Guide to a Faster Windows

Studentenes datatjeneste

Do you have a slow computer? Here are some tips on what you can do to make it run a bit faster.

The following steps are solutions we have tested ourselves and they should work on most computers. Even though we nearly never experience any problems when doing these changes, we cannot guarantee anything and therefore holds no responsibility for errors that might occur on your computer.

Antivirus software
If you don't have any antvirus software installed on your computer, it will constantly be exposed to dangerous threats and might crash. A good antivirus-program is F-Secure, that you as a UMB-student can download for free here: http://www.umb.no/?viewID=17545.

Antispyware
Even though F-secure has a good, optional antispyware function, it might be smart to run additional antispyware programs. Programs we recommend includes Windows Defender, Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. With these program you can search through your computer for spyware, adware and other evil minded software. Spybot also has a tidy and descriptive start-up program selector like msconfig (explained further down). The links to these programs are listed below:

Windows Defender:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=435BFCE7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en&mg_id=10134

Ad-Aware:
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?tag=lst-1&cdlPid=10844457

Spybot:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a very effective software when it comes to removing malicious software (especially when it's updated) and also contains a FILEassassin that removes files that's normally undeletable. Works great with F-secure.

CCleaner
This is a smart small program that removes all temporary internet-files and other unneccesary files taking up space on your PC. You can find the latest version here: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

CCleaner has several functions. One cleans up temporarily stored files, and the other one cleans the registry for errors.

1. File cleaning.
Start CCleaner and choose "Cleaner" in the upper left corner and then "Run cleaner" in the lower right. You will now see a warning telling you that files will be deleted. Answer yes to this. If you want, you can uncheck things you don't want to be cleaned, like the recycling bin.

2. Register cleaning
Choose "Issues" in the left menu and then "Scan for issues" in the lower right. Ccleaner will now scan for errors or faulty entries in the computer register. When it is done you can click "Fix selected issues.." and optionally save a copy of the register before executing the repair.

3. Startup cleaning
Ccleaner provides a startup cleaner. This is quite similar to the one provided in msconfig (which is described further down).

Defragmentation
When a computer has been in use for a while, files that are saved on the hard disk will be put in several locations, and not necessarily in proper order. This will increase the hard drive's access time when it is looking for data. By defragmenting your hard drive on a regular basis, the data will be reorganized in the correct order and make the hard drive work a bit faster.

To defragment, click "Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System tools -> Disk defragmenter". You can then choose which hard drive to defragment. Make sure that your computer is connected to the power outlet while it is defragmenting, since the process may take a while and it needs to finish before shutting down.

msconfig
Changing settings in msconfig may be a bit complicated, so skip this step if you feel that you don't have enough computer experience. You will probably not destroy anything if you do things wrongly, but you might unwillingly disable the startup of some essential programs like antivirus software. Then, come by our office to get help instead.

msconfig is a small program incorporated in windows, with which you can select the programs you want to start up automatically with windows. Usually there are a lot of programs that don't need to be started together with windows, and they will often make the computer slower than normal when left enabled. You can start msconfig by going to "Start -> Run" and enter "msconfig" or pressing the windows button and "R" simultanously, then enter "msconfig" in the appearing dialogue window.

Inside msconfig choose the tab called "Startup". There you will find an overview of all the programs starting with windows. Normally, only antivirus-software and a few other essential processes need to be here.

After you are done, click "OK" and restart the computer. When you enter windows you will get a dialogue box telling you that you have made changes to the windows startup. If you see any preferred programs are missing, enter msconfig again and add them.

Published: 05.10.07
Updated: 16.12.11
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Students Computer Service

Office: TF14 (IMT)

Tel: (64 96) 55 50

E-mail: dt@umb.no

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