A new computer right out of the box will start up really quickly and run like lightening and if you want to close it down, it will do that super fast too but a few months later things probably will not be the same.

Everything gradually slows down over time and gets slower and slower as your computer gets more and more files and bits of data stored away inside it.

The very first thing to do if you want to find out how to speed up a computer that is in go slow mode is to use the defrag utility and defragment your hard drive. It is actually a good idea to do this regularly and do it weekly if you use your computer a lot. You can set it to come on and defrag your system automatically if you wish. you can do this from the windows start menu then all programs -> accessories -> system tools.

This utility will look in your hard drive and find all the bits of data that are not in the right place. This is generally what causes the computer to slow down because the computer has to spend time searching for what it needs, rather that just getting the data from where it should be. Once these bits and pieces are back where they should be, they will be easy for the computer to find quickly.

If you add programs or delete files fairly frequently there will be find that bits are left behind in your system. Defragmenting your system is like tidying up a filing cabinet. It puts things in order and tidies up rubbish which also leaves more available space.

The second thing you need to do is to run a registry scanner program. This can soon bring a slow computer back to running quickly. The registry is the place where all the data is kept and if it is untidy, or corrupted, your computer will run slowly as windows struggles to try and start programs that are no longer installed or deal with corrupt registry entries.

System crashes and strange error messages are all caused by registry problems and can be fixed in minutes by running a free registry scanner which will unearth all those problems and allow you to speed up a computer.