What are the best practices for maintaining your computers speed over time?

The first step in maintaining your computer's speed over time is to Keep your operating system, and software updated with the latest security patches. These help in optimizing your system

Schedule regular updates during down time where possible and patches to current systems, then perform regular registry cleanups after the updates.

Remove bloatware and older unused applications and files. Registry cleanup and disk cleanup should be part of your regular storage management. Best practice would be to clear browser cache and history on browser close.

Uninstall unused programs and applications to free up disk space. Remove/delete temporary files and empty your recycle bin. This is a good practice to keep your device running smoothly, securely, and efficiently. Tools like Disk Cleanup for Windows OS, Disk Utility for macOS, and BleachBit for Linux and Windows are good tools to cleanup your system.

When you run "disk cleanup", pay attention to the button, "clean up systems files", and run that as well. I've known people and business machines to have more than 300 gig of saved restore files. By taking the time to remove them, you can easily speed your system up, remarkably. The free space is where the work gets done on your computer. I clean my systems, once a month.

Reduce the amount of programs that run on system startup. Switching to an SSD Making sure you have enough allocations in your swap especially if you have a low amount of RAM on your system. Use Linux??

Ensure on startup that only essential applications are enabled. This may be the perfect time to enable applications that can run automatic cleaning of your cache, swap space, browsers etc.

Disabling unnecessary startup programs that launch automatically when your computer boots up is another way of maintaining your computer's speed over time. Disabling startup programs can help improve your computer's boot time and overall performance. You can look for ways on the internet how to disable startup programs for your respective OS

On Windows machines, run "msconfig", to see what's being loaded into the system's start-up. You'd be amazed at what's causing a slow start-up. Unclick on anything that you don't need. Then restart the system. Then scan for files that are; junk, temp or left over If your system is making a lot of noise during its normal everyday use. Take apart your base unit and look at the CPU, remove the CPU from its fittings and check the thermal paste. I've made thousands upon thousands of computers and servers much quieter, by replacing the thermal paste. The next step is checking each and every device driver, to see that you have the latest version, and while you're at it, check the software version for the applications.

Once per quarter, schedule cleaning using compressed air combined with a vacuum cleaner on the power supply fans, video card fans, memory cards and the rest of the mother board to remove dust that traps heat and can prematurely age and deteriorate your components.

Here opinions vary, but the best defense is in layers. Use antivirus, anti malware, email protection, disk encryption, NEVER save your passwords in your browser, turn off auto complete on ALL websites, log or sign off of website accounts and close browser tabs when finished. Use a password manager but NEVER store its password in your browser! Turn on browser protection if your antivirus/anti malware offers it.