First locate your Downloads and Documents folders. This is where a lot of your computer’s memory is dedicated. Locate files in each folder that you no longer need and move them into your trash. An easy way to go about this is to click the “Date modified” column and sort your files based on the last date a file was opened starting from earliest to most recent. Delete the files you haven’t used in a long time, or transfer them to an external hard drive if you need to save them.
If you are on a Mac, you can find your Applications folder from your Finder. Click Go > Applications. Then, just like you did with your documents and downloads, sort them by Date Modified and locate the ones you haven’t used in a while first. Delete all the applications you can live without. [1] X Research source If you are on a PC, click your Start button > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features. Select a program you don’t need and click “Uninstall”. [2] X Research source
On a Mac, just emptying your trash doesn’t completely delete all the information of your files, it just removes them from your file directory. To completely delete your files from your computer, click Finder > Secure Empty Trash. [3] X Research source On Windows in order to truly delete files you have to use a third party program to rid your hard drive of any leftover files after you’ve emptied your recycle bin. Popular programs are Eraser, CCleaner, or SDelete, which is a tool from Microsoft which allows you to empty files through a command line prompt. [4] X Research source [5] X Research source Make absolutely sure you have appropriately deleted what you don’t need or want (but be sure you don’t delete something you do need, or your computer will not work). If you didn’t create the file, or are unsure of what it is, don’t delete it.
Click the Start button and then in the search bar type Disk Defragmenter, and click the “Disk Defragmenter” result. Once open, click Defragment disk to begin. This might take some time. A Mac doesn’t doesn’t work the same way as a Windows and defragging the hard drive doesn’t do the same thing it does on a Windows; and if you’re on an SSD hard drive it can be dangerous. Instead Repair Disk Permissions with Disk Utility[7] X Research source . Launch Disk Utilities from Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities. Select your hard drive, click “Erase” and then “Erase Free Space”. You can pick which option you want, but the “Zero out deleted files” should be sufficient for most people. [8] X Research source
On windows you can use the Microsoft Security Essentials program to scan and clean your computer, or download a virus scanner application like McAfee. [9] X Research source While Macs are a little better at preventing viruses, they can still get them. The best way to prevent them is to ensure that you don’t download or open any program that could contain malware. To make sure that you’re always up to date on security, open your System Preferences > App Store Preference pane > and check the “Automatically check for updates” and “Install system data files and security” boxes. [10] X Research source
The first step in freeing up RAM is to close any applications that you aren’t using. Another way to free up RAM is to limit the amount of programs your computer automatically opens upon startup. In Windows right-click on an application and open “Preferences”. In the “Misc. ” Section there is a box that you can check to ensure that it doesn’t open on startup. You can stop applications from opening on a Mac by going to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items, and unchecking the boxes next to apps you don’t want opening at startup.
RAM is sort of like short-term memory while your Hard Drive is like long-term memory. By using an external hard drive you can free up both on your computer and reduce how hard your computer is using.
This is more for Macs than it is Windows. When you have a removable disk in your computer, even if you aren’t using it, it takes up RAM and can slow your computer down. This also goes for any external hard drives you have plugged in. When you’re not using them, eject them properly.
Having several browser tabs open at once also makes your RAM work harder, so it’s best to close out any tabs that you don’t need as soon as you’re done with them.
