Bottom
line…most systems could run a lot better than they do. This
most likely includes yours. When you build a new PC or
especially buy one, it is often loaded down with space hogging
applications that you don’t need. These applications waste
hard disk space, precious memory, etc. With this, your OS may
not be optimized for your hardware, it may not support the
hardware within the PC, or switches may be turned off that
would give you a speed increase. The basic Windows
installation is quite annoying for those who like to get the
most out of their PC.

The
following tips can help your system run better. Whether you
just purchased a new Pentium III system or are still using a
Pentium 166, these tips will increase the performance of your
machine and enable you to do more with your PC. Read on, as we
take you through basic tips as well as more advanced ones…..

Your PC
will thank you.

Windows
uses a swap file as virtual memory. In short, when the PC
doesn’t have quite enough memory to do what it needs to do,
it starts using the hard drive as fake memory, or virtual
memory. This files that it uses for this temporary storage is
called the swap file. It is called WIN386.SWP. Naturally, the
hard drive is a lot slower than the system RAM due to it’s
mechanical nature, so the better optimized you have the swap
file, the less time the PC will have to take to use it’s
virtual memory. It is best to have the swap file located on a
fast, uncluttered hard drive. If you have two hard drives in
your system, it is best to find the one that is fastest and
locate the swap file onto it. If you have one hard drive, use
PartitionMagic or some other similar program to set off a
different partition on your hard drive to be used for the swap
file. If the swap file is located in it’s own partition,
then you won’t have to worry about fragmentation of your
data by constant jiggling of your data. You can alter the swap
file settings by going to Control Panel / System Properties /
Performance / Virtual Memory. You can specify the size of your
swap file as well as where it is located. Default is to let
Windows manage virtual memory. If you change anything, Windows
will give you a cryptic warning, but it is OK to hit OK and
reboot to try it. Just don’t make the swap file too small.

Windows
98, as well as Windows 95 OSR2 or the Plus Pak, gives you a
handy tool called the task scheduler. You can find it under
the Start Menu / Accessories / System Tools. With this, you
can schedule important tasks such as Disk Cleanup, Defrag, and
with the proper software, virus scans. You can schedule these
activities to take place while you are away from the computer,
such as while you are at work or overnight. This way, you are
not faced with the long wait. With this tool, you have no
excuses for a cluttered drive.

Your
data is very important. It is important that you back it up.
You can set up a safe place to back up all of your data. This
can include Word documents, pictures, bookmarks, mailboxes,
Quickbooks accounts, etc. You can create a directory on an
empty hard drive partition to back up these files. Or you can
uses such tools as a ZIP drive, CD-RW drive, etc. Many
software titles include the option in the File menu to
automatically backup or archive your important data into such
locations.