That old computer just sitting there needs some love and attention, a bit of TLC. You can do it yourself with some simple tasks and upgrades. Computers are expensive so let’s try and get the most life out of the one you have with some simple ideas. I recently did this to my old computer so my kids could have one without cluttering mine up with their games.
1. Look at it like spring cleaning with some additional work. First thing to do is get rid of all the junk piling up in the corners of your computer. Old photos, documents, music and such. Put them on a CD ROM if you want. You can also store them on-line at several places for a minimal cost. It’s really not much different from getting a storage space for your old furniture. Consolidate the rest of it so its easy to find. Get rid of old unused programs as well if you aren’t using them then get rid of them.
2. Now run defrag, you are doing this second because all that debris from step one has left hole’s in your system and this will get it all back in order for your computer to reference easily which makes it faster.
3. Update your computers drivers. These little darlings are what make your computer work well. Drivers are updated anytime a company makes improvements or identifies problems. Updating your drivers can improve the computers performance exponentially. I use the program that came with my computer regularly. On older computers you may have to do a bit more work rather then it being automated. A search will get you what you need. Remember anytime you are updating drivers though to do a back up just in case something goes wrong.
4. Your computer should be set to check for updates automatically. Make sure it actually is. All kinds of nasty things can infect and slow down your computer, keeping a good virus scanner on it is imperative.
5. Time to open it up. Make sure you are unplugged completely before doing this. There are a few things you can do in here to help you out. Heat is your enemy, its the enemy of your computer. You can use canned air to blow all the dust and dirt out of it. The fans especially can get very dirty making them harder to be spun which causes heat and heat is evil. I use a vacuum myself with an attachment to get in and clean all the dust out. Be very very careful though this is a delicate piece of equipment treat it that way.
6. You should add RAM to your computer if possible as much as you can. Look up your computer and find out what the max is your system can handle and then put it in there. This can almost make the computer seem brand new depending on how much you can switch over too. This will be the most expensive part of the list.
7. Go and find yourself a registry cleaner. This handy little program will clean out all the left over parts of now dead programs, broken links and all manner of messes that have been left behind. These programs are not free and no matter how many you see saying they are, they aren’t. They will typically fix the first ten to twenty errors they find and then ask you to pay. Go ahead its alright. I used registry mechanic on the one I was working on. I then used it on the other two in the house since I liked it so much.
That’s it, my old computer is now being happily used by my younger two children and they are fighting over who’s turn it is next. It was cheap and easy to accomplish. So what are you waiting for go get to it.