Every college student is most likely going to have a computer this upcoming semester, but some of us aren’t going to be so lucky when it comes to having a new one.  If you’re the one stuck with a 5-10 year old computer, you may find that the slowness of the computer can really slow you down with your college work.

Here are 3 great tips that you can use in order to speed up your computer –

Run a disk defrag: Every windows computer has disk defragmentation software.  It’s free, and it’s included in your computer.  When you defrag your hard drive, you’re making it easier for information to flow down one long path, rather than jump spot to spot.  When it has to jump all the time, you will find that this will slow you down.  Do a quick search for “defrag” on your computer, and the result should pop up.

Eliminate your start up programs: Whenever you start up your computer, you may have a ton of startup programs that you don’t know about.  Unfortunately, these programs will run while your computer is at work.  If you don’t have sufficient RAM space, your computer is really going to lag.  I recommend free programs like WinPatrol that help you monitor your start up program activities.  Every time a start up program trys to sneak it’s way into your computer, it will alert you.

Protect yourself from spyware: If your computer is connected to the Internet, you might likely come across spyware troubles.  If you load up with enough spyware, it can really bring your system down.  Try free programs like Ad-Aware that can help you with eliminating these pesky files.

A fast computer is a healthy computer, and as long as you maintain it on a monthly basic, and use these programs, you shouldn’t have a problem with your computer slowing down, unless it’s from the 80s!