How to run old application in windows 7,later

Open Application Properties to Set Compatibility Mode

If you recently upgraded to Windows 7 and find that one of your favorite applications no longer works, but previously worked in Windows XP or Vista, you may think that you are out of luck.
Fortunately, Microsoft included several features in Windows 7 that enable users to run applications designed for older Windows versions in Windows 7. These features are Compatibility Mode, Program Compatibility Troubleshooter, and Windows XP Mode.
Compatibility Mode Allows You to Use Older Applications
This guide will focus on compatibility mode, which allows you to manually choose which mode to run the application on. The troubleshooter and XP Mode will be covered in future articles.
Warning: Microsoft recommends that you do not use Program Compatibility Mode with older Antivirus applications, system utilities or other system programs due to potential data loss and security vulnerabilities.
Check for Updates First
Note: I encourage that you check with the software publisher to make sure you have the latest version of the application available. A lot of compatibility issues can be resolved with a simple update.
You may also find that the manufacturer no longer supports the application for a particular operating system in which case XP Mode may solve your problems.
How to Use Compatibility Mode in Windows 7
1. Right-click the application shortcut or the application icon to open the menu.
2. Click Properties from the menu that appears.

02

of 02

Set the Compatibility Mode for the Application

The Properties dialog box for the selected appplication will open.
3. Click to activate the Compatibility tab in the Properties dialog box.
4. Add a check mark to Run this program in compatibility mode for:
5. Click the drop-down menu containing the list of Windows operating systems and choose the operating system you wish to use from the list.
Note: Choose the operating system that the application you are trying to launch in Windows 7 previously worked with.
6. Click OK to save the changes.
When you are ready, double-click the application icon or shortcut to launch the application in compatibility mode. If the application fails to launch or launches with errors, try some of the other operating system modes available.
When compatibility mode fails to successfully launch the application I then recommend that you try the Compatibility Troubleshooter to find out what is causing the application to fail starting.

How to Change the Display Language in Windows 7

If you live in an English-speaking country and purchased a PC at your local retailer or online, chances are you are running an English version of Windows 7.
However, if you're native language is something other than English, this guide will show you how to change the display language in Windows 7 to one of the 30+ languages supported by Microsoft's latest operating system.
We used Windows 7 Ultimate for this guide, but the instructions apply to all Windows 7 editions.

Setting the Region & Language in Windows 7

1. To get started, click the Start (Windows Logo) button to open the Start Menu.
2. When the Start Menu opens, enter "change display language" without the quotes, in the Windows search box.
3. A list of search results will appear in the Start menu, click Change display language from the list.
4. The Region and Language window will appear. Make sure that the Keyboards and Languages tab is active.
5. Click the Install/Uninstall Languages... button.

In order for you to use languages other than the default installed in Windows, you will need to download them from Microsoft, then install the language pack for the language you wish to use.

Install Additional Language Packs from Windows Update

The Install or uninstall display languages wizard will appear prompting you to Install display languages or Uninstall display languages.
Click Install to download the language packs.
You will then be prompted to select the location of the Language packs with two options, Launch Windows Update or Browse computer or network.
Unless you have a language pack stored on your PC, click Launch Windows Update to download the latest language packs direct from Microsoft.

Use Windows Update Optional Updates to Download Language Packs

When you select the Launch Windows Update option, the Windows Update window will appear.
Note: Windows Update is used to download updates, security patches, language packs, drivers and other features direct from Microsoft.
There are two types of updates that are usually available from Windows Update, those that are important and should be downloaded right away and those that are optional, which are not critical.
The language packs fall on the latter, non-critical optional updates, so you will need to manually select the language pack you wish to use to download it from Windows Update.
Click the # optional updates in the available link (the # refers to the number of optional updates that are available for download).

Select Language Packs to Download & Install

The Select updates to install page will load with a list of available updates that are Important and Optional.

1. Make sure that the Optional tab is active.
2. Select the language you wish to use by adding a checkmark next to the language pack on the list from the Windows 7 Language Packs section.
3. Once the language packs are selected, click OK.

Language Packs with Download & Install

You will return to the Windows Update page where you will click the Install Updates button to begin downloading the language packs you selected from the list.
Once the language packs ​are downloaded and installed they will be available for use.

Select the Display Language You Wish to Use

Select new display language in Windows 7.

