Many computers come with a lot of trial software that you’ll never use, so get rid of it.  Keeping this software on your computer will bog it down, and make it seem slower than it really is.  To remove it, go to the control panel, and in Windows XP go to ‘Add or Remove Programs’, and in Windows Vista go to ‘Programs and Features’.  Just be careful not to remove features that you do use, or drivers for your computer.

Some of this software is loaded when you first turn on your computer, making it take longer before you can actually do anything.  You can install programs (CCleaner or Autoruns) that will show you what is being loaded when you run your computer and disable programs that you don’t need to have running at boot time.  Be sure not to disable everything, as it could hinder the functionality of your computer.  You can search for the specific program on search engines and the results can tell you if it is something that you should or should not disable.