- 1). Delete unnecessary programs. In Windows 7, click "Start," select "Control Panel" and "Uninstall a program." Here you can browse a list of programs installed on your computer, some of which you might not use or maybe have never used. Once you finish uninstalling programs, restart the laptop. You may wish to clean up further by deleting any videos, photos or other files you no longer need to keep. Or you can move them off the computer onto a flash drive or CD.
- 2). Clean up unused files. There is a tool called Disk Cleanup that is helpful in freeing up extra disk space and, as a result, possibly increasing the speed of your laptop. It makes it easy to delete files in the Recycle Bin, delete temporary Internet files and remove optional unused Windows components. To find Disk Cleanup, click "Start," "Computer," right-click on your hard drive, and click "Properties." There, under the General tab, is the Disk Cleanup button. When pressed, it will begin calculating how much disk space you can free up when you use the tool.
- 3). Remove malicious software. Even if you don't notice it, it may be possible that there are well-hidden viruses, adware or spyware on your laptop, slowing computer performance and threatening your data's security. Make sure you have a good anti-virus program installed and updated, and run a thorough scan. Employ the firewall feature if it has one, and be sure it is always on guard against any potential new threats.
- 4). Defragment your drive. When you add and remove files, the disk becomes fragmented, causing it to take longer to open programs and process information. Defragmenting neatly "organizes" all the fragmented files, making it easier for your laptop to find them quickly and increasing response time.
- 5). Clean the registry. Almost every action you make on your laptop is stored in something called the Windows Registry. After time, this can seriously bog down your laptop performance. Many files in the registry are essential for your computer to run normally, so it's not smart to blindly start deleting registry files. There are programs called registry cleaners that do the dirty work for you -- cleaning out unneeded files and skipping the important ones. Try an Internet search to find some quality free registry cleaners.
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