When you return to the Region and Language dialog box, select the languages you just downloaded from the Choose a display language drop-down.
Once you select the language, click OK to save the changes.
In order for the new display language to become active, you will need to log off from your computer. Once you log back in, the display language you selected should be active.

How to Fix a Black Screen in Windows

A Windows 10 black screen can be difficult to diagnose and fix. These troubleshooting steps will set you in the right direction.

The only thing worse than a blue screen of death is a black screen of death. And the only thing worse than a black screen of death is a black screen that doesn’t even throw you a bone by telling you what’s wrong. With Windows 10, this can happen. Black screens during installations, updates, or at complete random have been reported by a number of users. Sometimes, nothing at all appears on the screen. Other times, you may have a mouse and keyboard but no desktop environment.
In any case, when Windows 10 gives you a black screen and no error message, the only way to identify and resolve the issue is a good ol’ methodical troubleshooting. Let’s walk through it together.

Resolving Black Screens During or After Windows 10 Installation

Black screens are sometimes encountered when you install Windows 10 for the first time. This may happen during the Windows 10 install process or just after the Windows setup is complete. There are a few potential causes.
Probable cause: Setup is still in progress. If you have a large personal data file set that you are migrating from a previous Windows installation, the Windows 10 setup process could take several hours.
Possible solution: Observe the hard drive activity LED closely to determine if the computer is still working. If the LED is still blinking, it means setup is probably still busy working on sorting through your files and determining what to move and what to keep. This is a good sign, which means you should wait a bit more. If setup goes beyond 2 to 7 hours, then the setup may be stuck.
Probable cause: Setup is stuck. For whatever reason, the setup process is hung up on something and can’t proceed further.
Possible solution: Power down your computer completely and try again. Follow these steps:

1. Power down the computer completely. If it won’t shut down, hold the power button for 5 to 10 seconds until it shuts down.
2. Disconnect from the internet by unplugging the Ethernet cable or switching off the wireless adapter (if possible). See this post for more information on disabling LAN connections before a Windows 10 setup.
3. Disconnect all unnecessary peripherals from the PC. Remove external hard drives, game controllers, phone chargers—pretty much everything but the keyboard and mouse.
4. Remove power from your computer. Disconnect the power cord from the outlet. If it’s a laptop, remove the battery, too. Wait at least 30 seconds before plugging your computer back in. (Note: If you have the time to spare, leave the computer unplugged for up to an hour.  This will help if your computer started to get overheated.)
5. Connect the system to power again, but leave the internet disconnected. Power on the computer.
6. Hopefully, Windows will try to resume or restart the Windows 10 setup process.
7. If the installation completes normally and you get to a Windows desktop with a Start menu and everything, go ahead and reconnect to the internet to finishing downloading and applying updates.
8. If the setup rolls back to your previous version of Windows, then try upgrading manually using the Media Creation Tool or an .iso file.

Probable cause: Black screen is caused by a device driver or hardware performance issue.
Possible solution: Try booting into Safe Mode. See the section below on How to Use Safe Mode to Troubleshoot Black Screens.

Fixing Black Screens During Windows Out-of-Box-Experience

The OOBE is the Windows Out-of-Box-Experience, and it’s not unlike an out-of-body experience. It’s a weird transitionary phase where magical things happen but things aren’t all there yet.
If you get a black screen during the OOBE, there are a few things you can try.
Probable cause: Video output is being routed to a different display adapter or a different output (e.g. HDMI-to-DVI or DisplayPort-to-VGA). Sometimes, the display configuration that you had in your previous Windows installation doesn’t carry over properly to Windows 10.
Possible solution: Try physically disconnecting the video cable from one adapter or output and trying another.

• If you have a spare monitor, you can try connecting to that instead.
• If you normally connect to a discrete graphics card, but your computer has an onboard graphics adapter, switch to it instead. You can always update the driver after setup is complete for your discrete card through Windows Update or the manufacturer’s website.
• If you are using a television set, check to make sure it is turned on and set to the input for the computer; video output may be going to the TV.

Probable cause: Video output is being sent to wrong display. If you have multiple displays connected, Windows setup can sometimes get confused.
Possible solution: Try projecting output to another monitor by pressing Windows key + P then choosing the appropriate option.

