is worth knowing which processor and how much memory your computer has installed. This can be done as follows.

• Select the Windows - Start icon in the bottom left of the screen.

• Select Settings which is the Cog symbol.

• Select About and the screen should contain information similar to that below.

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This PC has an Intel Core i5-7400 processor. You could search for this on the internet to get an idea of its age. Also, this computer has 8 GB of memory which is acceptable. 4GB or less is probably not sufficient to run Windows 10. If it is an old processor it may be time to buy a new computer.

Windows Updates

You should check that all the Windows updates have been completed. If your computer is downloading or trying to install updates while you are using the PC it will run slowly. You must let the computer do the updates preferably when you are not using it. It may take a long time to do these, but you need to let it do the updates. Many older people are often reluctant to leave their PC on when it is not being used. It is while it is idle that it will carry out the updates. Carry out the following steps.

• Select Windows - Start

• Select Settings (Clog)

• Select Update & Security

The screen should appear similar to that shown below. If it is not displaying the message “You’re up to date” then select the options to make the system carry out the updates. If you have not let your PC carry out the updates for a while this can take a long time.

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Running the “Tidying Up” Utilities

These are the Disk-Cleanup and Defragmenter and Optimise Drives tools in the Windows Administrative Tools. These will take time to run. The Defragmenter can take hours to complete its tasks so is probably best done overnight.

Disk-Cleanup

• Select Windows – Start

• Select Windows Administrative Tools

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Select first the Disk-Clean and then the Defragment and Optimise Drives in turn. These may take a long time to run. See the image on the next page.

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Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool

The Defragmenter will find problems with your hard disk. The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will test your memory. Faults with the memory can make your computer runs slowly.

The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool is at the bottom of the Windows Administrative Tools.

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If the Memory Diagnostic Tool finds a problem, you may need to replace the memory in your PC.

Running the Anti-Virus Software

The presences of some computer viruses can make your PC run slowly. Whichever anti-virus software you are using, you should periodically carry out a full virus scan. It is difficult to state exactly how that is done as there are numerous different anti-virus programs.

Checking the Apps that are running in the Background

It maybe that numerous programs are running in the background unbeknown to you. These may be unnecessary, but they will be using your PCs precious resources.

Type Background apps into the search box at the bottom of your screen, as shown below. Click on the Background apps icon to run the program.

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The screen should appear similar to that shown below. You can turn off any program that you know you do not use. I turned of the following apps that I do not use: Cortana, Camera, Travel, Weather, Spotify, XBox Game Bar and Your Phone. If you get this wrong, you can always go back and turn an app back on.

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Uninstalling Unwanted Programs

You must be careful when you choose to uninstall a program as it may be important even though you do not use it. There are programs that you can see you and know you will not need. Computer manufacturers are often paid by software companies to put their programs on your computer in the hope that you will use them and become a customer in the future. One such program is Spotify the music streaming service. If you know you are never going to use Spotify, then you can uninstall it.

Take care!

• Select Windows - Start

• Select Settings (Clog) – The screen should appear similar to that shown below.

• Select Apps

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The screen will show you are the programs that are on your PC. An image of my PC is shown on the next page. I uninstalled the Xbox apps, Travel, Weather, Spotify and several others I knew I would never use. There were several apps that I did not recognise so I “googled” them to decide whether they were needed.

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Speeding up your Internet Browser

Your PC may appear slow when you are using the Internet. This maybe because you have unwittingly installed an Extension or App in your browser. You may have clicked on some option on a website that installed a browser extension. The chances are you either use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge to browse the internet.

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To check for and possibly remove browser extension in Microsoft Edge follow the steps below.

• Open Microsoft Edge

• Click on the 3 dots in the top right of the screen. These can be seen in the image below.

• The drop-down menu should appear as shown on the next page

• In turn select Extensions and Apps. You can check what extensions or apps are installed and uninstall them if you do not want them. I cannot show you mine as I have none.

• The process is similar for Google Chrome, but the Extensions appear under More Tools and it do not appear to have apps.

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Buying a New Computer

Owning a PC has become an essential tool in life. It is probably as necessary as a fridge or cooker. If your PC is 6 or 7 years old and was a budget machine when you bought it, you may need to buy a new one. Many people seem to think that the people at Microsoft are idiots and are not trying to make Windows run efficiently. There is no magic task that I can tell you that the people at Microsoft have overlooked, that you can do, and your PC will run much quicker.

If you buy a new computer I would recommend buy one with a SSD (Solid State Drive) rather than a traditional hard disk; it will run much faster.

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