我们中的一些人想从我们的投资中榨取每一美元——无论是汽车、房子还是电脑。充分利用计算机的方法是升级硬件或软件或两者兼而有之。有时，全新安装Windows 操作系统(Windows Operating System)或升级到更高版本的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)可能会产生奇迹。通过这些性能调整，您可以让您的 PC 重获新生。
让您的旧电脑性能如新
您的 PC 可以拥有第二次生命，但这取决于您在购买时做出的某些选择。当您选择购买新 PC 时，最好进行一些研究。在购买新 PC 之前，您应该尝试使其尽可能面向未来：
- 获取最新的Windows 操作系统(Windows Operating System)
- 研究品牌笔记本电脑和版本，确保它是可升级的（应该支持额外的内存、更新的硬盘技术等）
- 确保(Make)硬件是最新的但向后兼容
- 从您的新笔记本电脑创建Windows 操作系统(Windows Operating System)的可启动副本。使用(Use)CD、DVD、闪存驱动器(Flash Drive)。
- 确保操作系统的可启动映像安全，以备将来紧急情况使用。
您在购买时可能无法获得所有最新的硬件，但您可以尽一切可能获得，但还要确保 PC 是可升级的。完成上述所有操作后，PC可能会在稍后进行调整。
- 升级到新版本的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)
- 刷新您的 Windows 10 操作系统
- 定期进行系统维护
- 调整你的电源计划
- 更改为固态驱动器
- 添加更多内存
- 使用冷却装置。
让我们详细探讨这些。
1]升级(Upgrade)到新版本的Windows操作系统(Windows OS)
我们中的一些人非常抗拒改变，当我们找到有效的东西时，就很难放手。但是，有时升级到较新版本的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)符合您的最佳利益。除非您使用的是定制软件，否则您可能会找到与新Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)兼容的软件版本。新的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)将带有丰富的升级和安全功能。这些将更有能力利用您的硬件。请记住(Remember)，您的硬件将与控制它的软件一样好。
1]刷新您的Windows 10操作系统
这似乎很明显，但并不一定像您想象的那么容易。有些人不愿意重新安装他们的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)，因为他们没有做好准备。最好的准备工作是在您的 PC 是新电脑时创建Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)的可启动副本。如果备份了重要文件，重新安装 Windows 操作系统(fresh install of your Windows OS)也更容易。之所以如此，是因为如果您决定使用完整格式，它们将是安全的。将这些重要文件上传到Microsoft One Drive、外部驱动器或另一台计算机上会更容易。
重置 Windows 10 操作系统(Resetting the Windows 10 OS)或恢复到 OEM(restoring to the OEM)映像将删除所有旧文件、程序以及可能会减慢 PC 速度的残留注册表(Registry)和文件垃圾。(File)旧的(Old)cookie、缓存的项目和重复的文件将被删除。刷新 Windows 操作系统就像大扫除。刷新 Windows 操作系统会处理碎片文件、注册表项、旧软件设置等。
3]运行定期系统维护
可以使用范围广泛的实用软件，这将使您的 Windows PC 维护(maintaining your Windows PC)变得更加容易。Windows 10 操作系统有一些内置的实用软件，可以帮助对硬盘进行碎片整理、检查硬盘是否有坏扇区、扫描和清理恶意应用程序，以及清理垃圾文件。
还有第三方实用软件可以按时完成这些工作。值得注意的是，软件很可能会使用通用/默认功能构建。这让用户可以根据他们的预期目的进行更改。大多数实用程序软件可以做的比默认设置允许的要多得多，所以最好阅读并设置它们做更多的事情。
也可以在 PC 的硬件上进行维护。根据您的环境，PC 会吸入环境中的灰尘、棉绒、宠物和人的头发以及其他东西。灰尘(Dust)和其他颗粒会堵塞通风口并导致过热。过热会导致设备更快劣化。热量(Heat)还会导致电路变成蜂窝状（焊料中的孔）。蜂窝(Honeycombs)就像路面上的坑洼——它们确实会减慢交通流量。这将导致 PC 变慢。蜂窝(Honeycombs)还会损害电路的完整性，最终会破裂，导致它们停止工作。
PC中最大、最重要的电路是主板；所有硬件设备都通过主板。如果主板上有蜂窝电路，那么它会导致一切变慢。这可能会导致主板出现故障并需要更换。应尽可能经常清洁硬件组件以防止灰尘进入。(Hardware)灰尘(Dust)也会导致湿气积聚；灰尘中的水分会导致设备短路。
尝试使您的 PC 工作环境尽可能干净。无论何时清洁，请务必关闭电脑或让电脑进入睡眠状态。这将阻止冷却风扇因清洁而吸入空气中的灰尘和化学物质。
扫描恶意软件是维护 PC 健康的另一种方法。恶意软件可能会降低您的 PC 速度，因此最好拥有适当的反恶意软件。Windows Defender是一款出色的防病毒和反恶意软件。请务必使用最新更新使其保持最新状态。
