20150404

The Beginner's Guide for a Faster Computer!

You’re trying to get something done on your computer, maybe it’s some work, or chatting with your family, maybe you started writing that novel you’ve been wanting to for so long, but this damn piece of junk is so slow, but you can’t fathom spending money on a new computer, so what can you do?  I’ve been there, and thanks to my tech-savvy friends, I compiled a guide to help you clean up your old computer and breathe in a new life into it.
 
 
First thing’s first: You need an antivirus installed on your computer! If you don’t have one, your computer might be infected with viruses, these nasty little pieces of software, used for a variety of things (gathering info, stealing passwords or just purposelessly malicious) – tend to hog the computing power of your Central Processing Unit (CPU) and slow down your computer’s reaction time.
 
According to tests performed in June 2014, the Antivirus software with the highest level of protection  (99% success rate)  were:
(credit: avira.com, 360safe.com, bitdefender.com, eset.com, kaspersky.com, cloudantivirus.com)
 
But before you install the Antivirus of your choice, make sure that you don’t have an old Antivirus installed – 2 antivirus programs don’t cooperate, they clash and slow down your computer. To check if you have an Antivirus installed, watch this video:
 
 
Pro-tip #1: Be sure to run a full scan on your computer once in a while, as there might be infected files lying dormant in your hard-drive.
 
 
Now that we made sure you have an antivirus installed and that it’s up-to-date, it’s time to check for other culprits who might be slowing your computer, these could be “cookies” or even toolbars that are slowing down your computer because they might be doing “naughty” things in the background (like sending your browsing data to some company, or giving you search results that aren’t the best, but instead were paid for by advertisers). 
 
Currently, the 2 best programs for clearing such offenders are BitDefender  Malwarebytes Antimalware Free (99% success rate or higher).
Pro-tip #2: Run a scan once a week or 2, you’ll be amazed what you might find.
 
 
Now that we got the 2 biggest things out of the way, let’s clean up those nooks and crannies: Download a program called “Should I Remove It” – it’ll scan your computer and let you know if you have useless programs installed, with an explanation on what each program does. 
 
Some manufacturers install their own software on laptops and desktops and much of it is not really needed (called “bloatware”) and with ShouldIRemoveIt – you can easily get rid of all of these useless programs, clear space in your hard drive and speed up your computer.
 
Pro-tip #3: Most search-toolbars aren’t needed, and actually won’t display the best search results, consider uninstalling them .
 
 
This process my take a while if your computer needs a serious cleanup, but if you follow these simple advices, you’ll enjoy a faster-working computer without buying a new one or paying a technician to clean it for you!

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