How to Fix Random Black Screens: Advanced Troubleshooting Options to Try

And then there are the black screens that happen out of the blue. Windows 10 new servicing model (i.e. endless patches and updates) means that Windows updates, patches, security fixes, and driver updates are often downloaded in the background and installed at night completely unbeknownst to you. If you want to manage which Windows updates get installed and when, you can, but if one has already snuck past you and given you a black screen, try booting in Safe Mode.
A corrupt user profile can sometimes trigger a black screen. Attempting to boot into Safe Mode, create a new user account, then attempting to sign into it might work.
The RunOnce Processes can also can also be a culprit. If you all see is a black screen after logging in, press Control + Shift + Esc on your keyboard; this will launch Task Manager. Go to the Processes and Services tab, then look for any instances of RunOnce32.exe or RunOnce.exe. If you find any that are running, stop the process, cancel the application, or end the service.
Click File > Run new task, type cmd then hit Enter. At the command prompt, type:
shutdown -r -t 01
Then, hit Enter. This will restart your computer.

How to Use Safe Mode to Troubleshoot Black Screens

Booting into Safe Mode can be used to troubleshoot random black screens or black screens encountered during a Windows 10 install.
To get into Safe Mode, do the following:
Turn your computer on and off three times.  While booting, make sure you turn off the computer when you see the Windows logo. After the third time, Windows 10 will boot into diagnostics mode. Click Advanced options when the recovery screen appears.

 

Click Troubleshoot.

 

Click Advanced options.

 

Click Startup Settings.

 

Click Restart.

 

Press the number 4. This will start Windows 10 in Safe Mode.

 

Sign in, press Windows key + X, click Device Manager, expand Display Adapter, right click the display driver then click Disable. Restart your computer to see if setup completes successfully or you can boot to the desktop. If you can reach the desktop, check Windows Update or the manufacturers website for the latest driver.

 

computer myths:-stop the rumers

Computers – to most of us – are a relatively simple machines to purchase, operate, and (for the most part) understand. To the average non-tech-oriented consumer, however, they are a scary device that’s made even more frightening by jargon, misconceptions and outright falsehoods.
Today we’re going to set the record straight on 10 of the most prevalent computer myths still in existence.

You Need to Defragment Your Drive Frequently

Here’s everything you need to know about defragmenting a modern computer: You don’t need to.
Windows computers have a built-in defragmentation utility that automatically runs in the background, on a pre-defined schedule. On OS X, Macs have a file system (OS X HFS+) that automatically defragments files in a process known as HFC – or – Hot File Adaptive Clustering.

Additionally, many modern computers are now shipping with SSD or flash storage that should never be defragmented — it will actually ruin your SSD. 

Viruses and Spyware are Slowing Down Your Computer

Any time a PC user runs into any sort of slowdown, the most common (and incorrect) thing to blame it on is malware (learn about the differences between malware, viruses, spyware, etc.). While it’s always a possibility that the computer is infected, modern malware is so profit-driven that it’s in the creator’s best interest to keep it running stealthily in the background. As such, you won’t typically notice any performance decreases due to an infection. 

Instead, it’s more likely that your computer is slower due to running too may programs simultaneously, unnecessary plugins and add-ons hogging CPU usage, lack of free RAM or disk space, or a hardware problem.

Paid “Cleaner” Software Improves Performance

We’ve all seen the ads that look something like, “Download X-Junk Removing Crapware Program for 300x Faster Speeds.” These programs promise to clean registry errors, download driver updates, uninstall programs that you can’t manually uninstall, or clean your PC of “issues” of dubious origin and purpose.

The truth? This is junk software and it’s never needed, no matter what operating system you’re on.
These programs are commonly used to deliver malware, such as spyware or adware, and rarely do anything beneficial at all – if ever. Registry entries are tiny, and removing them frees up a minuscule amount of space that will have no performance benefit whatsoever.
Driver updates? You can download those yourself if and when you’re prompted or run into errors with peripherals.
Paid uninstallers? Not needed. If you can’t uninstall an application completely, the files they leave are usually in the registry, and too tiny to really worry about.
Cleaners? The issues that they actually clear up typically aren’t issues at all, but problems that make it appear as if they’re worth the money – or download.

