Computer System Optimization

It's quite common to hear about how you processor (CPU) or amount of memory (RAM) will impact your system's speed, but fragmentation, overstuffed hard drives, and a messy registry can be a drag on performance as well.

Before beginning optimization, you will want to have already given your system a decent scub as malware and viruses wreck havoc on optimization efforts. But assuming you've got some virus software installed and up to date, a good protection suite, and a basic janitor program like CCleaner, you should be good to go.

A Hard Clean:
If you find that CCleaner wasn't able to get all the little pieces that you want removed in a scub session, I recommend Super AntiSpyware Free Edition. I use this program for deep malware cases and uninstall the program after it's completed it's task. The program is great for all kinds of things, but tends to be a little bit of a nagware itself in pushing its commercial version.

The Registry:
Trying to explain the windows registry can be a real chore. Suffice it to say that the registry is a miniature database of lots of system settings, installed program settings, startup settings, and file associations. After some time of installing, uninstalling, and altering programs, the registry can become 'dirty' or have entries that no long apply to your system. These cause lots of things including a slower startup or even system lag. However, messing around with the registry directly with regedit can cause serious harm to your system if you aren't experienced at it. Thus I recommend a couple of tools to clean it for you.

TweakNow RegCleaner Standard:
Simple program to clean your registry and that’s all it does. To be safe, it creates backups of your registry before making any changes so that you can roll them back if needs be.

Free Registry Defrag:
By closing the gaps in your registry, you compact and optimize it. This program doesn't change anything except close those gaps often caused by registry cleaners.

Defragmentation:
Most of us are familiar with the Windows defrag process. It takes forever with marginal results. Usually running it right after having completed a run offers more optimization. If you're looking for a good free replacement that gives you a better summary of the changes made, try Auslogics Disk Defrag. This program accurately shows that on windows, you'll never really get 100% defragmented. (In most cases I've yet to clear 70%)

That'll give you a good start to keeping an optimized system.