How Windows XP Can Improve a Slow Computer
by Wolfdave
Let’s face it; Windows XP is a great operating system. But, at times, it can be a very slow and annoying beast. It’s not necessarily the operating system itself all the time, but the wide range of different software programs installed on your PC. Windows is quite accommodating, it will allow other software onto its domain, but it doesn’t really like changes. It would much prefer to have the whole hard drive all to itself. If your computer had no other software installed and it didn’t even have an internet connection, you would find it was as fast as anything. It would start up in seconds; you could play FreeCell and draw lovely pictures in Paint, write a letter using WordPad and then Shut down, again in seconds.
You may know of people who have a computer but never go on the internet. They perhaps only use it for household budgets and word processing and such like. They never seam to have any problems with their PC, and you think they are odd. What these people have is Windows, and nothing else. In reality however, most of us do go on the internet, and so we need security software, internet connection software, Flash player, so we can watch You Tube Videos, and all manner of other stuff. That’s fine; Windows will welcome, or at least put up with, most types of software on its Manor.
We have got to have security software; the risks of not having any are well understood. But you need more than just Anti-Virus these days. It is essential to also install Anti-Spy ware and a Firewall. Most vendors now offer all three in one security suite. The problem with security suites though, is that once Windows has allowed them on, they muscle Windows aside and virtually dominate the entire operating system. Using any or all available resources to protect your computer. Unfortunately, we cannot live without security software, so we just have to put up with their dominance. Installing more memory is always a good idea to counter heavy usage by security software.
When most people buy a new Digital Camera they also install the software for their camera onto their PC’s. This software can be great for editing your photographs with special effects and all manner of other tasks. But, what if you are not bothered about all that stuff. You may just want to load your pictures onto your computer and view them as they are. Windows XP has a brilliant Scanner and Camera Wizard that will recognize most popular digital cameras. Has soon has you connect your camera to your PC, the Wizard will guide you through the steps to load your pictures. It will even offer to delete the pictures from your camera once the pictures have been loaded. This Wizard also has some limited editing available, including Auto Correct. It is worth trying, you can always install your camera’s software later if it’s not to your liking.
The same goes for your Mobile Phone, or Cell Phone. If all you do is swap pictures and data between it and your computer, just plug it in to a USB port. If it doesn’t immediately show as connected, click Start, My Computer. Look at the Drives; it should be quite obvious which one is your phone. Right click on the one for your phone and choose. Open. You will now be able to open any files on your phone and copy or swap stuff around, as you would with a Memory Stick for instance. Obviously, if you use your Cell Phone to connect to the internet, then you will have to install the software suite.
Windows has many of its own programs and Wizards for all manner of daily tasks. How many music and media programs do we need, when Windows Media Player is already installed? Have a good look at what Windows can already do for you, before spending good money on other software that may not perform any better.
If your computer is slow in general, there are utilities which can check the health of your system. For more information on how this works, click HERE