Quick fixes for a slow Windows PC

I've been asked countless times over the years by friends and family to give them advice on their ailing PC. Typicallly they have a PC that's lived well past it's prime (5+ years old) and would be best put to rest. With prices on new PCs starting at $300 I really struggle with the idea of tuning up old PCs because it can take a lot of work for very little return. However, some people, for reasons of limited income, nostalgia, whatever, refuse to get rid of their aging PC. If you can relate to this type of person, than this blog entry is for you. Or maybe you just purchased yoru shiny new PC and it's already acting up, in that case, this blog entry is also for you.

Quick fixes for a slow Windows PC

1. Run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to cleanup your PC
2. Free up hard drive space
3. Defragment your hard drive
   
4. Upgrade your memory (RAM) (this entry is in draft stage and will be posted soon)
   
5. Clean your registry (this entry is in draft stage and will be posted soon)

Note, the tips above are specifically for a Windows XP PC, if you're running Vista, or an older version of Windows (98, ME, NT, 3.1 ... ha!) you may not be able to utilize all the programs listed in the links above. In that case, Google is your friend. Search for similar software appropriate to your OS.

If you have any questions or you'd like to fill me in on something I've missed please feel free to comment!