Awesome & Simple way to Speed up your PC!

27 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
  • |
Granted, this won't be a revolutionary finding for many but having endured the pain of a slow PC for the past year (which only accepts hefty priced old DDR2 memory) this has been a godsend.

I usually play ignorant to tech stuff for the fact that things generally don't tend to work however I've seen a significant change in the speed of my system and working is now a joy once again.

The solution is ReadyBoost and involves nothing more than sticking a pen drive which costs a few Pounds / Dollars and clicking your mouse a few times:





1) Plug your pen drive into your USB port and select the above in the popup.




2) Select "Use this device" and take the slider as far it will go (ideally you'll have an empty pen drive).


Done!




I have a 4 gig SANDISK pen drive (above). It cost me about £6 and it's the size of my fingernail. It sits neatly in the USB port providing me with the speed I need.

If you're not "teched up" and need some speed to a degrading and aging computer grab yourself one of the above and do the same. You won't regret it!

I believe the minimal required is a 1 gig pen drive. Other medium such as HDD's work too but I thought I'd keep things simple!



Daniel
#readyboost #speed up pc
  • Profile picture of the author CIA AGENT
    It could work but for me the best way is to simply upgrade on RAM.
    My PC is literally 5-6 times faster.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6751855].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by CIA AGENT View Post

      It could work but for me the best way is to simply upgrade on RAM.
      My PC is literally 5-6 times faster.
      There's nothing more simple than this method however I agree that RAM should be the first option. Some people however, such as myself would not fork out the money for memory at £100+ for a few gigs when another hundred or so added to that could buy a new system which supports newer, much cheaper memory.

      A few gigs of DDR3 for example costs around £35. The same costs around £120 for older DDR2 due to supply and demand.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752007].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author waterotter
    This is a great tip that Daniel shares, just check to see if ReadyBoost is enabled on your PC as this is not applicable for all computers.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6751939].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by waterotter View Post

      This is a great tip that Daniel shares, just check to see if ReadyBoost is enabled on your PC as this is not applicable for all computers.
      Yep, good point. It might not be available on older versions of Windows.

      I'm running Windows 7 which is ironically probably part of the problem!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752016].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author waterotter
        Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

        Yep, good point. It might not be available on older versions of Windows.

        I'm running Windows 7 which is ironically probably part of the problem!
        LOL, Daniel. I'm running Windows 7 also, yet ReadyBoost is not enabled on mine. This is the explanation:

        If your computer has a hard disk that uses solid-state drive (SSD) technology, you might not see an option to speed up your computer with ReadyBoost when you plug in a USB flash drive or flash memory card. You may instead receive the message, "Readyboost is not enabled on this computer because the system disk is fast enough that ReadyBoost is unlikely to provide any additional benefit." This is because some SSD drives are so fast they're unlikely to benefit from ReadyBoost.
        I suspect it works great for older operating systems.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752094].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Greg71
          The other week my computer simply wouldn't do anything without a wait. So, in a laziness-attacking last ditch effort to save buying a new computer, I spent a couple of hours using control panel to delete programs I don't use, or need.

          A big thing was all those browser add-ons like Similarweb etc.

          Went through the Windows program tree (right click/explore My Computer) and deleted anything I didn't recognize.

          Then defragmented both drives (2 harddrives).

          Big difference. Computer is now usable.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752527].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
          Originally Posted by waterotter View Post


          I suspect it works great for older operating systems.
          Seems like it's a case of having a solid state hard disk as you highlight.

          I'm not sure when the feature was introduced so maybe it's not available on older OS's.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757411].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author waterotter
            Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

            Seems like it's a case of having a solid state hard disk as you highlight.

            I'm not sure when the feature was introduced so maybe it's not available on older OS's.

            "ReadyBoost is a disk cache component of Microsoft Windows, first introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista in 2006 and bundled with Windows 7 in 2009. It works by using flash memory, a USB flash drive, SD card, CompactFlash or any kind of portable flash mass storage system as a cache."