You Don’t Need Antivirus Software

The two most common reasons for not needing antivirus software are usually: “I’m on a Mac and Macs don’t get viruses,” or “I don’t do anything online (torrent, view porn, visit spammy sites) that would get me infected.”
Both are completely incorrect. You always need an antivirus program.

Let’s address the Mac user first. Macs were once rather immune to viruses but it wasn’t due to anything other than the fact it was more time-efficient for virus writers to create infections for Windows-based PCs due to their complete domination of the market.

On to the “safe” computer user. You’re never safe using a computer. Each time you turn your machine on, you’re taking a calculated risk that you won’t do anything that results in an infection to your machine. Not viewing porn, torrenting, or visiting fishy websites isn’t enough to keep you safe from all threats. In fact, neither can an antivirus program, but it certainly helps.

Turning Your Computer on and off Regularly Is Bad / Not Turning Your Computer off at Night Is Bad

There’s no absolute truth here. The fact is, leaving your computer on and allowing it to sleep while not in use is a safe and effective way to keep from having to turn it on and off regularly. System resources used as well as battery drain/power draw is minimal while in sleep mode.

On the other hand, you should turn your computer off from time to time if there’s no need for it to be running. Every computer component has a limited lifespan, turning your computer off when it’s not needed will allow the components to last a bit longer.

Deleting Contents From Your Hard Drive Actually Erases Them / To Securely Erase Data, Use a Magnet

It would be comforting to all of us knowing that anything we deleted from our PC was gone forever. It’s not.

When you delete data, the visible traces of its existence might vanish, but the way data storage works the actual data remains until it is overwritten. 

To keep things simple, think of your data as a footprint on a dusty floor. When you leave the room, your footprints remain, but as more and more people enter, they begin to cover your footprints with theirs. This is pretty similar to how data storage works. Deleted files are marked as available space on your drive, allowing the data to be overwritten. That will eventually happen, but until it does, the data remains recoverable.
To actually erase your data, some suggest using a magnet. This idea would work great if we were still using floppy disks, but with modern HDDs or flash storage devices, a magnet is a rather ineffective way of destroying data. Instead, experts suggest one of two methods:

1. Use a program that makes multiple passes on your hard drive, and overwrites it with a series of 1’s and 0’s until it’s un-recoverable.
2. Grab your drill and drill 10 to 12 holes through the drive and be sure to scatter them out rather than drilling in a straight line.

Macs are Better than PCs / Macs are Overpriced Junk

Macs are PCs, just PCs running OS X rather than Windows, or Linux.

The above being true, it’s impossible to say that they’re better than a Windows PC, so I’m not going to touch that one. As a Mac user myself, I think it’s probably best left to get the answer from our Windows Editor, Tina, as she tries out a Mac after being a longtime PC user

What I can address, however, is whether they are overpriced junk, or even if they’re overpriced at all. While they certainly aren’t budget PCs, the so-called “Apple tax” has been effectively eliminated and the price for most Apple devices is actually quite comparable to their Windows counterparts. For example, if you compare the MacBook Air to higher-end, light-weight, ultra-slim Windows laptop like the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, you’ll see that the price is actually quite comparable. The Mac Mini is another great example, as prices between it and comparable units from Dell and others are pretty similar.

To Protect Yourself From Vulnerabilities, Use Firefox/Safari/Chrome/IE

“X” Browser being safer than “Y” browser is a comparison that really doesn’t have much to do with the consumers who use it. Browsers are simply an execution environment for JavaScript, and as such they’re all equally at risk to exploits and attacks. It’s also important to note that most browser-based attacks are through browser add-ons and plug-ins, not the browser itself.

Linux vs. Windows

Users who are considering making a change from Windows to Linux or Linux to Windows commonly want to know the advantages and disadvantages of each of the operating systems. Below is a chart to help illustrate the major advantages and disadvantages of each of these operating systems.

