Disclaimer: All of the suggestions listed below  have been compiled and suggested by my friends - some may work for you - some may not - some might be too difficult - some worth a try. I do not endorse all of the suggestions - nor do the individuals who submitted endorse all of the suggestions made here .... we want you to have a smooth running computer and these are our thoughts on how to make things go faster for you..... when in doubt dont try it. Save this page to your favorites for future reference, take your time

SPEED UP !!!!!

On Windows xp - click on my computer / then select C drive / right click and drop to properties/ tools tab - error checking - check now.      Select: "Standard" or "Thorough." Standard-checks  for the lost clusters/chains, but not bad spots on the hard drive. Takes only a few minutes Thorough- checks Hard drive for bad spots and lost clusters. If one is found, it will try to move it while saving important data.  If for some reason you are unable to run a scandisk - try running it in safe mode.               (Toppey)

Click Start- Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Cleanup. Several things can be deleted from this area, some are already marked for Cleanup. It will dump your temps, downloaded programs files and other windows files as well as unused windows components. See the following link for additional information on SCANDISK and DEFRAG: http://www.putergeek.com/scandisk_defrag/index.shtml

Further information on this can be found at my friend clear clears website at: http://clear-clear.net/index.php?pid=9

The most obvious and easiest to do is to dump your cookies, temps and history. This is accessed by going to your start button up to settings, control panel and then double clicking on internet options. On the general tab you will see - delete cookies, delete files - you will also see HISTORY - I set mine to one day and dump it regularly - NOTE many do not agree with me on this point however its worked well for me and all I have helped - for sure you do NOT need 22 days of history - or whatever microsoft has set as default... I recommend changing this.  ( Toppey)

I strongly recommend doing an msconfig and checking what programs you have running in the background on your start up - click start/ run and type in msconfig then look at the very last tab - "start up "- everything you have checked there is running everytime you boot up... you dont need 35 things in your start up - some of us only have one or two - keep in mind you must not remove these things willy nilly - use the SEARCH ENGINE on the following page to see if you can safely remove the check mark : http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php Search each one individually and realize that it is CASE sensitive - in other words if there is a Capital letter - put it as such in the search engine. This is important. When in doubt as to whether to remove or not - leave it in and do further research. Keep in mind also that you are not removing these things from your computer - you are merely removing them from your start up !!!!!  (Toppey)

Click Start-Control Panel- "Add or Remove Programs." Browse through the list of programs. If you don't need a program or don't use it anymore consider removing it.Games, shareware,  expired antivirus programs might be considered for removal. Note: If you see a program in there that you do not understand - research it before removal - I recommend researching on http://www.google.com ( Toppey)

1] You can easily make a backup of your IE favorites since they are just simple shortcuts and are conveniently stored by default in the c:\documents and settings\<your windows login name here>\favorites folder. to open this folder quickly, click start, then right-click the favorites menu and select Open. it will open your favorites folder in a new windows explorer window and all you have to do is select all, then copy/paste the shortcuts in another place. [2] Take advantage of the quick launch bar (the area beside the start menu) for those icons and programs you frequently access. click start > programs > the program group name in the menu. Right-click the name of the program itself > send to > desktop (as shortcut). then just drag and drop the icon from the desktop to the quick launch bar. That way if you have a lot of windows obstructing the desktop, you don't have to minimize all those windows just to run the program. all you have to do is click the icon in the quick launch bar and the program will run. [3]See  http://www.oocities.org/librengtulong/  for a few more tips            (Pilosopong Tasyo aka Anton)

I would highly recommend http://www.pcpitstop.com/ as the first step and most detailed site on information and testing. The number one priority should be security and maintenance, however, this generation is into cool programs, games and music downloads without any consideration toward basic learning of computer operations. The weakest link in security and maintenance will always be the user.  ( Defcon )

Find a computer help room that you are comfortable in, stick around and make some friends. You will gain more knowledge than you ever thought you needed, more friendships than you ever thought possible and more respect for human kind in general. NEVER underestimate any one single person as they most definately have a greater insight than you do on AT LEAST one subject!!!                                                                                                                ( All American Sweetness )

Spend a few bucks if necessary and get a system utility (such as Ontrack Fix-It Utilities) that contain diagnostics and  modules to keep your hard drive and registry clean and de-fragmented.                                                                                                                                                      ( USS Rushmore)

Reformat internal hard drives every 2 to 3 months and back up all important files on external hard drive(s). Also, try to keep internal hard drives as empty as possible which means try to store music, video, picture, and data files on external hard drive(s). This is what I do and I find that my computers run very fast. Moreover, reformatting internal hard drives every couple months is a nice way of getting rid of any nasty trojans, spyware, or viruses that may not have been caught by fire wall or anti virus programs.                                                                                                                                           ( Ober )

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