After using your computer for awhile you probably notice that it starts to slow down, and is not as fast as the day you first bought it. Nobody likes a slow computer, so if there is something you can do to speed it up, then you would jump at the chance right?

What many people tend to jump at when their computer starts to run slowly, are computer optimization programs. These programs promise to do all sorts of wonders, from speeding up your computer to cleaning unnecessary files.

The idea is simple, to make your computer run fast again, by fixing any errors it might have. But do these programs work? And are they effective? Or, do they just cause more problems, and slow down your computer even more?

The Truth About Computer Repair Programs

The vast majority of computer repair programs "tweak" various settings on your computer. Many of these settings however can be tweaked manually, without the program.

Whilst some do offer good features, a lot of these programs can alter your system registry actually making your computer more unstable over time. Others may have features which sound good, but in reality you will probably never even notice any difference for normal day to day use.

What Works?

After being a long time computer user, I have used lots and lots of different computer repair and optimization programs. However what I have found is that they simply just don't work as advertised, don't make any difference or make my machine worse than it originally was.

So what can you do to speed up your computer? Here are 3 tips that I have found to be the most effective at keeping your machine running in tip top shape.

1 - Reinstall Windows

The first and most obvious way to speed up your computer is to reinstall windows. No other tweak can even close to speeding up your computer, they way that a fresh install of windows can.

Of course the disadvantage to this is that your hard drive will be wiped clean, so you need to make sure you back everything up before you begin.

2 - Defragment Your Drive

Over time as you use your computer, one of the main reasons it starts to slow down is because it starts to get fragmented. Fortunately, built into windows is a free defragmentation tool, which will check your hard drive for errors and defragment it.

By using this feature every one or two months, you will keep you computer optimized and running smoothly.

3 - Clear Temporary Internet Files

When you browse the internet, images and files from the websites you visit are saved onto your computer. This can help speed up browsing for sites you visit often. However internet temporary files can also begin to choke up your computer when you get a lot of them.

A free tool called ccleaner can be setup to automatically delete these files, and other windows temporary files when windows is started up. This not only helps to keep your computer clean, but also adds security by wiping clean your browsing history.

This feature is also available within most internet browsers, so you don't need to install any additional programs. But with most browsers such as internet explorer, you will have to do this manually.

Be sure to read part 2 of this article to get the rest of the tips!