How to Make Your Laptop Work Faster

When you first buy a laptop, it always seems to accomplish most tasks very quickly. If you've had your laptop for six months or more, though, most of us would agree it tends to get bogged down, start up slower, take forever to do menial tasks. Thankfully, your laptop can be restored to its full speed a lot easier than you think.

Steps

1. 1
   Uninstall unnecessary programs. If you have a lot of programs running in the background (otherwise known as "bloatware") it can slow down your system immensely. To look at a list of installed programs in Windows Vista or Windows 7, click on the start menu. In the search bar, type "Add or Remove Programs" and press enter. A list of programs will appear. If you remember installing a program, and you don't use it anymore, click on the program name then click "Uninstall." Windows will guide you through the uninstall process.
   
   
   
   
2. 2
   Install and use a good registry cleaner.
   
   
   
   
3. 3
   Check your computer for spyware. This is a type of software that runs in the background and monitors your usage, sending information back to companies without your approval.
   
   
   
   
4. 4
   Install anti-virus software. This may seem counter-intuitive, but anti-virus software keeps malicious programs from invading your computer that could slow it down a lot more than an anti-virus program could.
   
   
   
   
5. 5
   Keep big files off the desktop. If you tend to download a lot of things off the internet, chances are you keep it on the desktop. If your desktop looks cluttered, move any non-essential files into a separate folder. This keeps your computer from having to keep track of them whenever it is turned on.
   
   
   
   
6. 6
   Disable Windows Aero. Aero makes the edges of windows pretty (semi-transparent) making your computer seem "smoother." If your computer isn't up to all these graphics, Aero will bog it down. To disable Aero, right click anywhere on your desktop and select "Personalize" from the drop-down menu. On the list of themes that appears, scroll to the bottom and select "Windows Classic."
   
   
   
   
7. 7
   Upgrade your memory. If you want great performance without sacrificing your programs, you may want to consider a memory upgrade. These typically run $50 - 70 for laptops, and most small places will install it for free. A memory upgrade is the most cost-effective performance booster for laptops.