Optimize Windows for better performance

Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows 7 for faster performance.

Try the Performance troubleshooter

The first thing that you can try is the Performance troubleshooter, which can automatically find and fix problems. The Performance troubleshooter checks issues that might slow down your computer’s performance, such as how many users are currently logged on to the computer and whether multiple programs are running at the same time.

Open the Performance troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Under System and Security, click Check for performance issues.

Delete programs you never use

Many PC manufacturers pack new computers with programs you didn’t order and might not want. These often include trial editions and limited-edition versions of programs that software companies hope you’ll try, find useful, and then pay to upgrade to full versions or newer versions. If you decide you don’t want them, keeping the software on your computer might slow it down by using precious memory, disk space, and processing power.

It’s a good idea to uninstall all the programs you don’t plan to use. This should include both manufacturer-installed software and software you installed yourself but don’t want any more—especially utility programs designed to help manage and tune your computer’s hardware and software. Utility programs such as virus scanners, disk cleaners, and backup tools often run automatically at startup, quietly chugging along in the background where you can’t see them. Many people have no idea they’re even running.

Even if your PC is older, it might contain manufacturer-installed programs that you never noticed or have since forgotten about. It’s never too late to remove these and get rid of the clutter and wasted system resources. Maybe you thought you might use the software someday, but never did. Uninstall it and see if your PC runs faster.

Limit how many programs run at startup

Many programs are designed to start automatically when Windows starts. Software manufacturers often set their programs to open in the background, where you can’t see them running, so they’ll open right away when you click their icons. That’s helpful for programs you use a lot, but for programs you rarely or never use, this wastes precious memory and slows down the time it takes Windows to finish starting up.

Decide for yourself if you want a program to run at startup.

But how can you tell what programs run automatically at startup? Sometimes this is obvious, because the program adds an icon to the notification area on the taskbar, where you can see it running. Look there to see if there are any programs running that you don’t want to start automatically. Point to each icon to see the program name. Be sure to click the Show hidden icons button so you don’t miss any icons.

Even after you check the notification area, you might still miss some programs that run automatically at startup. AutoRuns for Windows, a free tool that you can download from the Microsoft website, shows you all of the programs and processes that run when you start Windows. You can stop a program from running automatically when Windows starts by opening the AutoRuns for Windows program, and then by clearing the check box next to the name of the program you want to stop. AutoRuns for Windows is designed for advanced users.

Defragment your hard disk

Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your hard disk can work more efficiently. Disk Defragmenter runs on a schedule, but you can also defragment your hard disk manually.

Clean up your hard disk

Unnecessary files on your hard disk take up disk space and can slow down your computer. Disk Cleanup removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.

Run fewer programs at the same time

Sometimes changing your computing behavior can have a big impact on your PC’s performance. If you’re the type of computer user who likes to keep eight programs and a dozen browser windows open at once—all while sending instant messages to your friends—don’t be surprised if your PC bogs down. Keeping a lot of e‑mail messages open can also use up memory.

If you find your PC slowing down, ask yourself if you really need to keep all your programs and windows open at once. Find a better way to remind yourself to reply to e‑mail messages rather than keeping all of them open.

Make sure you’re only running one antivirus program. Running more than one antivirus program can also slow down your computer. Fortunately, if you’re running more than one antivirus program, Action Center notifies you and can help you fix the problem.

Turn off visual effects

If Windows is running slowly, you can speed it up by disabling some of its visual effects. It comes down to appearance versus performance. Would you rather have Windows run faster or look prettier? If your PC is fast enough, you don’t have to make this tradeoff, but if your computer is just barely powerful enough for Windows 7, it can be useful to scale back on the visual bells and whistles.

You can choose which visual effects to turn off, one by one, or you can let Windows choose for you. There are 20 visual effects you can control, such as the transparent glass look, the way menus open or close, and whether shadows are displayed.

To adjust all visual effects for best performance:

Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.

Click Adjust visual effects. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK. (For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.)

Restart regularly

This tip is simple. Restart your PC at least once a week, especially if you use it a lot. Restarting a PC is a good way to clear out its memory and ensure that any errant processes and services that started running get shut down.

Restarting closes all the software running on your PC—not only the programs you see running on the taskbar, but also dozens of services that might have been started by various programs and never stopped. Restarting can fix mysterious performance problems when the exact cause is hard to pinpoint.

If you keep so many programs, e‑mail messages, and websites open that you think restarting is a hassle, that’s probably a sign you should restart your PC. The more things you have open and the longer you keep them running, the greater the chances your PC will bog down and eventually run low on memory.

