Sometimes you might end up seeing that your personal computer is not running as fast as usual. This can be due to various problems but here is how you can make sure that your PC is running as it should. All you need to learn is how to differentiate and have the information linked with anti virus, anti spyware and various other optimization programs out there.

First off we need to understand that we must not turn off our computers with the use of the power switch directly until Windows finished shutting down. There is one exception to this rule though. When your PC simply locks up and the hard drive is not running anymore (you can easily notice this by the fact that the hard drive light is not blinking). That is when you can turn the power off to your computer with the use of the power switch without any harmful effect on the hard drive. The problem is that if you cut the power to your PC directly you can end up with data lost and even damaged Windows files. Only do this when you have no other possibility at hand. This is how you can prevent hard drive defects that are caused by its heads hitting the surface of the disc. If possible first try to recover from crashes by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and then press them again in order to reboot your PC.

Another thing you can do in order to maintain the speed of your personal computer and also aid in it working properly is purchasing an UPS (uninteruptable power supply). This will aid it from crashing when power outages happen. In the same time you will see that the computer is protected from high and low voltage occurrences. Any UPS is superior to a surge protector and your PC might end up being saved from most power type disasters that can happen.

Every single month you must remember to run Defragment and Scandisk. This is highly important in keeping the hard drive healthy and will also prevent crashes. One can also utilize Norton Utilities for this if you have it installed. Also, remember that you should keep at least 500 MB free on the drive where you installed Windows. If there is not enough space Windows will start dumping data on your hard drive or it can become really slow, without warning you in some situations. Alternatively you can utilize Cleansweep (also included in Norton Utilities) in order to clean your drive. If you decide to use it keep in mind that you should not delete any shared file until you have a backup setup. All cleaners out there will have problems with knowing whether or not any other program uses the files you might end up deleting automatically.

Another common mistake that people do is allowing a lot of programs to load up when it starts. This translates in Windows Resources and memory usage. Every program that is located in the Windows System Tray is working and currently running on your computer. You should close them if you do not use them and configure them not to load when you start up your computer. All other programs that are running in the background can be found by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL.

Never neglect the existence of a virus checker. Everyone needs one and the best solution is choosing a good anti-virus that also has continuous monitoring. There are also online virus checkers but we do recommend the use of regular anti virus software. Another thing that should not be neglected is the need of a firewall program, especially if you have high speed Internet connections. Such a firewall will keep people that want to gain control of your computer away. There are a lot of such software packages out there and you should do a little research and choose the one that suits your needs best.

Although it is not directly linked to the speed of your computer, you must always remember that backup is essential. you never know when hardware fails or software becomes corrupt and so you end up losing a lot of personal data that might be very important for you or your business. Use at least two separate hard drives and always backup data to zip disks, DVDs, CDs, or whatever you can. You should always save documents as soon as you create them if you can not afford to lose them. Waiting until the next day can be dangerous!