4]调整你的电源计划
您的电源计划(Power Plan)可以做的比您想象的要多得多。随着设备的功率增加，它的性能会更好。将电源计划(Power Plan)设置为根据您在给定时间的需要以不同方式工作。高性能可能适用于需要大量电力才能正常运行的软件。平衡(Balanced)保持功能设备的性能和能源使用。平衡电源(Balanced Power)计划可能适用于适度使用的硬件和软件。节电(Power)程序通过尽可能降低 PC 性能来节省能源。通过进入高级电源选项(Advanced Power Options)并调整软件和硬件的设置，可以进一步调整每个电源计划。高性能电源计划(Power Plan)可以为您提供良好的性能，但您必须决定应该在 PC 上使用哪个电源计划。
5]切换(Switch)到固态驱动器(Solid State Drive)（SSD）
调整 PC 的一种简单方法是使硬盘驱动器更快。更快(Faster)的查找、读取和写入时间意味着更快的数据检索和存储。这似乎不会有太大的不同。但是，只要想想硬盘驱动器的速度也会影响您的互联网浏览速度这一事实。更快的硬盘驱动器将是固态硬盘驱动器(Hard Drive)。
固态驱动器(Solid State Drives)比传统驱动器快得多。SSD(SSDs)没有移动部件，因此不会有很长的寻道时间。读写速度要快得多；浏览轻而易举。由于没有移动部件，SSD(SSDs)产生的噪音较小，因此不会很快磨损。但是，请记住，在大多数情况下，您一分钱一分货，所以要寻找众所周知的好品牌。他们可能会花费更多，但这是值得的。
购买SSD之前：
- 了解计算机中当前的硬件及其接口（SATA、IDE等）
- 如果您需要任何适配器，请了解适配器的成本
- 决定您是否愿意承担升级成本、保持不变或只是购买新系统
- 研究SSD，寻找一个既快又耐用的
6]添加更多内存
生活中的任何事情都必须有平衡，计算也不例外。没有神奇的公式。如果你增加一件事，那么你将不得不增加另一件事。如果你有快速的SSD和其他组件，但RAM很低，你最终可能会遇到瓶颈。想想(Think)两条六车道的高速公路，两旁是一座狭窄的桥。从一个到另一个将是一种拖累，因为交通试图通过时会出现停顿。当您增加一些硬件和软件组件但不增加RAM时也是如此。RAM保存用于快速检索的信息/数据。但是，如果RAM太小，此时 PC 将不得不放慢速度。在购买更多之前，请确保您的 PC 可以处理RAM的增加。(RAM)在购买之前研究您的 PC，以确保它以后可以升级。
7]使用冷却装置
就像我们的身体一样，PC 的创建是为了能够调节它们的热量。PC 可以感应到其组件的热量，如果组件过热，则会降低性能。您可以调整 PC 设置以改善冷却效果。有时(Sometimes)制造商在组装 PC 时会使用更便宜的，或者在制造 PC 后制造更好的。您可以选择在这些方面进行投资，让您的 PC 使用寿命更长、性能更好，记住过多的热量是 PC 组件的敌人。您还可以根据 PC 的设计使用额外的冷却风扇和散热器。有些人选择水冷式电脑。这些可以购买，也可以在购买后修改 PC。
阅读(Read)：保持计算机凉爽的最佳做法(Best practices to keep your computer cool)。
有些人在有空调的房间里使用电脑；笔记本电脑可用于散热垫。您也可以简单地将外部风扇放在附近并在使用 PC 时打开。您的 PC 的热量也会受到周围温度的影响。在炎热的夏季或热带气候中，需要格外小心。(Extra)小心不要使用通风口被堵塞的电脑。如果您发现性能突然下降，请检查通风口是否堵塞，感觉 PC 是否非常热。对于台式电脑，可以移除侧面并清洁组件。但是，笔记本电脑可能更具挑战性。如果您不擅长将其拆开，则可能必须专业地完成。您也可以使用笔记本电脑散热软件(laptop cooling software)。
结论
通过性能调整让您的 PC 重获新生的最简单方法是购买合适的 PC。请务必在购买前进行研究。如果您决定购买可以涡轮增压的汽车，您会研究它是否能够处理它。购买 PC 时也要这样做；看看它是否可以处理未来的升级。调整您的 PC 以实现第二次生命的一些方法可能包括刷新Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)、升级(Upgrade)到新的Windows 操作系统(Windows OS)、升级到固态驱动器(State Drive)、新内存(New Memory)、确保正确冷却调整电源计划(Power Plan)。其中一些可能在家里完成，而另一些可能需要专业帮助。无论您选择哪种方式，都取决于您在购买时所做的选择。在购买前研究(Research)、阅读评论并进行比较。
How to make your old PC perform like new again
Some of us would like to squeeze every dollar out of our investments – whether it is a car, house, or a computer. The way to get more out of a cоmputer is to uрgrade hardware or software or both. Ѕometimes a fresh inѕtall of Windows Operating System or an υpgrade to a later version of Windows OS could do wonders. You саn give your PC a seсond life wіth these performance tweaks.
