A Lean, Mean Computing Machine For Free

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Atlanta: How would you like to have a computer that runs faster, crashes less and has more space for storage on its hard disk? That’s what I’m offering today. It’s an attractive offer, but I haven’t told you the best part yet.

You can have this new computer without spending a dime. This is no gimmick. I’ll keep every promise.

Here’s how I can do that. I will show you some simple, do-at-home ways to make your computer so much better that you may be able to postpone buying a new one for a year or so.

Let’s get started. I don’t want to be sued for false advertising, and there’s a lot to do.

* First: Let’s defragment your hard disk. When you use the defragmenting program that comes free with Microsoft, it takes programs that had been stored on the disk in a haphazard way and joins them back together. Just doing that will decrease the time that your computer takes to call up information.

But there’s still more. The program also organises programs so that the ones you use most often are placed in the fastest parts of the hard disk.

How to: Press the Start button, go to Accessories, then System Tools and select Disk Defragmenter. That works for modern versions of Windows. Those with Windows 98 and ME should first run another free program, found in the same folder, called ScanDisk.

* Second: Download a good anti-spyware program and clean your computer of those pesky adware and spyware programs that are increasingly likely to sneak into your computer.

Since many of these programs run constantly without you knowing it — taking up computer power — you will get a shocking increase in speed.

How to: Go to www.safer-networking.org/ and download the free SpyBot program. Be careful. This program is so popular that hackers have been known to redirect download requests to programs that aren’t free. If you are taken to another site or asked to pay, don’t do it. Also know that the last time I recommended this program, the site became so overloaded with traffic that it wasn’t usable for a time.

* Third: Remove programs you no longer use. In almost every PC I’ve ever seen, there are old programs that are no longer used. Besides taking up storage space, really old programs can create conflicts that cause computer crashes.