Like most of  you, I also face tough challenges in maintaining the speed and performance of my computer’s memory. Everyday I download and create files and store them in my computer. I also browse the internet constantly. So you can really imagine how slow my computer has become. The last time I replaced my memory was four years ago. Actually my computer becomes slow when JavaScript loads and gets in the way. But the irony is, all softwares, websites and application nowadays uses JavaScript so there is really no way you can escape the wrath of the script. It is either you do or you don’t replace your computer’s memory. And because of this ordeal I have tried and discovered many possible ways in saving my computer’s memory without replacing or buying them. Here are eight easy steps you can do to speed up and improve your CPU’s memory.

STEP 1 – SCAN YOUR COMPUTER WITH AN ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

There are many antivirus in the market but it is relevant to choose the most trusted and most potent. Scanning your computer with antivirus help track down malicious bugs that slows down your computer’s speed like Trojans and Worms. In scanning your computer, make sure you set it to total scan so that no files or folder in your computer is left unturned. Also, make sure that the antivirus you use is updated and connected to the internet. There are thousands of new viruses created each day and it is very critical that your antiviral software has the latest update otherwise scaning your computer offline is useless.

STEP 2 – DELETE UNUSED AND UNNECESSARY FILES AND DOCUMENTS ON YOUR HARD DRIVE

Some computers have two hard drives; one is for software installations and the other one is for documents and files. They separate two hard drives so that the computer’s memory would read separate entities and make your cpu run faster. But because of continious usage, saving and downloading, your free disc space reduces its amount. You need to increase the free disc space by deleting unwanted and unnecessary files, folders and documents. Retain only on your computer pertinent and important files.

Folders and files that contributes to the clutter needs to be deleted. Photos and images eats up disc space so make sure you allow only acceptable amount of images saved on your computer. It would also be helpful if you can gather same images in only one folder. The more folders you have, the more your computer’s memory takes time in reading your files. This also applies on music files and documents. Empty folders should be deleted because it creates clutter. In this way, you can also identify duplicate files and documents. Retain only at least one then disgard the duplicate because its really unnecessary.

STEP 3 – UNINSTALL UNUSED OR RARELY USED SOFTWARES

There is a proper way in uninstalling softwares. Some softwares include “uninstall feature” in order to uninstall them. But the downside of using this feature is that it leaves some files on your computer that are not anymore used by your program. With these, it adds up to the load of your memory upon reading it. Instead of your memory focusing only on files used by your relevant softwares, your computer also takes time in scanning and reading them, thus slowing down your computer’s speed and performance.

The best way to unistall softwares and applications from your computer is using the “Add or Remove Program” feature of your computer.

In Windows, you can access this feature by going to “My Computer” and on the task pane under the “System Task” choose “Add or Remove Programs”. A pop-up window will appear and it will list down the softwares on your system. Review the list and uninstall softwares that you don’t need anymore by clicking the “Uninstall Button”. Once you uninstall a software, your system will delete all files and folders associated with that software.

Some softwares are too sneaky and crafty that they will show a message “This file may be needed by your computer, are you sure you want to delete them?” just to leave a file on your computer. If this message appears click yes or okay to delete the file. Your operating system has the necessary and compete files you need so deleting those files would not affect your other programs. Most of the time, these files are left intentionaly by the software as a malicious file that probes on your computer’s activity. So eradicate them completely.

DO NOT delete files and folders directly from the software folder located on the hard drive or manually doing it without using the Add or Remove feature, since it may jeopardize your unisntalling of the software because some files are still needed to uninstall such programs. Always use the Add and remove programs and delete only the softwares you dont need. Softwares and applications related to your operating system like Microsoft Office, Java Updates that you may find on the list should NOT be deleted and be left alone.

STEP 4 – DELETE TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES

When you surf the internet, some files are stored on your computer from the websites you browse. These files can range from images, flash files or multimedia files. Now these files can also contribute to the slow down of your computer’s performacne. So in oder to delete them we need to access the application. Here is how.

Go to Start >> Control panel >> Click Performance and Maintenance >> Click Free Up Space on your Hard disk >> A pop-up window will show that says “scanning” >> after the scanning stops, another pop-up window will appear this time showing you the files and folders to delete. You have the option to view these files before deleteing. Check all of the boxes of the files and folders in the option then click OK. Your computer will now delete the temporary internet files stored on your CPU.

STEP 5 – CLEAR YOUR BROWSER’S HISTORY, DOWNLOADS, COOKIES AND CACHED FILES

When you use your browser, it stores up information of your surfing habits. This information are History (the time, date and websites that you browsed), Downloads (the files you downloaded from the internet), Cookies (the login information of your computer on a particular website) and Cached Files (bits of files that are stored on your computer). Now these things slows down your internet experience especially when they are already surpassing the limited capacity of your memory. So what we need to do is to try to delete them all.

