Computer making you pull your hair out?  Here’s a quick and easy guide to getting that old computer of your’s back in shape, for free!

Dealing With a Virus

If you know or suspect that you have a virus on your computer, don’t fret.  Microsoft has released an excellent (and free) antivirus and antimalware program called Security Essentials.

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

After installing, let it run its updates and perform a full scan.  It really couldn’t be any easier.  If you find that this program can’t fix your current problems, shoot me an email or give me a call.  I can help!

Speed Up Your Computer

Over time, your hard drive can become fragmented, which means there are pieces of a file all over the place.  You may try to open a movie, but your hard drive has to look in hundreds of different places to get all of the bits of the file.  This can cause extreme slowdowns!  Luckily, this is one of the easiest fixes you’ll ever come across.

There are two different programs I’d recommend for this.  First, Windows has a built in defragmenting tool.  You can find it at Start, All Programs, Accessories, Disk Defragmenter.

The other program I’d recommend is Piriform’s Defraggler.  This gives you a lot more control than the built in program, but is really just as easy to use.  Select the disk that you’d like to check, click analyze, view the results, then click defragment.  There are lots more options that you can explore if you feel comfortable.

Remove Unused Programs

This one won’t necessarily speed up your computer, but it should definitely free up some hard drive space.  If you remove a program that launches when you start your computer, you’ll notice a slight speed increase.  Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and scan the list.  If you see something that you don’t use, remove it!

If You Need Help…

Don’t hesitate to give me a call or email.  My name is Nick and I’ll be glad to provide you with honest assistance.