4. Defrag your hard drive

Once the unused files and programs are removed from your computer and you’ve got an antivirus program ensuring you’re not being slowed down by malicious hackers, you’re ready for the next step. In simple terms, defragging your hard drive means to ‘un-clutter’ it – in more technical terms it means removing the amount of space between small packets of data, moving everything closer to the middle of the disc.

The only time you wouldn’t want to defrag your hard drive is if you have a SSD – this can actually wear it out and hence make it slower! For Windows 7 you can find the Defragmenter by hitting Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. For Windows 8 it’s a little more straight forward – your machine will already defrag itself every week!