
Drivers are the programs, or bits of code, that enable Windows to use, Wi-Fi, the CPU’s chipset, and all the other hardware that makes up your PC. Got your drive sorted? Update your drivers. Don’t use it for registry edits - I’m not a big fan of registry cleaning - but it’s a great tool to find files you can delete from your drive to make space! If Windows panics and tells you you’re running out of HD space, copy what you can onto another drive, then run an app like Piriform CCleaner. One last thought about hard drives: If you’ve filled your SSD over 75 percent capacity, you’re probably slowing it down. That should already be happening if you’re running Windows 7 or newer. What you do want is the “trim” command turned on in Windows. You don’t want to defrag a solid state drive (SSD), so avoid apps that tell you they’re defragging your SSD to speed it up.

That’s a good habit anytime you’re installing a new app! IObit Smart Defrag 4 Just be careful when you install it that you uncheck any boxes trying to install other apps at the same time. There’s a defragging tool built into windows, but it’s slooow. The hard disk head – or your librarian - just zips over there and grabs the whole set. It’d be nice if the encyclopedia - or your data - was all neatly filed in sequential order in one place. The same thing happens on your hard drive. This is called fragmenting. Picture stashing encyclopedias anywhere in the library where there’s enough space on the shelf to fit it. When you went to look for a volume, you would have to jump all over the place to find the pieces. Here’s the deal: When you use a hard drive, the data gets broken into pieces and stored anywhere the drive has open space.

But before you do that, try out these apps that might speed up Windows for free! Windows feeling a little … slower than it used to be? Sometimes it’s a sign that it’s time to add more memory, upgrade that old hard drive to an SSD, or give up on that aging machine and upgrade to a new computer.
