Improving computer's speed without reformatting?

[xenonn]

Although I don't really understand the reason behind this, it seems to me that computers become slow after some time of usage. I'm running on Windows 7, but I doubt this is a windows-only issue. It could be through the things I installed and the applications I had run that it builds up a massive registry in the computer for its performance to appear sluggish. But is there any way, without reformatting the computer, to get it return to the speed it used to be after a clean OS installation?

I tried uninstalling many applications from my computer, almost every applications, but other than freeing up the disk space, the speed hasn't improved much. I ran CCleaner to clean up the registry, the speed only improved measly.

Clearing loose files doesn't seem to improve the speed too. I know for sure the computer will run a ton smoother if I had reformatted it, but I avoiding to make any reformatting.

Are there any ways I could improve the computer's speed without reformatting?

 

[ittimjones]

i don't have any issues with my system. you just have to watch what you do install during the life of ur system...
watch out for crapware

 

[xenonn]

By crap ware did you mean malwares? I have scanned my computers and they all reported that my computer doesn't have any malwares or viruses.

 

[smorizio]

Make from another pc a hirem boot cd. Scan for virus and malware.
If clean boot into safe mode f8. Look under add remove programs for more then one anti virus program or malware program. Type in msconfig and go to the start up tab. Turn off everything there but your anti virus program. Save and reboot. You should see pc speed up as your not filling ram up at start up with non needed aps. I would go to crucial memory web page run there memory advisor. Have windows 32 look to max out ram to 4g. If you have 64 bit os see if your mb take ram upgrade to 8g. More ram you have the better off you are when you multi task. Other things that help is if your using onboard video to pick up a cheap video card and turn off the onboard video. Doing that frees up ram that the os can use.

 

[photonboy]

Unless you buy some faster HARDWARE don't expect too much. Defragging can only do so much.

Replacing the Windows drive with an SSD is the best thing you can do. There is also a HYBRID option which works very well:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=80986

The above SSHD is a 2.5" drive that has a 1TB hard drive portion and 8GB of SSD memory. While that memory may seem small it's very effective. Software automatically moves the BOOT and frequently used files to the SSD portion.

There's no better value for a Windows drive that I'm aware of. Seagate claims 95% of the performance of an SSD under normal conditions.