It is quite common for laptops and PCs to get slow over time, which can be incredibly frustrating. If we have to wait for more than a couple of seconds for something, we get frustrated in today’s world.
However, you don’t have to worry about selling your computer for a newer one, because you can use any of the tips provided below to give your computers a boost in the performance department.
how To Make Your Computer Run Faster
- If your computer is slow on start-up, then some of your programs may be starting up at the same as well. Some of these programs will be visible on your system tray. If you think you do not need to use them, you can right-click on the icon and close them.
- Some programs are not shown on the system tray but are actually running on start-up. Some programs such as the antivirus are essential, and you may need to keep them running, but there are some that you can close. For that, open your Task Manager, head to the Start-up tab, and there you will see each program that runs on start-up. Go through the list and disable those programs that you do not need.
- It is a good idea to always keep your software up to date for security purposes. The performance of your computers will improve as well after you have updated them. OS, drivers, and applications are the crucial things that need to be updated. Software updates fix the bugs and glitches in your computer, which might be a reason for your computer to slow down.
- There are times when our computers get cluttered, and while you don’t really notice it, it could hurt the performance. The files that take up much space, such as high-resolution images and videos, games, etc., are the main culprits.
- Free up space by deleting the unnecessary files. You need them to be completely removed from your computer, and for that you have to empty your recycle bin.
- The HDDs in your computers run at their peak speed until they reach 90% capacity. If your HDDs have used more than 90% of their capacity, your computer will probably slow down. For SSDs, try not to fill more than 75% of their capacity.
- Always compress the very large files in your computer, and if possible transfer them to an external hard drive.
- If your computer has suddenly slowed down significantly, there is a chance this has occurred due to a particular program. To identify the program, go to the task manager and find out which program uses most of the resources. You can find that out by sorting the programs by clicking the header. After finding the culprit, close the program normally but if it is not closing, come back to the Task Manager and click End Task.
- Windows offers you some power plans that you can use as per your needs. By default, the power plan is set to Balanced, which focuses on performance and energy consumption.
- If your computer is already slow, then the Power saver plan is not a good option because it reduces your PC’s performance to save energy. On the other hand, High Performance is a better option because it favours your PC’s performance, so it should help speed your PC.
- If none of your techniques are working to clean your drive, you can create your own custom plan as well. Keep in mind that the High-Performance option will only work on a desktop as on a laptop, it will drain the battery.
- We tend to often install huge programs without realizing their size. Sometimes these programs are the reason for the slowing down of PCs. If it is, then you can uninstall those programs that you don’t really use.
- If there is a particular program that is huge in size, but you use it infrequently, then merely reinstalling the program each time when you need it is a better option.
- If you are confused about a particular program, you can simply search it up on the Internet and get more information about it. You can also use PC Decrapifier to single out the programs which are bad for your computer.
- In the Programs and Features screen, you can check if there are any useless Windows components. Click Turn Windows features on or off to see those components. Be careful while turning those programs off. If you are unsure about a feature, get some information from the Internet.
- Every computer comes with a pre-installed disk clean-up software for cleaning junk that accumulates over time. To access this tool, go to Administrative Tools in the Control Panel’s System and Security section. You can select the type of files you want to remove and then go to Clean up system files to remove any system files that you don’t need. Most of the files that you can delete are temporary files such as Internet history, cookies, and cache.
- After a period of consistent and frequent use, files in your hard drive become fragmented. As they get broken down into small fragments and pieces, your computer has to check in multiple places, and it can slow down your PC. To solve this, you can defragment the files, which basically means grouping those files back together so your system can run more efficiently.
- Defragmentation process is done by Windows automatically on a schedule. It is important that you only run this process if your computer has an HDD because an SSD runs differently, and there is no defragmentation needed. To defragment a drive, simply select a drive and go to its properties. In properties, go to Tools, and under Optimize and defragment the drive, click Optimize.
- To optimize HDD drives, you can click Analyse to see how fragmented it is. If it is above 5%, click Optimize to defragment the disk.
- To speed up your PCs, you can adjust your graphics and animations. Some of the recent Windows versions come with lots of animations to make the applications appear sleek and refined. However, it has one disadvantage; it can slow down your computer. To avoid this problem, you can adjust these settings in the Control Panel. The best option to speed up your PC is to select Adjust for the best performance. This option will remove all the visual effects.
- If you have really large files such as movies and games, save them in an external hard disk or upload them to cloud. This will free up space on your computer and make it faster.
- There may be some malicious programs on your computer that could cause harm. They can invade your computer through email links, software downloads, and ads. Some of this malware can make your computer really slow which makes it frustrating to work.
- To protect your computer from malware, install good antivirus software. McAfee and Bitdefender are some excellent options to remove malware.
- Nowadays, every Windows 10 computer comes with its digital assistant, Cortana. It is a handy feature to use, but it uses lots of resources and is also a threat to your privacy. To save your computer from privacy threats and also speed it up, you can disable Cortana from your system’s registry.
- Sometimes, old computers slow down because of outdated hardware. It is time to invest in some new hardware, and you can upgrade either your storage device or your memory. You can add an SSD to make your computer run much faster. You can easily use an SSD with your existing HDD.
- If your computer is a few years old, invest in some more RAM because programs use a lot more memory than before. Nowadays, every computer comes with a minimum of two RAM slots. Adding just a few gigabytes of RAM could give your computer a boost.
- Try to keep your computer clean because accumulated dust can slow down your computer and overheat it. Try to clean your computer frequently physically.
- Regularly restarting your computer is a good option because it enables the computer updates to take effect and shut down stuck programs.
- Remove unnecessary browser extensions as these slow down the browsing experience. A popular extension to use is The Great Suspender, which reduces memory usage of Google Chrome.
- Do not run many large programs simultaneously because multitasking can dampen your computer’s speed. After using a program, close it instead of minimizing it to see a massive improvement in your computer’s speed.
- If you have tried all the above tips and your computer still has not boosted up, it is time to install a fresh version of Windows.
- To avoid coming up with frequent slowdown problems, schedule a monthly check-up. It will increase your computer’s lifetime as well.
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