Remember
how fast your Windows XP computer used to run when it was
brand
new? But now it seems to run as slow as molasses even though you've
only installed a few new programs.
There are a
number of things
that can cause your PC to run slow such as spyware applications or even
trojan virus infections. But if you regularly scan your PC for spyware
and your anti-virus software is always kept up-to-date and your PC
still seems to operate much slower than in its more youthful days, then
maybe defragmenting its virtual memory's swap file and hard
disk
drive will restore some of its performance.
What is
a swap file?
Windows sets aside a special section of your hard drive to use as a
temporary storage location into which it can place files that are not
being used at the moment and from which it can quickly retrieve them
when they are needed again. This technique is necessary if your PC has
a limited amount of random access memory (RAM) so it can open new
programs and then switch back and forth between them using the "swap"
file.
So here's the rub! If your PCs hard disk drive
becomes
fragmented, then many times the swap file will also become
fragmented. If the swap file becomes fragmented then your computer's
performance will degrade and your PCs hard drive may seem to thrash
about when opening and closing programs. Most people believe that
simply defragmenting their hard drive will restore their speedy
performance. Although that will help, it won't defragment the swap file.
How
does one defragment their swap file? This requires several steps and
some down-time for your computer because the entire process could take
an hour or more. I'll outline the steps to perform this operation but
please click
here to read our
disclaimer at the bottom of this page before you embark on this task.
You can call us at
830-895-5016 for an on-site consultation if we service your
geographical area and if you are afraid to perform this operation
yourself.
Let's get started!
1. Please CLICK HERE to
read our disclaimer before getting started. Be sure to read through
this entire article before you actually start and if you DO NOT feel comfortable performing these steps, then STOP and DO NOT PROCEED any further.
2.
Make sure your PC is equipped with at least
256MB of RAM. If it has less than
256MB of RAM, then STOPand DO NOT
continue with this article until you have installed additional RAM.
3.
Double-click the System
icon in your Control Panel, select the Advanced tab, and
click Settings
in the Performance
section. Choose the Advanced
tab and then click Change
to access the following Virtual
Memory window.
(click to
enlarge image) (click
to enlarge image)
4. Choose the No Paging File radio
button. (Once again - if your PC has less than
256MB of RAM then STOPand DO NOT
continue with this article until you have installed additional RAM.)
Click the Set
button followed by clicking OK
until all windows are closed.
5.
Restart your computer.
6. Click the My Computer icon
and then right-click your Local
Disk (C:) drive and select Properties. Choose
the Tools
tab and click the Check
Now button in the Error-checking
section. Click the Start button in the resulting window and if it asks
if you want to schedule a scan during your next restart, then select Yes and
then restart your PC again. After your PC has successfully completed
the error checking process it's time to perform your defragmentation.
(click
to enlarge image) (click
to enlarge image)
7.
From the same Tools
tab of the Properties of your Local
Disk (C:), click the Defragment
Now button in the Defragmentation section to access the
following Disk
Defragmenter window.
(click
to enlarge) (click
to enlarge)
8. Make sure your volume
C: drive is selected and then click the Defragment
button.
Now go get yourself a cup of coffee or watch television until the
defragmentation process is complete. If you notice that the
defragmentation process continuously restarts and never seems to
finish, then you'll need to perform this defragmentation procedure by
rebooting your computer into Safe Mode.
9.
Restart your PC after the defragmentation process has completed and
then go back through steps 2 and 3 but this time you will select the Custom Size radio
button and then multiply the amount of RAM your computer has and enter
that result in both the Initial
Size (MB) and the Maximum
Size (MB) text boxes.
(click
to enlarge) (click
to enlarge)
10. Click the Set button
followed by clicking the OK button and then restart your PC.
Let's
recap what you have done so far. You have eliminated your
swap
file, checked your hard disk drive for errors, defragmented your hard
drive, and created a clean unfragmented swap file based on contiguous hard disk drive space.
Congratulations! Your PC
will thank you and you'll be rewarded with faster
performance.
if you enjoyed this tip and would like a custom process technical article written just for you.
Disclaimer:
Please make sure that you possess the fundamental and required skill
sets before you implement any advice or attempt to perform any
troubleshooting steps we, or other websites, might recommend. You
should also be advised that we have no control over how you perform any
troubleshooting steps nor do we have any control over the content of
other third-party websites you might visit that are listed in our
weekly newsletter. We also do not know if you have patched your
computer with the latest security updates nor do we know if your
anti-virus definition files are fully up-to-date.
Therefore, in no event shall Bright Ideas
Computing or any of its third-party product or service providers be
liable to any person for any special, incidental, indirect,
consequential, or punitive damages of any kind, including, without
limitation, those resulting from loss of use, loss of data, or lost
profits, in connection with any advice provided by Bright Ideas
Computing, damages resulting from visiting third-party websites or
damages resulting from implementing any advice from those third-party
websites, whether or not you are advised of the possibility of such
damages.
(If this tip generates additional thought-provoking questions on your
part that you would like us to personally answer, give us a call at
895-5016 to set up an appointment.)