Topic	Linux	Windows
Price	The Linux kernel, and the GNU utilities and libraries which accompany it in most distributions, are entirely free and open source. You can download and install GNU/Linux distributions without purchase. Some companies offer paid support for their Linux distributions, but the underlying software is still free to download and install.	Microsoft Windows usually costs between $99.00 and $199.00 USD for each licensed copy. However, Windows 10 is being offered as a free upgrade to current owners of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 if they upgrade before July 29, 2016.
Ease Of Use	GNU/Linux operating systems have a steeper learning curve for the average user. They frequently require a deeper understanding of the underlying system to perform day-to-day functions. Additionally, troubleshooting technical issues can be a more intimidating and complicated process than on Windows. However, some distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint are designed specifically to ease the transition from Windows to a Linux environment.	Windows is one of the easiest desktop operating systems to use. One of its primary design characteristics is user friendliness and simplicity of basic system tasks. Its ease lack of difficulty is considered a positive by users who want their system to just work. However, more proficient users may be frustrated by oversimplification of system tasks at the expense of fine-grained control over the system itself.
Reliability	Linux is notoriously reliable and secure. It has a strong focus on process management, system security, and uptime.	Although Microsoft Windows has made great improvements in reliability in recent years, it's considered less reliable than Linux. Many of the sacrifices it makes in the name of user-friendliness can lead to security vulnerabilities and system instability.
Software	There thousands of programs available for Linux, and many are available as easy-to-install software packages — all for free. Also, many Windows programs can be run on Linux using compatibility layers such as WINE. Linux supports a wider array of free software than Windows.	Windows commands the highest number of desktop users, and therefore the largest selection of commercial software. It also has the largest selection of video games by a wide margin.
Software Cost	Many of the available software programs, utilities, and games available on Linux are free and open source. Even complex applications such as GIMP, Open Office, and Star Office are available for free.	Although there are many free Windows programs, utilities, and games, the majority of the programs are commercial.
Hardware	Fifteen years ago, Linux struggled to support new hardware. Manufacturers often considered Linux support a secondary concern (if they considered supporting it at all). Furthermore, device drivers for Linux were created only by enthusiasts who devoted their own time and resources to making Linux compatible with new hardware. Since then, the Linux user base has grown exponentially. Today, the majority of hardware manufacturers give Linux support the same priority as Microsoft Windows.	Windows has a massive user base, so it would be madness for a consumer hardware manufacturer not to support Windows. As a Windows user, you can rest assured that your operating system is compatible with any hardware you might buy.
Security	Linux is a highly secure operating system. Although attack vectors are still discovered, its source code is open and available for any user to review, which makes it easier to identify and repair vulnerabilities.	Microsoft has made great security improvements over the years. But as the operating system with the largest user base, especially among novice computer users, it is the primary target for malicious coders. As a result, of all major operating systems, Microsoft Windows is the most likely to be the victim of viruses and malware.
Support	There is a massive amount of online support available for Linux, including here on Computer Hope.	Microsoft Windows offers integrated and online help systems, and there are thousands of informative books about Windows available for every skill level.
Use Cases	Linux is used by corporate, scientific, and academic organizations of every size. It's used to power the development machines and servers at Google, Facebook, Twitter, NASA, and the New York Stock Exchange, just to name a few. On the desktop, it is used by technically proficient users who prioritize system security and reliability, and by enthusiasts who want to learn more about computers and how they work. It's also used to give new life to older hardware, enable low-budget computing projects to succeed, and serve as the operating system on single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi.	Microsoft Windows is usually the operating system of choice for gamers, novice users, and business users who rely on Microsoft software. It doesn't run well on older hardware, however. Many Windows users are thrilled with the changes that Microsoft has introduced with Windows 10, so if you've never used it, now is a great time to try it out.

The 50 most interesting facts of computers

1. The first computer mouse was made with wood in 1964 by Doug Engelbart.

2. 30,000 websites are hacked every day.

3. The Dirty Dozen was the name of a 12 engineer’s group who developed the first IBM computer.

4. In 1939, the first electro mechanical computer was made/developed.

5. ENIAC was the first electronic computer which was weighed around 27 tons and it’s taken up space around 1800sf (square feet).

6. In 1979, the first of first hard disk/drive was made to store the user’s data and it could hold only data under 5MB.

7. I hope you are aware about viruses but do you know; more than 6 thousand viruses are made every month to make us fool.

8. Microsoft Windows, this is not an original name, the first original name was ‘Interface manager’ which was changed later.

9. More than 80% of the sent mails are spam on a daily term.

10. In 1980, the first hard disk was made to cover only 1GB of data and it was priced/rated of $40,000 means forty thousand dollars and its weighed was 550 pounds.

11. Most of people know that “who is bill gates”. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft was a college drop out. Bill Gates house was designed Using a Macintosh computer.

