Why You Should Never Download a �PC Speed Checker/ System Speed Up� Program

How Well do they Fix Your Computer Issues?

You've most likely heard of these programs by now, whether it was a TV commercial or a friend who tried them. If so you hopefully know to stay far away from them because they will not do anything positive for your computer. They advertise claims of �we'll speed up your computer to be faster than new� and �we will solve all your computers issues�. They are not going to clean anything up and they actually install more stuff onto your computer that slows it down. Let us take a look at a few of the popular ones and what they claim they can do to speed up or fix your laptop or desktop. They end up working more like a virus than anything and should never be used.

Programs to Never Install on Your Laptop

One of the more popular ones is AVG PC Tune Up, they claim it will boost your computers speed but if you Google some of the reviews you will quickly see you should never even run their free trial. After the 24 hour period is up you can expect your computer to run at speeds FAR worse than you've ever seen before. They will then show you endless ways to �click here� and purchase the full version that will make your computer run faster again. There will be messaged like �we found 48 errors and can fix them for the low price of $xx.xx�. If you spend anytime looking into this one the reviews alone should scare you away from ever wanting to touch it, the most common review said they had to have their operating system professionally reinstalled to even get their computer to boot again. The other popular one is a Registry Cleaner software and there are many of them out there. These have been proven time and time again to do absolutely nothing good and actually slow down your laptop or desktop too. They are supposed to clean or wipe the files left behind from deleted programs and other saved items. This in turn is supposed to make your PC be able to access information faster because it won't have to look through these items but the truth is unless you have an incredibly slow hard drive or too little ram your computer should never experience problems because of this. What these programs typically do is install bloatware along with the actual Registry Cleaner, when you're not paying attention to the install screen it will have add on programs also known as bloatware that get installed and cause horrible problems for your computer like pop ups, internet not working, and in some cases the computer won't even boot up. NEVER install a registry cleaner whether it's from a random company or a well known one.

What to do if You Want to Speed Up Your PC Computer

Now that you know these fake programs do nothing to speed up or clean your computer you might be wondering how you can actually speed it up. There are some simple, safe and FREE steps you can take to speed up your computer. The first step is to get rid of all of those programs you downloaded looking for the quick and easy fix. They're slowing down your computer and actual contain malware that will harm your computer in more ways than just slowing it down. You can try a program to search for malware but you should be warned they don't work too well either. The best way is to go into your computers control panel, and then go to uninstall a program so you can get these malicious programs out of your hard drive. The easiest way to do it is to organize the programs by their install date. Chances are it is one of the most recently installed programs if it has started causing enough problems to try finding it. Once in there you can go through and see every programs name, publisher, install date, and file size. The program name and publisher should be all you need to decide if it was something you installed or something vital to the PC operating. If you're doubtful on who the publisher is or if you actually installed it do a simple Google search. Putting in the program name and publisher will instantly give you a ton of reviews from people with the same problems. If it says the publisher is Microsoft Corporation you probably don't want to mess with it, when the publisher is Bills Spyware Safety that would be a good place to start at, chances are it is not a program you need or want. Left click on it the program name and then right click. You'll see �Uninstall� come up and you can now get rid of that pesky malware program. Do this through your entire program list and your computer will be much better off. Some will make you restart of might even tell you they cannot be uninstalled. If this happens you have now found a really bad program or something vital to your computers functionality. Do a little research and be sure it is not needed, then simple read how to get rid of it because PC techs will gladly share their knowledge online of how to beat these malware viruses. If all else fails take it in to a professional who can make sure it is properly removed. Another thing that Microsoft Windows 7/8 and Vista has is Aero. The technology they call aero is for esthetic purposes and is just there to make the operating system work and look more stylish. This takes a toll on your ram and processor though because they must dedicate some resources to them, I'd turn these off if you're finding your machine to have speed problems. It won't be a big difference but if you're looking to speed up your computer it will certainly help. Do less multitasking if your PC is having speed problems. Depending on the task(s) at hand and how new or fast your computer is will play a huge roll in how fast certain things will run. If you're trying to stream music, browse the internet and burn a Blu-ray DVD at the same time you might have problems on an older laptop or desktop. Lots of people think their computer is running slow when it's actually just their internet, if all of the things you're trying to do are online or you have 10 windows open on your browser you might not have fast enough internet to keep up. Keeping an eye on your multi tasking and internet speeds can be a big cause of what seems like an old or slow machine. Try to change your computer habits and focus on one task at a time to see if that helps.

Speed Issues can be Hardware Related

If after doing all of this you're still seeing speed issues you might have larger problems like something wrong with your hardware. Laptop hard drives are the most prone to fail item on modern laptops or desktops because they have a ton of moving parts. You often won't know they're about to fail but sometimes your computer might give you a warning. If you see this your computer will likely be running slow and is probably about to fail. Either back up your information or take it to a computer repair store so they can safely transfer your information or attempt to fix it. The hard drive failing will slow everything down and possible stop it from booting without warning. If you don't think it is hardware related try those 3 tips for speeding up your PC and avoid buying useless programs!