            ReadyBoost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6757450].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
              Ah, I had a feeling it may have been introduced with Vista.

              My firefox crashed for the for time in ages today since using this method. I was reminded again of how fluidly my computer is running.

              Stress levels are minimal!
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6764659].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Sumit Menon
                Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

                Ah, I had a feeling it may have been introduced with Vista.

                My firefox crashed for the for time in ages today since using this method. I was reminded again of how fluidly my computer is running.

                Stress levels are minimal!
                If your Firefox crashes try this -
                Go to Control Panel (I'm using XP, btw. Find something similar to Win 7) --> Java --> Under General Tab you'll find a Temporary Internet Files section ---> Click on the Settings button -->Click Delete Files and Set Disk Space to the lowest possible.

                Mine was set at 32 GB - just to store stupid Java crap. Firefox used to take a good minute to load. It is faster now and crashes less.

                Sumit.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6794250].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
      I have a solid state drive, and it isn't available for it, but then I don't need it. Very fast already.
      Signature

      Do something spectacular; be fulfilled. Then you can be your own hero. Prem Rawat

      The KimW WSO

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752036].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Bjarne Eldhuset
        It also helps to use a software like CCleaner to delete temp files, registry mess and lower the amount of programs that run when the pc starts up.

        I use the free version, and have found it to improve speed a bit:
        CCleaner - Download
        Signature
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752090].message }}
  • A good and quick idea for an extra little bump in speed -

    while we are on the subject of pen drives...does anyone have a trick to recover one that does not recognize and has (now had) important data on it? :confused:
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752092].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author pcalvert
      Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate View Post

      while we are on the subject of pen drives...does anyone have a trick to recover one that does not recognize and has (now had) important data on it? :confused:
      Try TestDisk and/or PhotoRec. Although the name "PhotoRec" implies that it is for recovery of digital photographs, it is a little misleading since the program can be used to recover other types of files.

      Phil
      Signature

      "If a cat sits on a hot stove, that cat won't sit on a hot stove again.
      That cat won't sit on a cold stove either." - Mark Twain

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6752847].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Greg71
        Originally Posted by pcalvert View Post

        Try TestDisk and/or PhotoRec. Although the name "PhotoRec" implies that it is for recovery of digital photographs, it is a little misleading since the program can be used to recover other types of files.

        Phil
        If you click through my signature and look in the tag cloud for "data recovery" there's some software there that does this.

        Yes I'm an affiliate.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753256].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    I use this method in my netbook with only 2 GB of RAM and saw an improvement in speed. Doesn't do much though on a laptop with 4 GB DDR3 RAM installed though, no noticeable improvement.
    Signature
    I offer CPA coaching and investment opportunities for those SERIOUSLY interested in making money directly or indirectly with affiliate marketing. PM me for details.


    Read More about CPA/Affiliate Marketing on my Blog
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6753327].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ninja Ana
    I just regularly clean my desktop,scan my system for errors, scan for viruses,adjust visual effects, defrag my hard drive and uninstalled unused programs.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6755531].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    Daniel, very nice. I didn't know about ReadyBoost

    I learned over the years that the biggest reason for a slow computer is over time, especially if you are a heavy duty user, constantly installing and uninstalling software, etc. is all the crap left behind - especially in the registry. But registry cleanup can be dicey - and dangerous - if you don't know what you're doing.

    What I have been doing for the past 6 years is having 2 HDD - one ONLY for the operating system and programs. The other ONLY for data. When my computer starts to slow enough to be annoying and too time consuming to do all those things you need to do to clean it (registry cleanup, etc.), I wipe the HDD with the OS and reinstall it. Then reinstall my software.

    I have actually found this to be much faster to do than a cleanup. And the result is basically a new computer...

