There are a lot of things that can be done to improve the performance of your computer. First and foremost, check your RAM. Below are the recommended amounts of RAM for every operating system. The following numbers are not the extremely under-rated numbers Microsoft recommends, but the true amounts of RAM required for the following to run well all at once under the different operating systems:

-Windows itself
-AntiVirus and AntiSpyware
-Drivers/Software Applications for printers, scanners, etc.
-Internet Explorer
-Basic Applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Operating System	Absolute Minimum	Reccomended Minimum	Reccomended for best performance
Windows 2000	384MB	512MB	1GB
Windows XP	512MB	1GB	2GB
Windows Vista	1.5GB	2GB	4GB (64-bit) 3GB (32-bit)

There is no need to go higher than 3GB on any 32-bit operating system. Due to address space limitations, a 32-bit OS will rarely see more than about 3.25GB of RAM.

The next step in optimizing your system is all software optimizations. Boot your PC into normal mode.

Defragmenting the Hard Drive. This step does not offer a huge effect on modern computers, because the seek time on Hard Drives have gone down considerably, but it still does have a slight effect on performance. This step is very simple. On Windows 2000 or XP, click Start, Programs (All Programs on Windows XP), Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. On Vista, click the Start Orb, then start typing Disk Defragmenter and press Enter.

Be sure Drive C is highlighted at the top, then click Defragment to begin. On Vista, this screen looks different. Simply click Defragment Now to begin. This process may take several hours. It is recommended to do this overnight.

Boot Optimization. **WINDOWS XP ONLY** Microsoft BootVis was designed to graph performance on a PC for system builders and driver manufacturers to see the impact on configurations/drivers on boot time. However, it can invoke a very useful feature to dramatically reduce boot time. Download BootVis from the links to the right or this direct link and install it. Under the Trace menu, choose Optimize System. BootVis will restart your system and optimize boot up automatically once your PC boots up. It may take several minutes after the system boots to complete the optimization.

Unnecessary Startup Items
Many programs install a lot of startup applications that are considered useless by professionals and even almost every user. Some programs are worse than others, and in some cases the unnecessary startup items can simply be disabled. Other things such as Internet Toolbars impact performance as well. These applications slow the loading of your browser and can cause instability if they are not well written. These toolbars are often unnecessary as well; Firefox has a built in Google search, and Internet Explorer 8 defaults to Windows Live Search (this can be changed to Google if preferred).

Below are the steps to reduce unnecessary startup items and increase system performance:

Preparation (on Vista Only)- You should disable UAC (User Account Control) before completing the following steps to avoid having a lot of UAC security popups during this process. I personally recommend leaving UAC disabled anyway – good practices on using the PC and maintaining up to date antivirus is far more effective than UAC. Besides, there are a lot of issues that arise from UAC, including incompatibilities such as a black screen for 3-5 minutes after you login due to an incompatibility of certain AntiVirus software with UAC. To disable UAC, click the Start Orb, then the picture above your name. From there, Click Turn User Account Control on or off. Now, uncheck the option to Use User Account Control, and click OK. Reboot your PC and you are ready to continue.

4. At this point, we have removed all unnecessary applications and all unnecessary startup items. Now, go ahead and restart your computer. Once it loads back up to the desktop, we will continue the optimization. The final program we will run is CCleaner. Download it from the link at the right orthis direct link. Be sure to uncheck the option to install the Yahoo Toolbar during the installation. Run the program, and click on Registry to the left. Click Scan for Issues. When it is done, click on Fix Selected Issues. It will ask you if you would like to backup the changes to the registry. Be sure to click Yes to this, then click Save on the next screen.

You will be presented with the following screen. Click Fix All Selected issues, and it will automatically repair all issues.

5. The final step is to update your PC. In Windows Vista, Click the Start Orb, then begin typing Windows Update. Click Check For Updates in the top left hand corner. If it finds any updates, click Install Now and let them install. Reboot the PC after that. In Windows XP or 2000, open up Internet Explorer and go to http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate and choose to do an Express Update. Once you are presented with a list of updates, click on Install Updates and the process will begin.

6. Restart the PC once updates are finished, and enjoy your optimized PC!

If you removed your AntiVirus software or need an AntiVirus application, please follow this link to go to our page with information about installing AntiVirus and AntiSpyware applications