Speeding Up Your Computer Without Upgrading Hardware

Hardware can help

Before we explore options for how to speed up your PC without upgrading hardware, let's take a peek at some of the basic hardware upgrades that may benefit your computer ultimately in the long run. These aren't necessary for speeding up your computer, but can prove to be smart long-term investments for keeping your PC running up-to-date with modern applications and processes:

• RAM sticks

  can provide your computer with expanded processing capabilities for applications that are currently running. If your computer comes with 8GB of RAM for example, upgrading to 16GB can double your processing power and help you manage your computing better. As modern programs demand more memory to run smoothly, updating your RAM can give your computer the ability to handle them.

• Solid state hard drive (SSD)

  upgrades make it easier for your computer to store files and retrieve them faster. SSDs are also more reliable and last longer, helping your computer to perform at peak effectiveness.

• Processor

  upgrades can significantly improve your computer's ability to function. Most people simply upgrade their entire computer to get a better processor, but you can also make this individual upgrade to a current machine in order to help it function more effectively.

Again, these hardware upgrades aren't necessary to make your computer faster, but if your machine is getting on in age, they might not hurt!

The software approach

If you're looking to speed up your computer for free, the simplest approach is to drill down and do some tidying up of your operating system.

Now, you might be asking, "how can I speed up my computer just by cleaning it?" The answer is that a tidy computer is a faster computer for a wide variety of reasons.

First and foremost, eliminating RAM hogs like caches and background processes will free up available RAM. For example, if you have 8GB of RAM and 6GB are being used at all times on background applications, you're already running at 75% capacity. Now, if you clean things up and only need 2GB of RAM, you're down to 25% utilization! It's like getting a RAM upgrade without actually making the upgrade.

Another example can be seen through disk defragmenting. During this process, your computer rearranges data so that it's grouped on your hard drive better, for quicker accessibility. This is similar to how an SSD might function, allowing you to get the benefits of an SSD without making the investment.

Even cleaning up your registry and eliminating obsolete files can help give your computer a speed bump and prevent things like errors and crashes when you launch programs. This might be akin to updating your computer's processing power, without actually shelling out the money for a new processor.

The best part about all of this is the simplicity of each solution. Tidying up your programs, emptying your caches, defragmenting your hard drive and removing registry errors are all things that can be done routinely.

MyCleanPC makes it easy

The simplest way to get a speed boost for your PC without investing any money in new hardware is to download MyCleanPC. Not only does MyCleanPC perform all of the necessary maintenance tasks responsible for speeding up your PC, it can perform these tasks at the press of a button and even be scheduled to run them in intervals! There's no simpler tool for staying on top of computer cleaning tasks.

While a hardware upgrade might be nice for your trusty computer, it's probably going to come with a hefty cost — computer parts aren't cheap! If you're looking to get a speed bump from the computer you have, without investing in new components, MyCleanPC can help pave the way for faster speeds. It's a whole lot easier than installing new parts and a whole lot cheaper too!