Every time you saw a new gadget, you sulk about that piece of junk you are sitting next to. It’s a common human syndrome and there’s nothing wrong with it. But have you given it a second thought? Can you make things a little better? What about making your old PC work like a charm like it did before? Here are a few tricks you can try to make your old computer as good as new.
Speed Up Startup Process
This is one of the most annoying things about old sy stems. You hit the power button, and it takes an eternity to get things loaded before you can actually start working. This happens mostly due to the startup programs and sometimes the hardware and the operating system. Windows 8 has an impressive startup time and so do some Linux distros, but on old computer with older version of Windows, you will need to do some tweaks. Programs like Startup Delayer or Soluto are great apps that can monitor your startup time and inform you which apps can be removed from the startup list.
In addition to the startup items, there is also the context menu entries that get loaded while the computer boots up. While some of menus are necessary, some stay unused. Using tools like File Menu Tools or MooO RightClicker allow you to configure the context menu and remove the entries that are not necessary.
System Performance Management
For those who never bothered to clean up their computer, you will be surprised to find that a little cleaning up and optimization can lead to a huge performance gain, even on an old computer. On Windows PC, this means you have to maintain a regular schedule to defragment and clean up your disks. Tools like CCleaner works great. Other tasks include repairing registry errors or a faulty partition, optimizing your network for faster Internet access and uninstalling useless programs or switching to newer/older versions that are faster. A lso, paid tools like Auslogics Boostspeed have built-in tools to do everything mentioned above automatically on a defined schedule. A little price for some peace of mind. You can try disabling the graphics features for more RAM juice.
Get a Hardware Fix
Depending on your old computer hardware specification, you can get a performance boost by upgrading a single (or few) components. Upgrading the RAM is the first upgrade you should get. You can also consider upgrading the graphics card, provided your motherboard and CPU can support the newer generation of graphics hardware. Changing a new case with better cooling feature can also make the system run faster and smoother.
If your PC doesn’t provide you with options to upgrade, you can consider overclocking the CPU to squeeze more processing power out of it. Of course, this will require skill and knowledge, and not every CPU is overclockable. Taking proper precaution is necessary here to make sure you don’t end up destroying the existing hardware.
The whole “old computer as good as new†notion is somewhat deceiving. There is no doubt that it won’t be completely new, otherwise all the money flowing into R&D every year would be pointless. However, with a little effort, you can a get a considerably better performance out of your old PC as long as you have the proper understanding of the above-mentioned methods. If none of these really satisfy your quest for performance and you are hell-bent on dumping that clunker, don’t give up on your old PC yet. There are still plenty of use for it.
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