Make your old PC perform like new
Your PC can have a second life, that is, however, dependent on certain choices you made when you were buying. When you choose to purchase a new PC, it is best to do some research. Before you buy a new PC, you should try to make it as future-proof as possible:
- Get the latest Windows Operating System
- Research the brand laptop and version, make sure it is upgradeable (Should support additional memory, newer hard drive technology, etc.)
- Make sure that the hardware is the latest but backward compatible
- Create a bootable copy of the Windows Operating System from your new laptop. Use CD, DVD, Flash Drive.
- Keep this bootable image of the OS safe for future emergencies.
You may not have been able to get all the latest hardware at the time of purchase, but you can take all you can get, but also make sure that the PC is upgradeable. When all the above have been done, then the PC will be likely to be tweaked later.
- Upgrade to a new version of Windows OS
- Refresh your Windows 10 OS
- Run regular system maintenance
- Tweak your Power Plan
- Change to Solid State Drive
- Add more RAM
- Use cooling devices.
Let us explore these in detail.
1] Upgrade to a new version of Windows OS
Some of us are very resistant to change, and when we find something that works, it is hard to let go. However, it is sometimes in your best interest to upgrade to a newer version of Windows OS. Unless you are using custom software, you will likely find a compatible version of your software to go with the new Windows OS. The new Windows OS will come with a wealth of upgrades and security features. These will be even more capable of making use of your hardware. Remember that your hardware will be as good as the software that controls it.
1] Refresh your Windows 10 OS
This might seem obvious, but it is not necessarily as easy as you think. Some persons are reluctant to do a fresh install of their Windows OS because they were not prepared. The best preparation is to create a bootable copy of your Windows OS when your PC was new. It is also easier to do a fresh install of your Windows OS if your important files are backed up. This is so because they will be safe if you decide to do a full format. Uploading these important files to Microsoft One Drive, an external drive, or on another computer would make this easier.
Resetting the Windows 10 OS or restoring to the OEM image would remove all old files, programs, and residual Registry & File junk that may be slowing up your PC. Old cookies, cached items, and duplicated files would be removed. Refreshing your Windows OS would be like spring cleaning. Refreshing your Windows OS would take care of fragmented files, registry items, old software settings, etc.
3] Run regular system maintenance
A wide range of utility software is available that will make maintaining your Windows PC much easier. Windows 10 OS has some built-in utility software that will help to defragment the hard drive, check the hard drive for bad sectors, scan and clean malicious apps, and also to clean up junk files.
There is also third-party utility software that can do these on schedule. It is good to note that software will most likely be built with general/default features. This leaves it up to the user to make changes to suit their intended purpose. Most utility software can do much more than the default settings would allow, so it is good to read up and then set them to do more.
Maintenance can also be on the hardware of the PC. Depending on your environment, the PC will suck in things such as dust, lint from materials, pet and human hair, and other things in the environment. Dust and other particles will clog vents and will cause overheating. Over-heating will cause devices to deteriorate faster. Heat also causes circuits to become honeycombed (holes in the solder). Honeycombs are like potholes on road surfaces – they do slow down traffic flow. This will cause the PC to be slower. Honeycombs will also compromise the integrity of circuits, and they will eventually break, causing them to stop working.
The largest and most important circuit in the PC is the motherboard; all hardware devices go through the motherboard. If there are honeycomb circuits on the motherboard, then it will cause everything to slow down. This could cause the motherboard to fail and need replacing. Hardware components should be cleaned as often as possible to keep dust out. Dust also causes a build-up of moisture; moisture in the dust will cause short-circuit of devices.
