Because we have such a big family, we’ve always known that it would be necessary for us to create multiple income streams in order to give our children the type of life and opportunities we always dreamed of providing. As you might imagine, most of our work takes place on the computer, so the efficiency of that machine is crucial for our continued success.
Over time, it is all too easy for your computer to get bogged down, whether with games, files, photos, music, books, pdfs, or movies. And when you have a family as big as ours, computer issues are inevitable. This is especially so with games as kids hate nothing more than a slow computer; it’ll be a dream come true for them to get the fastest gaming laptop if possible. To battle this exponential slow down, I’ve been forced to take on the mantle of computer expert/mechanic. So, if your computer is slow as molasses, consider the following ways to make your computer faster.
Check Your Hard Disk Space
Although we try to be inventive with keeping our kids entertained during the winter months, sometimes we just have to let them play games on the computer. This means that they are downloading or saving a ton of files onto that computer, thus taking up space on the hard drive.
If you want your CPU running fast, it is essential that you have at least 20% of your hard disk space available. On Windows 10 you can check the amount of free space by taking the following steps:
- Open File Explorer
- Click This PC from the left window
- Under the Windows(C:) drive you will be able to see the amount of free space on the hard disk
If your disk is full or close to full, you will have to remove some files, games or programs, or transfer them elsewhere.
Purchase a Solid-State Drive
We learned from starting our own business and building a YouTube channel that videos, games, pictures files, and other data take up an inordinate amount of storage space and computing power if you are saving it all on the mechanical hard disk. An SSDallows you to improve speeds and avoid bogging down your hard drive with unnecessary data. Consider transferring old pictures, videos, or other such space wasters onto this drive.
Look into Hyper-Threading
Hyper-threading is a way to let your operating system utilize two virtual CPUs for everyone physical CPU core. While it may seem complicated, this allows you to efficiently run multiple programs or activities even when your computer’s processing is somewhat limited. This will enable you to squeeze the most power out of your current processing unit.
Defrag Your Hard Drive
Having kids is a scary business, especially when it comes to keeping a clean home. In such cases, staying organized requires constant work and restructuring. Defragging your computer accomplishes a similar thing; the program sifts through all of your files and reorganizes them in such a way that like files are grouped together, and more relevant files are easier to locate. To defrag your hard drive follow these steps:
- Click Start
- Click Control Panel
- Click System and Security
- In the Administrative Toolswindow, click Defragment Your Hard Drive
- In the dialogue box click Analyze Disk
- After the analysis is finished, click Defragment Disk
Improve the Graphics Card
If your kids are gamers, you should consider updating your GPU once every three years. New games, especially on high settings, will take a lot out of your computer if you do not modernize your graphics card at least every few generations. Check out Radeon’s selection for some of the best and most affordable GPUs on the market.
Stop Programs from Automatically Launching
Many programs will trick you into clicking a button or come installed so that they automatically open any time your computer turns on. Such programs eat up a ton of your computer’s memory and bog it down to a crawl. To prevent this:
- Click Start
- Search Msconfig
- Click Startup
- When the programs’ window pops up, uncheck the programs you do not want to launch automatically.
Research Liquid Cooling Units
It is all too easy for computers to overheat, especially if you are using them regularly for gaming or other intensive tasks. Overheating can lead to crashes and throttling. Liquid cooling is the ideal method for keeping your computer running faster—so research some options that might work for your hardware.
