Defragment your hard disk drive for peak performance:
Files and applications are stored on your hard drive in units. These units may be scattered on different locations on the hard drive causing your computer to work harder to retrieve them. Running Disk Defragmenter puts all of these files and applications into contiguous groups allowing the computer to access them more quickly. Follow the procedures below to run the Disk Defragmenter.
. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
. Click the Settings tab, select the check boxes you want (to ensure fastest startup of programs, select the first box,) and then click OK. (There is no Settings tab in Windows 95.)
. Click the drive you want to defragment, click OK, and then click Yes

Clean up your hard disk drive with ScanDisk:
Through normal use of your computer, files on the hard drive may become damaged, cross-linked or become dissociated with their file names. Running ScanDisk on a weekly basis can correct much of this corruption. To run ScanDisk, use the following procedures:
. Click the Start button.
. Point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.
. Click the drive you want to scan, and choose either the Standard Test (Checks files and folders) or Thorough Test (performs standard test and scans disk surface for errors).
. Click Start.
. Note that Windows XP and 2000 will inform you that you cannot run scandisk till next time you start Windows. This is normal and you should say “YES” to the question asking you if you want to go ahead with this.

Create a startup or “boot” disk for your computer:
A “boot” disk performs two key functions: First, it will boot up your computer when your computer is not capable of doing so by itself. Second, it allows you to run diagnostic
programs to see what is causing the problem. To create a boot disk, follow the procedures below:
Note: You will need a blank, 1.44MB floppy disk. Any information on the disk will be erased during this procedure.
. Insert a blank floppy disk.
. Click Start.
. Point to Settings and click Control Panel.
. Click Add/Remove Programs.
. Click the Startup Disk tab.
. Click the Create Disk button.
. When finished, click OK to exit the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box.

Uninstall programs that are hardly or never used.
Uninstalling unnecessary software speeds the time it takes to boot your machine and shut it down. It also keeps your computer running faster because certain programs use memory while you are not using them.