12. 00000000, this was the password for the computer controls of nuclear missiles of the US for total 8 years

13. Only 8% of the world’s currency is real physical money, the rest only exists in computers.

14. In 2012 survey, more than 17 billion devices were connected to the Internet.

15. Around 1 million new domains are in the way to be registered in next month and this happens every month.

16. NVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra video card is built with 222 million transistors.

17. Around 20% of total online viruses are released by organized crime units.

18. IBM 5120, the heaviest and largest computer ever made which was weighed around 105 pounds without floppy drive of 130 pounds. The heaviest desktop computer ever made was IBM 5120.

19. Microprocessor for calculator, the first of first microprocessor made by Intel Company and it was the model 4004.

20. The companies HP, Microsoft and Apple seems to be friends because they all were started their business in a garage at first.

21. Computer is powered with human brain, it would be able to calculate more than 38 thousand trillion operations in a second and it can hold around 3580TB (terabytes) of memory.

22. TYPEWRITER, this is the longest word that you can type only using first row of alphabets in your keyboard.

23. Do you know what CAPTCHA is? I hope you know that but do you know this is the abbreviation of ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’.

24. The NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)’s computers were hacked and it caused 21 days of shutdown. This was done by a boy who was under 15 years old. He also hacked Pentagon Weapons computer.

25. In 1936, Russians were the first who made a computer that can be used in water.

26. Which one you using to browse the web Chrome, Firefox, Safari but in 1993, ‘Mosaic’ was the first popular web/internet browser.

27. Sweden, this is the country which is from the top most countries where highest 75% of peoples are Internet user.

28. Do you own a website or blog? ‘www.symbolics.com’, this was the first domain name ever.

29. There are around 1,319,872,109 peoples, currently using the Internet.

30. There are approximately more than 1.06 billion instant messaging id’s/accounts worldwide.

31. The first actual computer “bug” was a dead moth which was stuck in a harvard mark ll computer in 1947.

32. Tim Berners-Lee coined the phrase “World Wide Web” in 1990.

33. It’s really soo Shocking News. 80% of all pictures on the internet are of naked woman.

34. Guys it’s very shameful for all of you “About 1.8 billion people connected to the internet, only 450 million of them speak English.

35. Every minute, 10 hours of videos are uploaded on You Tube.

36. Amazon, originally a printed book seller company, now sells more e-books than printed books.

37. Did you know that email was already around before the World Wide Web came?

38. Google uses an estimated 15 billion KWH of electricity per year, more than most countries. However google generates a lot of their own power with their solar panels. Google estimates that the internet today contains about 5 million terabytes of data (1TB= 1,000GB), and claims it has only indexed a paltry 0.04% of it all! You could fit the whole internet on just 200 million Blu-ray disks.

39. It’s for a programmers, “Up until the 14th of September, 1995, Domain registration was free.”

40. Spending too much time online? If so, you’re not alone. For many people and users, all it takes is a desire to reduce consumption. For other users “it’s not that simple”.

41. You know that guys the average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20.

42. There was a computer worm that would gain access to Windows XP systems, download a patch from Microsoft to close the vulnerability that it used to infect the system, attempt to delete the infamous Blaster worm (if present) from the system, then delete itself.

43. The worst breach of U.S. military computers in history happened when someone picked up a memory stick (infected by a foreign intelligence agency) they found in the parking lot and plugged it into their computer, which was attached to United States Central Command.

44. 40-55% of all Wikipedia vandalism is caught by a single computer program with 90% accuracy.

45.  In 2012, a hacker group named UGNazi took down the Papa John’s website because the company “took 2 hours longer than expected to deliver my food.”

46. elgoog.com(google backwards) has a huge following in China because elgooG search terms are printed in reverse, so users are able to perform Google searches without detection by the Chinese government’s search filters.

47. IMDb is one of the oldest websites on the internet, and began on Usenet in 1990 as a list of “actresses with beautiful eyes.”

48. Lenovo stands for ‘new legend’. ‘Le’ for legend, and ‘novo’ stands for new.

49. YouTube was founded by 3 former employees of PayPal.

50. The woman who rented her garage to Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 when they were creating Google later became the CEO of YouTube .