For Internet Explorer: Go to Tools >> Internet Options >> A pope up Window will appear. Select General Tab. Under the tab you can see buttons that says “Delete Cookies”, “Delete Files” and “Clear Browsing History”. Click them all until they are deleted. You can set the number of days wherein your Internet explorer can store your browsing history. I suggest you keep it to a maximum of seven days.

For Mozilla Firefox: Go to Tools >> the Options >> a pop-up window will appear. Go to Privacy tab >> Look for “Keep Until” and on the drop down menu choose “I close Firefox”. These will enable your firefox browser to delete cookies whenever you close the browser. Under it, there is an option there that says “clear History when firefox closes”. Tick the box beside it. Then click okay. Your firefox is now set to delete files whenever you close them.

For Google Chrome: Look for the wrench icon on the top most right corner of your browser then click it. >> Go to Options >> a pop-up window will appear. Go to the “under the Hood” tab >> Click the “clear browsing data” button >> another pope-up window will appear. Under the “obliterate following items, tick all of the boxes beside each option >> under the enumerated options there is a drop down menu for the “clear data from this period”. Select the option “everything” >> click the clear browsing data. Wait until Google Chrome deletes all your browser files.

And we are done with step 5. Now we proceed to step 6.

STEP 6 – DELETE AND REPAIR REGISTRY KEYS

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. This registry keys are too technical for us to know so just remember that these keys represents certain files, softwares and applications installed on your system. Once these files and applications are uninstalled and deleted, some registry keys remain on the memory. The memory still reads them even though the applications, files and softwares they represent does not exist anymore. Thus it slows down your memory. So in order to delete or repair these registry keys, we need a special software. There are free registry clean up softwares on CNET or Downloads.com that you can download an install on your computer. Remember to read first the reviews and specs of each software before you download since most of the time they include malawares. Once you install these software you can now scan your computer for registry errors and non existent registry keys. The Software will do the deleting and repair of these keys.

STEP 7 – DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVE

Now that we have deleted unnecessary and unused clutter of files and folders on your hard drive, the next thing we need to do is to defragment your hard disk. Defragmentation is an application on your operating system that lets yiou rearrage the clutter on your hard disk. Whenever a file is saved on your computer, it is stored in different locations on your hard drive. Its like your files are littered all over your jhard disk. Now what defragmentation does is that it gathers up all those litters in one place separating the used space from the free space on your hard drive. Now don’t be confused, defragmentation does not physically change the location of your existing files and folders on your computer.

What we need to do now is to separate the existing used space from the free space which you have on your hard disk.

To access the Defragmentation application just go to your Control panell >> Click Performance and Maintenance >> Click Rearrange items on your computer >> a pop-up window will appear. In the disk defragmenter, it will enumerate the hard drives on your computer. Click the hard drive you want to defragment >> the click the “analyze button”. The defragmenter will analyze the hard disk and the current state of your files. >> Once analysing is done, click the “defragment button”. It will take from minutes to hours for the application to defragment your hard disk depending on how much of your disk is fragmented.

When all of the hard disk are now defragmented, it will show you the before and after of the defragmentation represented by clored bars. Red represents fragmented files which can be moved. Blue represents the files on your hard disk. Green represents unmovable files. White bar represents the free space.

As you go along the process, you will notice that these bars will move and will gather in one place according to its type of files. When finished defragmenting, you will see that the disc space of uyour hard drive increased. This is because the defragmenter saved up the free space wasted in between those movable and existing files.

Now we are finished in separating the used space from the free space of your hard disk. The last thing we need to do is to Wipe out the traces of these files we deleted and defragmented from Step 1 to 7.

STEP 8 – SHRED FILE REMNANTS AND TRACES ON YOUR COMPUTER

When we delete files from our computer, its physical presence is erased but its digital trace still remains in the hard disk.These traces somewhow contribute to the computer’s slow speed and performance. Now what we need to do is to completely obliterate them from your hard drive so that no more traces of delted files can hamper the speed and performance of your memory.

You need a good file shredder software to install in your computer. There are many free file shredder software that you can download from CNET.com and Downloads.com. These websites also provide reviews and specifications of every software so you wont have a hard time choosing the right and efficient software for you. In choosing a file shredder make sure that you choose a software that has a “Shred Free Disk Space” feature because this is what we need. This feature will shred and obliterate the traces on your free space so that it will leave it as if it has never been used.

Once you have shredded the free disk space of any traces of files, you can not turn off your computer. Yes Turn it off and not just restart. In this way, the CPU will have a total reboot of your system. Once turned on again, notice that there are big changes on your computer. It logs in faster, it opens applications quicker and it doesnt hang anymore.

And thats it. We are done. You have saved your computer’s memory from overloading, restored its speed and organized and cleaned your computer files.

BY THE WAY

Steps 1 to 7 can be done on a regular basis preferably at least once a month or once a week depending on your usage of your computer. Step 8 can be done more often. Actually it is preferable to use the File Shredder instead of just deleting a file. But just be cautious when shredding a file because once it is shred it can never be undone. Perform a total wipeout of traces on your hard drive when necessary.