Try making your PC working environment as clean as possible. Whenever you are cleaning, be sure to turn off or put the PC to sleep. This will stop the cooling fans from sucking in the dust and chemicals that are in the air due to the cleaning.
Scanning for malicious software is another way to maintain the health of your PC. Malicious software can help to slow down your PC, so it is good to have proper anti-malware software. Windows Defender is a good anti-virus and anti-malware software. Be sure to keep it up to date with the latest updates.
4] Tweak your Power Plan
Your Power Plan can do much more than you think. With more power going to a device, it will perform better. Set the Power Plan to work differently based on your needs at a given time. High performance could be for software that requires a lot of power to tum properly. Balanced keeps between performance and energy use for capable devices. Balanced Power plan could be for hardware and software with moderate use. Power saver saves energy by reducing PC performance where possible. Each power plan can be further tweaked by going into their Advanced Power Options and tweak settings for software and hardware. The High-Performance Power Plan could give you good performance, but you will have to decide which Power Plan you should be using on your PC.
5] Switch to Solid State Drive (SSD)
One simple way of tweaking your PC is to make the hard drive faster. Faster seek, read, and write time means faster retrieval and storage of data. This might not seem like it would make much difference. However, just think of the fact that the speed of your hard drive also affects the speed of your internet browsing. The faster hard drive would be a Solid-State Hard Drive.
Solid State Drives are so much faster than traditional drives. SSDs have no moving parts, so there will be no long seek time. Reading and writing are much faster; browsing is a breeze. With no moving parts, SSDs produce less hear, thus they will not wear out fast. However, remember that in most cases, you get what you pay for, so look for brands that are known to be good. They might cost a little more, but it will be worth it.
Before you buy the SSD:
- Know the current hardware and their interface in your computer (SATA, IDE, etc.)
- Find out the cost of adapters if you need any
- Decide if you are willing to stand the cost of the upgrade, keep it the same or just buy a new system
- Research the SSD, look for one that will be fast yet durable
6] Add more RAM
In anything in life, there has to be a balance, and computing is no different; there is no magic formula. If you increase one thing, then you will have to increase another. If you have fast SSD and other components, but the RAM is low, you could end up with a bottleneck. Think of two six-lane highways being lined by a narrow bridge. To get from one to the other would be a drag as there would be standstills as traffic trying to get across. It is the same when you increase some hardware and software components but do not increase the RAM. The RAM holds information/data for quick retrieval. However, if the RAM is too small, the PC will have to slow down at that point. Be sure that your PC can handle an increase in RAM before buying any more. Research your PC before purchasing it to make sure that it can be upgraded later.
7] Use cooling devices
Like our bodies, PCs are created to be able to regulate their heat. PCs can sense the heat of their components and will slow down performance if the components are too hot. You can tweak PC settings to improve cooling. Sometimes manufacturers will use cheaper ones when putting the PC together, or better ones were manufactured after your PC was made. You can choose to invest in these and make your PC last longer and perform better, remember too much heat is an enemy of PC components. You can also use additional cooling fans and heat sinks depending on the design of your PC. Some persons go for water-cooled PCs. These can be bought, or PC can be modified after purchase.
Read: Best practices to keep your computer cool.
Some persons use PCs in Air-Conditioned rooms; laptops can be used on cooling mats. You can also simply put an external fan close by and turn on when PC is in use. Your PC’s heat will also be influenced by the surrounding temperature. Extra care needs to be taken during hot summer months or in a tropical climate. Be careful not to use a PC where the vents are blocked. If you notice a sudden drop in performance, check to see if vents are blocked, feel if the PC is extremely hot. For desktop PCs, the sides can be removed, and components cleaned. However, laptops might be a little more challenging; if you are not skilled at pulling it apart, you may have to have it professionally done. You could also use a laptop cooling software.
Conclusion
The easiest way to be able to give your PC a second life with performance tweaks is to buy the right PC. Be sure to research before you buy. If you decide to buy a car that you can turbo boost, you research to see if it will be able to handle it. Do the same when buying a PC; see if it can handle future upgrades. Some of the ways to tweak your PC for a second life may include refreshing the Windows OS, Upgrade to a new Windows OS, upgrade to a Solid State Drive, New Memory, make sure it is properly cooled tweak the Power Plan. Some of these may be done at home, while some might require professional help. Whichever you choose will depend on the choice you made when you were buying. Research, read reviews and compare before making the purchase.