How to speed up your laptop: 9 ways to give your PC a performance boost

Laptop or PC running slow? Here’s what you can do

Slow laptop or computer? Before you go out and get a shiny new one, there’s lots of things you can do to give your current machine a speed boost.
You can get a nice performance boost from tinkering with start-up programs or defragmenting the hard disk, but there's even more gains to be had if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Here are nine affordable and relatively easy ways to squeeze every ounce of performance from your old PC or laptop. We've listed them as bullet points below and you can scroll down for more information on each tip:

1. Upgrade your RAM
2. Switch to SSD
3. Install CCleaner
4. Run Windows ReadyBoost
5. Defrag your hard disk
6. Disable start-up programs
7. Use alternative programs
8. Disable animations 
9. Switch to Linux

1. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Upgrade your RAM

If you want a little more performance for multi-tasking, but don't want to shell out on an SSD then a cheaper option is to start looking at some RAM upgrades.

If you’re running on a system with under 2GB of RAM, sticking an extra few gigabytes in won’t cost you too much and can make all the difference. Combine a RAM upgrade with an SSD, and it's safe to say that your old PC or laptop won't feel quite so old anymore.

2. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Switch to SSD

One of the best ways to rejuvenate a laptop or PC is to install an SSD. We've installed modern SSDs on everything from old Lenovo ThinkPad laptops to dusty old AMD desktop PCs, and the results are always worthwhile – boot times are a fraction of previously, and even the most frugal of processors feels more sprightly with an SSD working alongside.

Because there are no moving parts in SSDs, the read/write speeds are far superior to older optical (spinning disk) hard drives. Buying one won’t break the bank, but you might have to compromise a little on storage space, as SSDs still cost more per GB than mechanical hard disks.
Before you worry about finding your old Windows disks – don't. It's easy enough to clone your old disk and existing Windows installation onto your new SSD. Download a free program such as EaseUS Todo Backup Free 8.9, and cloning your old HDD onto a speedy new SSD is a fairly simple affair.
And even if you can't replace your HDD easily, don't abandon hope – it's often possible to clone your operating system to an SSD connected via a USB 3 (or Thunderbolt) adapter. We've had great results moving an iMac's OS from the difficult-to-replace internal HDD and onto an SSD with a USB 3 adapter.

3. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Install CCleaner

Sometimes, though, even the fastest hardware can get bogged down – there's no point shelling out for pricey SSD or RAM upgrades if your Windows installation is cluttered with tens or hundreds of programs and apps which you never use.
So, before you reach for the credit card, the first thing anyone with an ailing computer should do is to make sure it's not clogged up with unnecessary data. Over time, various scraps of code build up like digital cobwebs, slowing your machine down.
Fortunately, there are many utilities designed to hunt down and remove unwanted files and extensions. One program we particularly like is CCleaner. This free piece of software scours your hard drive for all the pesky files hogging your disk space, including temporary files, internet cookies and unused registry files.

An added benefit is the 'Registry' tab, allowing you to scan and fix redundancies or other problems in your PC's registry archive, helping improve speed. In the 'Tools' tab you can also uninstall programs, disable startup programs, find out what kind of file takes up the most space on your drive, and even locate duplicate files.

Step 1

Once CCleaner has downloaded and installed, start the program. By default, CCleaner opens to the 'Cleaner' tab.

Step 2

From here, you can fine-tune the elements you want to clean out. You can choose specific programs or OS components to scan, and even which files you’d like to remove within.

Step 3

If you're happy with the scan, hit the “Analyse” button to see how much space you could free up. After the scan is complete, make any further adjustments, and then click 'Run Cleaner' to remove the files.

4. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Run Windows ReadyBoost

If you're using Windows Vista or later, and you maybe able to speed up your computer with an inbuilt function called ReadyBoost, which allows you to use an external flash drive to give your computer a little extra memory. This is something of a last resort, however – upgrading your RAM or moving to an SSD will make a much bigger difference.
Essentially, ReadyBoost attempts to act as a turbocharger for your system's RAM. It will use a section of a USB flash drive's memory for caching, increasing the random read access speed of the hard drive, and helping regularly-used applications to open more swiftly.
However, there's still debate as to the effectiveness of this method. Bear in mind tha it's generally only considered useful if you have less than 2GB RAM and if your main system drive is a mechanical HDD rather than an SSD – solid-state drives are much faster than even the quickest USB 3 flash drives.