    Having all my data on a separate HDD also makes backups much faster and easier.
    Signature

    Are you protecting your on line business? If you have a website, blog, ecommerce store you NEED to back it up regularly. Your webhost will only protect you so much. Check out Quirkel. Protect yourself.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6769162].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Tavor9
      Thanks Daniel for the info.
      I'll try this on my old computer..
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6769397].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author harshmaur
    There are a lot of ways to speed up your windows pc

    To speed up your pc startup time by 2x here is a nice method.

    1. Go to start and type "run" in the search box or if there is an icon for Run program in the the start menu, click it.

    2. type in "msconfig" without the quotes and hit enter.

    3. A window will open up, there will be different tabs , click on startup tab.

    4. There will be list of items in it, on the bottom right there will be an option to disable all
    click that, Now look in the list and check the programs that you require to startup when the windows is started ( most people will click on any antivirus program they are running , rest are usually not useful )

    Then Click apply and then Ok.

    Another box will popup asking to restart, do so.

    You will be surprised when the pc starts up.

    Let me know if anyone faces any problem.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6793453].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
      Cool tip, Daniel! I didn't realize that USB drives could be used for that.

      And for anyone who's wondering, here is another way to speed up your PC. As soon as you do this, it will go REALLY fast (for a couple seconds, at least)!



      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6793624].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by harshmaur View Post

      There are a lot of ways to speed up your windows pc

      To speed up your pc startup time by 2x here is a nice method.

      1. Go to start and type "run" in the search box or if there is an icon for Run program in the the start menu, click it.

      2. type in "msconfig" without the quotes and hit enter.

      3. A window will open up, there will be different tabs , click on startup tab.

      4. There will be list of items in it, on the bottom right there will be an option to disable all
      click that, Now look in the list and check the programs that you require to startup when the windows is started ( most people will click on any antivirus program they are running , rest are usually not useful )

      Then Click apply and then Ok.

      Another box will popup asking to restart, do so.

      You will be surprised when the pc starts up.

      Let me know if anyone faces any problem.

      That would disable everything inclusive of anti-virus programs.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6793719].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author harshmaur
        Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

        That would disable everything inclusive of anti-virus programs.
        Thats why I said FIRST to disable all and then check the boxes for the program that you want to start when the windows starts up.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6793777].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
          Originally Posted by harshmaur View Post

          Thats why I said FIRST to disable all and then check the boxes for the program that you want to start when the windows starts up.
          Sorry, so you did.

          Admitedly I skimmed as I could barely see my screen for glare.


          Originally Posted by Sumit Menon View Post

          If your Firefox crashes try this -
          Go to Control Panel (I'm using XP, btw. Find something similar to Win 7) --> Java --> Under General Tab you'll find a Temporary Internet Files section ---> Click on the Settings button -->Click Delete Files and Set Disk Space to the lowest possible.

          Mine was set at 32 GB - just to store stupid Java crap. Firefox used to take a good minute to load. It is faster now and crashes less.

          Sumit.
          Thanks! I'll give that a crack!


          Daniel
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6795419].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author harshmaur
    Hey Daniel,

    Virtual Memory of the hard disk itself could be another alternative to using usb drive. The only condition is that you need to have some unused space on the hard disk.

    Mine is set to 20 GB of virtual memory along with 4GB of RAM and 1GB Dedicated Graphics.
    My Pc starts up in 10 seconds.


    There is an free software "Tree Size" downloadable from the net. The software sorts the data in the hard disk on the basis of the size occupied by them. This makes it super easy to delete stuff that you dont use and are occupying a lot of space.

    NEVER DELETE FILES THAT YOU DONT KNOW ABOUT , IT COULD BE SYSTEM FILES
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6798309].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author luchk
    wanna try this sometime.. what i did to speed up my pc is to buy a faster processor..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6798407].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author allen12
    A solution I use is Tuneup Utilities. It's a complete package, and it keeps my 5 year old PC running like clockwork. You guys should check it out.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6798618].message }}

Trending Topics