Do you remember how fast your computer was when you first got it? It took less than a minute to boot, running programs and surfing the Internet was fast and easy. But in less than a year it started slowing down. There is a number of reasons why that happens and here are the most common ones.

1. Your computer is becoming a dump

After only a couple of months of use computers accumulate junk and duplicate files. This happens because our daily work creates hundreds, if not thousands, of temporary files. These files can be temporary Internet files, software uninstall leftovers, old backup files, log files and many others. In addition to that you may have gigabytes of space taken up by unnecessary duplicates (for example, songs you've downloaded twice and saved to different folders).

Junk and duplicate files take up lots of disk space, which means more time is needed to access files, defragment your hard drives, and perform antivirus scans.

2. There are too many registry errors

Another source of computer junk is the Registry. Programs on your computer access the Registry thousands of times per second. Registry entries are created whenever you install new software and drivers, and when you uninstall programs invalid registry entries can be left behind. The more registry errors there are, the slower your computer becomes.

3. Your hard drives are badly fragmented

I'm sure you've heard that defragmentation is very important. Why? Because hard drives are the slowest part of your computer. When most of the files on your computer are fragmented, your drive's read/write heads have to move a lot more than if the drive is defragged. It's very important to defragment both the files and the free space. Defragging files will speed up your PC and defragmenting free space will prevent new files getting fragmented.

4. Your settings need to be optimized

There are so many hardware manufacturers out there, but only one Windows. Of course, there are different types of Windows, but they all follow the "one size fits all" philosophy. This means that your computer settings are not always properly optimized to fit your particular hardware configuration.

How to make your PC fast again

The solution is simple - keep your computer clean, defragmented, and optimized. All this can be done manually, but it's too hard if you are a novice user and takes a lot of time. Besides, meddling with the Registry and some settings is dangerous and can make your computer unbootable. So I would recommend using a reliable software optimization package.

Auslogics BoostSpeed is a comprehensive suite consisting of 17+ tools to speed up, optimize, and even protect your computer. With the help of BoostSpeed you can remove junk and duplicate files, fix registry errors, and defragment disks. There are also tools to optimize Internet connection and system settings for maximum performance. On top of that BoostSpeed will protect your privacy by erasing Internet history, securely shredding files, wiping free disk space, and fixing faulty Windows security settings.

The program works on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000 and 2003. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit processors.

Remember, looking after your computer and performing regular maintenance is always easier than solving problems when they occur. Auslogics BoostSpeed is a good tool to help you keep your computer fast, efficient and safe.