Add more memory

This isn’t a guide to buying hardware that will speed up your computer. But no discussion of how to make Windows run faster would be complete without mentioning that you should consider adding more random access memory (RAM) to your PC.

If a computer running Windows 7 seems too slow, it’s usually because the PC doesn’t have enough RAM. The best way to speed it up is to add more.

Windows 7 can run on a PC with 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM, but it runs better with 2 GB. For optimal performance, boost that to 3 GB or more.

Another option is to boost the amount of memory by using Windows‌ ReadyBoost. This feature allows you to use the storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer. It’s easier to plug a flash drive into a USB port than to open your PC case and plug memory modules into its motherboard.

Check for viruses and spyware

If your PC is running slowly, it’s possible that it’s infected with a virus or spyware. This is not as common as the other problems, but it’s something to consider. Before you worry too much, check your PC using antispyware and antivirus programs.

A common symptom of a virus is a much slower-than-normal computer performance. Other signs include unexpected messages that pop up on your PC, programs that start automatically, or the sound of your hard disk constantly working.

Spyware is a type of program that’s installed, usually without your knowledge, to watch your activity on the Internet. You can check for spyware with Windows Defender or other antispyware programs.

The best way to deal with viruses is to prevent them in the first place. Always run antivirus software and keep it up to date. Even if you take such precautions, however, it’s possible for your PC to become infected.

Check your computer’s speed

If you try these tips and your computer is still too slow, you might need a new PC or some hardware upgrades, such as a new hard disk or faster video card. There’s no need to guess the speed of your computer, however. Windows provides a way to check and rate your PC’s speed with a tool called the Windows Experience Index.

The Windows Experience Index rates your computer on five key components and gives you a number for each, as well as an overall base score. This base score is only as good as your worst-performing component subscore. Base scores currently range from 1 to 7.9. If your PC is rated lower than 2 or 3, it might be time to consider a new PC, depending on what tasks you want to do with your computer.

Change the size of virtual memory

If you receive warnings that your virtual memory is low, you’ll need to increase the minimum size of your paging file. Windows sets the initial minimum size of the paging file equal to the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, and the maximum size equal to three times the amount of RAM installed on your computer. If you see warnings at these recommended levels, then increase the minimum and maximum sizes.

Open System by clicking the Start button , right-clicking Computer, and then clicking Properties.

In the left pane, click Advanced system settings . If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.

Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change.

Clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box.

Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.

Click Custom size, type a new size in megabytes in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, click Set, and then click OK.

Note: Increases in size usually don’t require a restart for the changes to take effect, but if you decrease the size, you’ll need to restart your computer. We recommend that you don’t disable or delete the paging file.

Seven ways to make Windows 10 work better

FlintyMcQwerty asked for tips to fix or avoid problems with the operating system

Windows 10 is great but if something annoys you about it, there’s usually a way to tame it. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Windows 10 is great but if something annoys you about it, there’s usually a way to tame it. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Last modified on Fri 14 Jun 2019 12.38 BST

Please share all your favourite tips, tricks and techniques for harnessing the power, panache and pulchritude of Windows 10. (Apologies, Jack, for my ineluctable tendency to alliterate.) FlintyMcQwerty

Last week’s answer provoked a lot of discussion about Windows 10. I can’t do anything about the more hysterical complaints but many issues can be resolved by spending a few minutes in the settings app. I’m therefore accepting FlintyMcQwerty’s invitation to explain a few of them.

The one thing you have to accept is that Windows 10, like Windows 8, has two applications programming interfaces, and both are required to meet the needs of a changing world. There’s an old API for traditional programs run with a mouse, and a new one for finger-friendly apps that work on touchscreen tablets and convertibles.

Tens of millions of us are already using Windows 10 devices with touchscreens and we may well become the majority. However, “modern” apps are now opened, resized and closed in exactly the same way as traditional programs and they work perfectly well with mice, so why complain about them? It’s not a fundamental change like the one from character-based MS-DOS to graphical Windows.

In fact, anyone who learned how to use Windows 95 when it came out should have no problem running Windows 10 today. The basic elements of a Start menu, a taskbar and clickable icons haven’t changed, even if the implementations look a little different.

1 Use the taskbar

If you want quick access to a program pin it to your taskbar or to the Start menu as a Live Tile. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The quickest and easiest way to run programs in Windows 10 is to pin them to the taskbar, where they are very visible and only a click away. You should have at least nine of your most-used programs pinned because you can run them by pressing the shortcut combination of the Windows Key plus a number. WinKey-5 will run the fifth program in the line with no need to switch to the mouse. Keep the order the same and you’ll soon learn which is which.

