If you think your device is running slower than usual, or takes too long to log you in, you can try one of the following options to try and speed things up:
1. CLEANUP YOUR DISK
Sometimes, your disk drive gets cluttered up with files that you don't actually need. It's nothing bad, just a part of a computer's normal operation. If you computer is getting bogged down lately, try running Disk Cleanup. To do this, go down to the start menu and click in the search box:
Type 'Disk Cleanup' in the search box and click on the result that should pop up by the same name:
After you click on 'Disk Cleanup', a box will show up on your screen that asks you to select the drive you want to clean up. The default should be the ‘Windows (C:)’ drive, go ahead and click ‘OK’ to select that drive. This is the next window that pops up:
In this window, scroll through the options to see what is taking up space. The big items to see here are usually the ‘Recycle Bin’ and the ‘Temporary Files’ options. If you see a large number in MB (Megabytes) or any number with GB (Gigabytes), go ahead and check that off. After making your selections, click the ‘OK’ button to have the software cleanup the selected files, freeing up space and potentially improving performance. This may take several minutes, so make sure you have an ample amount of time to do this.
2. UPDATE WINDOWS 10
The second method for potentially speeding up a slow computer is to update Windows. This is easy to startup, but may take several minutes (up to an hour or so), depending on how many updates your device may need. To do this, like above, follow Step 1 above, but type in ‘Update’ into the search box. ‘Check for Updates’ should show up at the top of the search box:
Click on ‘Check for Updates’ and the and you should open up to the ‘Windows Update’ page. From here, depending on how up to date your device is, click on either ‘Check for updates’ or ‘Check online for updates from Microsoft Update’. The second option may or may not be there, again depending on your update status.
Your device will now search for updates and apply them, but again, this may take up to an hour or so to complete.
These two steps are a great start to improving the performance of your device as well as clear some space on your hard drive. Have a great day, and stay tuned for more Tech Tips on Tuesdays!