You might consider radical approaches such as complete re-install of Windows or perhaps even buying a new computer? Usually, there is no need and you can save a lot of time and money with some simple steps to improve your Windows computer performance. The five tips below are the easiest and cheapest ways to speed up your Windows XP or VISTA computer today:

1) Eliminate viruses and spyware

Viruses and spyware are one of the main causes of making your Windows computer run slowly as they deliver nothing but consume valuable system resources.

2) Free up disk space

Windows needs a lot of free disk space to operate. If you are running short on disk space, it can slow down your computers performance.

Free up as much disk space as possible on your system diver (c:) by deleting unwanted programs and data or moving these to cheap USB data keys or other storage devices.

3) Optimize Virtual Memory

If you have two or more hard drives, you can get an instant performance boost by optimizing your virtual memory settings. See our post on virtual memory for easy to follow instructions on how.

4) Eliminate unnecessary programs

Many programs that you install load into memory every time you start Windows. Loading programs into memory means longer start up time for Windows and slows down performance.

Type “MSCONFIG” into Windows Vista search to identify and disable unwanted programs that run on Windows start up.

5) Optimize your hard drive

As you use your computer, the data becomes scattered across your hard drive. This is perfectly normal but can slow down your Windows performance over time.

Use the Windows built in tool “Defragmentation” [right click a drive -> properties -> tools -> Defragmentation] to optimize your hard disk and speed up your Windows computer.

These steps are easy and can significantly improve your computer’s Windows performance. Why not give them a go and see if they can save you time on re-installing Windows or even money on buying a new computer?