Step 1

Plug in a flash memory device - we would recommend a medium-sized USB (at least 2GB).

Step 2

The Autoplay dialogue box will pop up asking what you want to do with the drive. Select the 'Speed up my system using Windows ReadyBoost' option, which will open another window where you can select the amount of space on the device to allocate for boosting.

Step 3

Microsoft recommends using at least as much USB space as you have RAM, but we'd suggest using the whole thing and reserving the drive exclusively for speeding up your computer.

Step 4

Once you've selected your desired amount and confirmed the settings, the box will close and your computer will automatically detect and use the drive whenever it's plugged in.

5. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Defrag your hard disk 

Got an old mechanical HDD? Then this tip is for you. (SSDs don't suffer from defragmentation, so you needn't bother with this step if you have one of those.)
One of the most common problems with long-suffering HDDs is disk fragmentation. With repeated use, the information on your hard drive can become scattered, meaning the computer has to work harder to find it. By performing a disk defrag, you can neatly reorganise all your information, which can significantly improve your computer’s overall speed.

Step 1

You can find the Disk Defragmenter by going into the Control Panel, navigating to ‘System and Security’ and looking under administrative tools.

Step 2

By using the buttons in the window, you can analyse your disk to see how fragmented it is currently, or just run the process straight away. You will need to perform this for every drive in your computer, so make sure to run the process on all your hard drives.

6. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Disable Start-up Programs

Another good tip is to disable startup programs. These are programs that boot every time you turn on your computer, and run in the background until you need them. Often, they can be disabled and simply opened when you want to use them, meaning they won’t slow down your PC with constant operation.

Step 1

To stop these programs from starting automatically on earlier versions of Windows, open the Start menu and type ‘msconfig’. This will open the system configuration menu. Windows 8 users can find the list of startup programs in the task manager.

Step 2

Switch to the ‘startup’ tab and scroll down the list; you’re looking for anything that you don’t immediately need.

Any antivirus services, programs from Microsoft or your PC manufacturer, or background programs you use regularly should be left on.
Things like Adobe Reader or any automatic update checkers can safely be unchecked, however.

Step 3

Once you’re happy that you’ve unchecked everything you don’t want, simply click Apply and OK, then reboot your computer to finalise the changes.

7. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Use alternative programs

Older PCs can often have a problem with modern resource and graphics-intensive software.
Photoshop, for example, can slow less powerful computers to a crawl. For this specific example, a less intensive program such as GIMP - an open-source alternative to Photoshop - requires a fraction of the disk space and power, while maintaining a good level of sophistication.
Similarly, those with low-powered machines may want to experiment with using a lightweight web-browser. Google's Chrome is a terrible resource hog, and we've seen it bring machines with 8GB RAM to their knees with its greedy memory demands.
Other browsers, such as Microsoft Edge in Windows 10, or Firefox and Opera, may give your PC an easier ride. In particular, Firefox Quantum recently rolled out designed to be faster and less power-hungry than previous versions. Alternatively, an ad-blocker may help if your PC is really struggling – sometimes the adverts can push older machines over the edge.

The best bet? Make a list of the programs you use most, and then do a bit of research. You might find that there’s a much faster alternative.

8. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Turn off animations

While all the animations and fancy visual effects certainly make Windows look pretty, they can also eat up a whole lot of your processing power – especially on old, power-starved machines.
Sure, turning these off will make your PC look like it’s from 1994, but it’s the same principal as drag racing; strip out everything but the bare essentials and it will be considerably quicker.

Step 1

The quickest way to do this is opening the Start menu and typing ‘Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows’.

Step 2

Click the result under Control Panel, and it’ll open a dialogue menu.

Step 3

You can disable specific visual effects and flourishes from the scroll menu, or you can simply select ‘adjust for best performance’ to turn them all off.

Step 4

Click OK and, after a brief visual recalibration, you should be good to go.

9. How to speed up a laptop or PC: Switch to Linux

A more drastic option is to simply chuck your old operating system and install a Linux or Ubuntu distribution instead.
While it's not ideal for gaming, for simple tasks like word processing, music and surfing the web, it can make ancient hardware feel like a new machine.
It’s free, easy to install, and there are enough versions to suit everyone, including low-resource options that will make your computer fly.