Quick Maintenance that can Improve Workstation Speeds

Is your computer's speed (or lack there of) stressing you out? Intel sponsored a survey and found that computer users experience stress while waiting for their sluggish workstation to respond. They found that 51 percent of adults surveyed said they have done something 'uncharacteristic' out of frustration while waiting for something to load, and of those, 29 percent admit to banging on their keyboard and computer screen. The survey may sound fairly comical, but humans don't like unexpected waiting, especially when we're trying to meet deadlines and get work done. It's a pretty fair assumption to say slow technology is stressful.

Fortunately, there are a few steps that can be taken that will likely give your workstation a little boost, at least closer to where it was when it was first unboxed.

Disk Defrag

If you are using a Pre-Windows 7 operating system, you'll want to run Disk Defrag every now and then to speed up the time it takes your PC to find files on the hard drive. Windows 7 defrags itself when you aren't looking, but for Windows XP and Vista machines, you'll want to run disk defrag yourself. You can find it under the Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools. You can have disk defrag analyze your hard drive first to see if you really need it. You don't need to run it every day, under most circumstances running it once every couple months is adequate. It will slow down your computer substantially while you run it, so plan on having it run overnight or when you know you will be away for a couple hours.

Delete Temporary Files

Your PC generates and saves massive amounts of practically useless files whenever you download programs, update applications, and even when you simply browse the internet. There are tools out there to help clean up and remove junk temporary files, and you can have a technician remote into your PC and do it for you quickly. Web browsers have the ability to remove the files they store as well. In Firefox you can find it under the Tools menu (Clear Browsing History) and in IE, go to Tools > Internet Options and under Browsing History, click Delete.

Remove Malware

If you aren't running a trusted antivirus application, you are opening yourself up to millions of issues anyway, but sometimes even basic antivirus protection won't find everything. Fortunately, tools like Spybot and Malware Bytes exist to check for everything your antivirus might not catch, including tracking cookies and other instances of malware that can not only slow your computer down, but open you up for more risks. If your IT solution currently isn't providing virus protection, do something about that today. Contact us and we'll make sure your network and workstations are covered.

Fix Registry Errors

This one is a bit more technical. As you use your computer, it tries to run and execute instructions constantly. If for whatever reason, an instruction can't be run, your computer will log an error. Your PC will be doing a lot more work than it should if there are lots of errors in your registry. With proper maintenance, registry issues can be resolved fairly quickly if they are kept up on.

Looking to speed up your workstation and reduce stress (We don't want anybody banging on their keyboard or screen!)? Contact us today at 607.433.2200