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Speed up your computer without spending a dime!

You’d be amazed at how many people own a half decent computer or laptop and are bogging their everyday life down by not cleaning up their computer’s files and logs. I couldn’t tell you how many times someone has brought me their PC and asked me to fix it, only to get it returned after I followed these steps below and received millions of compliments of how it runs like it’s brand new.

I don’t need to tell you how relieving it is to have a faster PC so let’s jump right into getting to run like you just bought it! This guide can also help if you just bought a PC from BestBuy or somewhere that pre-installs a bunch of unnecessary software. Honestly, there’s no reason to not clean your computer, unless of course you did it this morning.

Step 1: Uninstall unnecessary software

Chances are your computer came with pre-installed software that you’ve never used or will never use. Or if you’ve had your computer a long time, I’m sure you installed Zynga Games in 2014. It’s time to get rid of it.

I don’t recommend to use Windows’ built in uninstaller as it tends to leave logs and folders that you won’t need anymore. Here’s where I recommend IObit’s Uninstaller. It’s a free program that let’s you remove software in batches. It also scans the installation folders to remove any pesky folders that may have been left over.

Step 2: Update your drivers

PCs can be complicated because they’re all built with different hardware. To keep this hardware running top notch, you should make sure your drivers are all up-to-date. Drivers are basically the software that your hardware uses to talk to Windows. These aren’t updated too often unless it’s brand new hardware; but if you’ve never ran a check before, it may be time too.

Luckily IObit (I seriously love them) makes a program called IObit’s DriveBooster that makes this process seemingly easy. Literally you just hit ‘scan’, click update, and it takes care of the rest. It’d be smart to make up a back-up just in case, and to restart your computer afterwards before moving on to the next step.

Step 3: Remove any files your not using.

Click around in your documents. Your photos. Your videos. Do you really need that cam copy of Topic Thunder that you got in 2008? Or those glitter gifs you used to paste all over your Myspace? All these are doing is taking up space on your computer. It may also be worth getting a flash drive or cloud to back up your photos or move them off of your computer. I’ll make another article on that soon. Unfortunately there’s no software to make this step easier. But sometimes it’s fun to see the ridiculous crap you saved and take a trip down memory lane.

Step 4: Run a system cleaner

This is probably where you’ll notice the biggest difference. These apps search your computer and clear out any logs or files that just aren’t in use anymore. The most recommended software is CCleaner however in my opinion this one is a little outdated. Of course I’m going to recommend IObit’s Advanced Systemcare. 🙂

Both options are free, will pretty much do the same thing (IObit is just prettier), and include an option to disable “start up” apps which you should take advantage of. This will stop apps from opening when you start your computer and keep them from running until you open them / need them.

Step 5: Defrag!

De-fragmentation is basically taking all your zeros and ones and moving them closer together so they are picked up by your computer faster. It’s something that helps a ton and isn’t talked about nowadays.

Of course IOBit has it’s own Smart Defrag software which is awesome however you likely can just use the one built into Windows as there isn’t much complexity here for you the user.

Step 6: Restart and enjoy!

That’s really about it! Download and run 5 apps and watch how much faster your PC is. Once you’re done you can even uninstall the apps, although I recommend leaving Advanced System Care on and running to keep your PC squeaky clean.

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