![]() Nothing will slow your system down like a virus, a Trojan horse, or other types of malware. If you've got programs like BitTorrent and Skype running all day, every day in the background, Becky suggests shutting them down until you really need them. Programs like BitTorrent and Skype work their magic with "peer-to-peer" technology, meaning they leverage the combined computing power and bandwidth of every PC or Mac running their software for such uses as massive file transfers (in the case of BitTorrent) or high-quality, Net-based voice and video chat (for Skype).īut while sharing the P2P burden qualifies you a good Netizen, it can also put a significant dent in your system's performance. If you find, for example, that programs like Skype and iTunes are whirring away even when you're not using them, right-click and select "Close"-or, better yet, open the program and uncheck any "launch at startup" settings in the Preferences or Options menu. Got a Windows-based PC? See that little row of tiny icons in the bottom-right corner of the screen? Over the course of weeks, months, or years, the number of icons sitting in the Windows task bar has probably grown larger and larger-and many of those icons represent programs that are running in the background and consuming your PC's limited resources.Įxpand the task bar by clicking the little arrow on the side, then right-click each icon in succession. Check for running apps in the Windows task bar (Disabling the iTunesHelper app, for example, will prevent iTunes from opening automatically when you connect an iPhone or iPod.)Ģ. You may find a variety of arcane programs and helper apps lurking inside (such as the mysterious iTunesHelper), but again-search before you zap an unknown program. (Don't worry you're not deleting the programs themselves.) Note: if you see a program sitting in the Startup folder and you don't know what it's for, search on the Web to see what it does before hitting the "delete" button.įor Mac: Open System Preferences under the Apple menu, click the Accounts icon, and then click the Login Items tab. Twiddle:玩弄,转动 painstakingly:煞费苦心地,费力地 a slew of:大量的,一连串的įor Windows: Click the Start menu, then select Programs (or All Programs in Windows 7), open the Startup folder, and then-as Becky suggest-delete mercilessly. Here's how to ease the frantic rush of competing startup programs: If you find yourself routinely twiddling your thumbs while your PC or Mac painstakingly boots itself up, maybe it's because your system is trying to fire up a slew of programs at the same time (and indeed, some programs will set themselves to launch at startup by default). How long do you have to wait after hitting your PC's power button before you can actually get to work? Thirty seconds? A minute? Two minutes? More? This week on Upgrade Your Life, Yahoo! News' Becky Worley serves up some quick and easy tricks for speeding up your PC or Mac, starting with … Is your desktop or laptop computer starting to feel a little poky? Even after just a few months of use, your PC or Mac may start to lose steam thanks to a fragmented hard drive, too many programs running in the background, or even a rogue piece of malware.
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