Windows 7 Support Center

Windows 7 is still a pretty new operating system on the market, and all the kinks and new features are being worked out. But on question that always comes up with the OS are there speeds. Wondering just how to speed up the Windows 7 operating system? And want to do it without spending money, well there are certain things you can do to speed up the new operating system.

The first thing is of course, make sure your system can handle the minimum requirements for Windows 7. Most systems can handle it, however, it is always good to double check and have all your necessary equipment to run the OS smoothly. Here are the core requirements for running the new Windows 7 operating systems.

o 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
o 1GB of main memory
o 16GB of available disk space
o Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)
o A DVD-R/W drive

Many people are just upgrading form Windows XP or Windows Vista, and if your computer was running great on those systems, especially Vista. Then upgrading Windows 7 shouldn't be any problems with your system. Just make sure you back everything up before you do the upgrade.

With this new operating system, it is designed to run efficiently, and run smooth without consuming much of the physical RAM. However, if for some reason you are still running Windows 2000 or early, then it is guarantee that you are going to have problems upgrading to the new Windows 7. If this is your situation, then look at the list of requirements listed above, and try to upgrade your computers equipment to meet those settings, before you upgrade to Windows 7.

After you have done the upgrade and your OS is still running slow, or you just want it to be as fast as it can be. Or if you're like me, you just enjoy customizing every aspect of your computing experiences, to your own personal settings. There are some things you can do to make it run faster and smoother.

The first thing is to cut down on making your computer work harder. Many times, computers run programs in the background. Which means, programs the computer is running, without you opening them, or needing them open.

The number one cause for this, is when you install things. Many times the software will ask you if you want the program to run when the windows is starting up. Always say no to this, because it eats up the computer resources.

You can always change the settings, if you change your mind and want it to run at start up. In order to check to see how many programs your computer is running, just right click the start bar, then select "Task Manger" down in the bottom left hand corner, you will see a number. That is how many programs your computer running. The lower the number, the more recourses you have free on your computer, which means the faster your computer will perform.

Just as a side note, there are some programs, that windows must have running, and if you try to end them. Windows will not allow you to do it. However, if you find programs that you want to be closed, and not to start up during start up. Then there is a simple procedure you need to perform.

Go to your start menu, and click on the item called "Run". After you do that, a little box should appear, and an area where you can type in a command. Type in this command "msconfig" and a second program will appear. You should see this one has many tabs, find the one that says "Start Up".

Then all you have to do is, uncheck the programs you don't want to have running in the background. After you have unselected the programs, click apply and then ok. The computer will prompt you to restart the computer, so the changes take effect. To reverse the process, just do the same thing, but check the programs you want to be running.

You should notice a big difference in the way your computer is running after that. Especially, if you are running a bunch of programs.

The second thing you should do, is the Windows registry. Now, I would touch the registry if you don't know what you are doing, because if you mess up the registry of windows. You run the risk of messing up the entire system. And will have to delete and start all over. With this method, there isn't any internal cleaning tool, so you will have to do this manually. What we will be doing is cleaning up the errors and corrupted files in the registry.

Over time this will build up, and is a natural effect of running your computer. Programs will just randomly create errors. And over time, this can create an congestion in your registry. So if this is still a new installation on your system. I wouldn't worry about his all too much right now. However, if you have been running Windows 7 for some time now, then it may be good to clean out your register.

While it will take more time, and advance knowledge of how the register works, this will increase the speed in which your computer process info. There are programs you can purchase, that will do this job for you in only minutes. If you have done the first thing mentioned in this article, and you haven't seen an increase in speed, then purchasing a good registry cleaner is the next step.

Upgrading to Windows 7, is the easy part. Customizing it to run efficiently as you can on your system is where it gets fun. Just remember if your system ever starts to slow down, check to see how many programs it is running in the background. Reduce that number as much as possible, then clean out the register with a good register cleaner, and you computer should be up to speed, so to speak.

When you delete a file, you'd better be sure that you really want it gone--if you make a mistake, it's a hassle to get it back. This is especially true on newer systems, but data recovery is almost always possible on deleted files due to the way that Windows is set up. And yes, this applies to Windows 7, too.

Here's a look at how deleted files can be recovered in Windows 7.

1. Data recovery software. The biggest impetus to deleted file recovery in Windows 7 is the lack of software designed specifically to recover files in the operating system. That's not to say that there isn't any data recovery software for the OS, just that it's not designed exactly for Windows 7's environment.

That's good news. Most data recovery programs that work for Windows XP and Windows Vista are compatible with 7. You basically have your pick; some of the most common programs, like OnTrack's data recovery tool or Datarecovery.com's software will work well with deleted files in 7.

2. Data recovery companies. You can also send your drive to a data recovery company, as they're usually able to easily retrieve deleted files. Unfortunately, "easy" doesn't translate to "free." Data recovery companies will charge an average of about $400 to recover deleted files. It's worth the money if your files are especially important, and if you don't feel comfortable handling the file recovery on your own. Shop around, and look for consumer reviews.

3. Important steps to avoid data loss. You might wonder what happens when a file is deleted in 7, and even if you've never wondered that, too bad, because I'm on a roll and I'm going to explain it. The operating system deletes references to the file, and marks the space that the file occupied as "available." When new programs are installed, or new files are written, the deleted file is overwritten. Once something's overwritten, data recovery becomes difficult if not impossible. More bad news: as long as your computer is on, it's writing files somewhere. There's simply a ton of stuff going on in Windows 7, and you can't stop it from writing tiny, tiny bits of information.

For this reason, if you accidentally delete a file in Windows 7, it's absolutely important to shut down the computer ASAP. Access the data from another computer; if you need help with this, refer to the documentation with your recovery software. You really can't install the data recovery software onto the same drive, or you'll permanently overwrite your files. Good luck.

You can also avail online tech support services to make the process smoother. Have you had issues with deleted files in Windows 7? Post in our comments section below.

Windows 7 is an exciting, awesome operating system. Less exciting is all the tiny things you'll need to do to get it running flawlessly--finding drivers, installing your favorite programs, etc.