Free Tools that makes your computer faster Part 2

Speed up your hard drive: Defraggler.

From Piriform, the same stable as CCleaner, Defraggler is a 'defragmenting' tool. Fragments are made when your computer splits up files because there's not enough space in the place they were originally saved. It has a significant effect on performance, since when re-opening these files, your PC has to find two (or more) pieces instead of one. Defragmenters join the pieces together again, thus speeding up the computer. Windows has its own Disk Defragmenter, which can be found in the System Tools menu,but it takes ages, as it'll only go through your entire hard disk at once. Defraggler can be used to do the job on a smaller scale; you just choose files and it'll process them in a few seconds.

Close frozen programs: Task Killer (Up to XP only).

You probably know that pressing Ctrl, Alt & Delete brings up the Windows Task Manager,which is good for closing unresponsive programs down (if you know what to look for thatis), but TaskKiller makes it easier, and its 'SmartKill' mode is safer than the Windows Task Manager's. It adds an icon to your taskbar, which, when clicked brings up a list of active programs. Just click the frozen one and it'll disappear it for you.Find out what's going on in your machine: Coolmon 2.

If you've a nerdy drive to know exactly what's going on inside your computer, Coolmon 2 is an editable system diagnostics tool that can give you the stats (and graphs! ) on RAM usage, motherboard temperature, page file usage and the rest. What's more, dozens of free plug-ins make it do other stuff (like controlling your media player) too. Installation can be a touch confusing though, so read SimpleHelp's overview to see if it's for you first.

Test for memory errors: Memtest 86+.

Tests how well your RAM is working, to help determine whether any computer problems you may be having are hardware-based. Memtest86+ could potentially save you a wedge of cash, as buying and fitting some new RAM sticks is a lot cheaper than paying for a tech support person to do it.