There are other ways to run programs you don’t use very often. The hallowed method is to put their icons on the desktop. The modern alternative is to pin the program’s icon to the Start menu, creating a Live Tile, which is mainly an icon in a box. The advantages are that it’s bigger and much easier to hit; it’s not cluttering up your desktop and it’s not buried at the bottom of a long menu.

Remove all the tiles you don’t want (right-click and select “unpin from Start”), resize the panel and group the tiles you need at the top. After that, you can run programs quickly by hitting the Windows key to open the Start menu, then clicking a tile. This is much easier than scrolling down the Start menu, especially when many programs are in sub-menus.

2 Quick access to files

One reader missed the “jump list”, which provided Start menu access to recently used files in Windows 7. They have not gone away. First, you get a jump list of recently used files by right-clicking an icon on the taskbar. Second, there’s a list of 20 recently used files in the “quick access” panel in file explorer. Third, the new task view provides access to the hundreds you may have used over the past few days.

If your file explorer shows default folders such as documents and pictures, you can scroll up to find the “quick access” section, which has bookmarks for files and folders. If you want to get to a folder very quickly, right-click it and select “pin to quick access” to bookmark it. (Another option is “pin to Start”.)

To change the default setting, open file explorer, go to the view tab, and click the down-arrow, under options on the far right. Next, select “change folder and search options” from the drop-down menu. The top line of the resulting panel says “open file explorer to:”, and you can choose either “this PC” or “quick access”.

3 Try task view

Windows 10’s timeline shows you files, sites and apps you’ve recently used so you can jump straight back in. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

There’s an even easier way to return to something you were doing earlier: click its thumbnail image in Windows 10’s task view, aka timeline. You can call up the task view by clicking its white icon, which is next to the search box on the taskbar, or by pressing WinKey+Tab.

Task view saves time-stamped thumbnails of files you have used recently. It’s usually easier to recognise and click a thumbnail than to pick a file name from a text menu.

Scroll to the bottom of the task view for the option to store up to 30 days of activity online, rather than on your PC. This also lets you continue an activity on a different device. However, it may involve a loss of privacy, even if only Microsoft’s AI reads your data to make suggestions.

To clear or manage your data, go to the privacy section of the settings (cogwheel) app and click “activity history”. This page has tick boxes for “store my activity history on this device” and “send my activity history to Microsoft”.

4 Virtual desktops

Task view also lets you have multiple virtual desktops in Windows 10, simply by clicking “new desktop”. You can set up different desktops for different scenarios: one for work, one for email and one for social networking, for example. You can move rapidly between desktops by holding down Ctrl-WinKey and pressing a left or right arrow key, rather than going back to task view.

Every virtual desktop has the same taskbar, icons and wallpaper but it’s cheaper than buying three or four monitors.

5 Cloud clipboard

The cloud clipboard can sync your copies across machines. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Everybody uses a clipboard to copy something from one application and paste it into something else, usually by using Ctrl-C (copy) and Ctrl-V (paste). Windows 10’s clipboard has the option to store its history in the cloud. Now you can re-paste items you copied earlier, pin items you paste often, and copy things on one device and paste them on a different device. As with task view, there are privacy implications. However, you can control what’s allowed and clear your clipboard data from the clipboard page in the “system” section of the settings app.

The cloud clipboard uses WinKey-V to paste, instead of Ctrl-V. Sadly, it doesn’t have the “smart paste” features that you get with Ctrl-Alt-V in Microsoft Word.

6 Mousewheel scrolling

You can have lots of different windows from different applications on screen at the same time but only one of them is “active”. However, it’s really useful to be able to scroll texts in background windows without having to click in them to make them active. To turn this feature on, go to the devices section in the settings app and open the mouse page. The last item is “scroll inactive windows when I hover over them”. Simply set the switch to on.

7 Tame notifications (and ads)

Tame your notifications using the settings app. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Notifications are interruptions and Windows 10 makes it easy to avoid most of them. Go to the system section of the settings app and select the “notifications & actions” page. You can turn off “the Windows welcome experience after updates” and Microsoft’s “tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows”. You can also go through all the apps that can send notifications and turn off the ones you don’t want to hear from, including “suggested”. Clicking an app’s icon provides fine tuning. You can allow text but turn off sounds, for example.

You can also eliminate more suggestions from the personalisation section. Go to the lock-screen page to turn off “get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen”. Go to the Start page to turn off “show suggestions occasionally in Start”.

Also, if you don’t have Microsoft Office installed, it may be suggested. Do you have a program called Get Office in Your Start Menu? If so, you can right-click it and select “uninstall”.

Maybe at least one of these tips will save you from getting stressed about something you can fix. As Benjamin Franklin said: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”