7 Ways to Make Windows 10 Run Faster

Do you wish you could make Windows 10 run faster? Of course you do! Nothing messes up your workflow more than a slow PC. This slowness is a common problem with Windows OS, as it’s notorious for slowing down with time. On its first day of use, it boots like lightning. By the end of the first year, it becomes too slow for work.

There are many speculations about why this happens. Some believe it’s the temporary application files; others think it’s the registry files.

But whatever the cause, here are seven tips to make your Windows 10 run faster.

1. Look for Resource-Hog Apps in Task Manager

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open up Task Manager, then click “More details”‘ to get a clear view of the apps running on your PC, as well as their CPU, Memory, Disk, Network and GPU usage.

If you see that something is using up a lot of resources, you can just right-click it then click “End task”, and in the future you could consider an alternative program for the job (Chrome can be quite resource-heavy for instance, while Firefox is reputedly lighter).

Click the “Performance” tab, and at the bottom you can click “Resource Monitor”, which gives you a more in-depth view of which processes are using how much memory. You can experiment with ending various memory-intensive processes here to see if they free up memory.

2. Uninstall Unnecessary Applications

This is another obvious one. If your PC comes with a lot of crapware, or unused applications, they do slow down the system as well, even if you are not using them. (They might run in the background without your knowledge.) Look for those applications that you rarely use and uninstall them. This activity will free up more memory and give your PC room to operate faster.

1. Go to Windows search. Search for “Control Panel” and launch it.

2. Go to the search bar inside the Control Panel tool and search for “Uninstall a program.” Click on it.

3. Scroll through the list of installed apps and note the unnecessary ones. Right-click on them and select “Uninstall.”

3. Optimize Your Windows Startup Processes

Startup processes are those apps that start running the moment you boot your PC. They impact boot time and limit the speed of your PC for a while even after booting is complete. Obviously, the more processes the system has to run during boot up, the longer it takes to boot up to working state. To make your Windows OS run faster, stop these apps from starting by following these steps.

1. Search for Task Manager using Windows search. Launch Task Manager on your PC. Once it launches, click on the Startup tab.

2. Look through the list of apps listed on your Startup tab and check for their “Start-up impact.”

3. The goal is to disable any apps that have a high impact on startup. You can do this by right-clicking on the app and selecting “Disable.” Also, if you feel an app listed there is unnecessary, disable it.

4. Scan for Viruses and Spyware

Viruses and spyware hog computer resources, so it is essential to remove them every chance you get. This step will need the installation of an anti-virus software first. Avira antivirus will be used for this guide.

1. Launch the anti-virus software.

2. Click on “Full scan” and allow the app to run its course. This process may take quite a while.

5. Delete Temporary Files to Make Windows OS Run Faster

Windows stores a lot of temporary files as it works. All that storage used up causes your PC resources to be poorly utilized by the OS. For improved performance on your Windows PC, delete these files by following these instructions.

1. Search for “disk cleanup.” Launch the utility app.

2. It will request that you select the drive to be cleaned up. Select the drive where you have Windows installed and click OK.

3. The next pop-up will show you some options to clean up. Tick them as appropriate. Click on “Clean up system files.”

6. Change Your Power Plan

Many people will tell you to set a lower power plan in order to preserve battery life, but that will also affect the speed of the PC. Windows power plans determine, to a great extent, how quickly the OS will run. The power plans control the processor activity by limiting the processor speed. Your computer runs the fastest when your process is running without limits. You have to set the power plan to either “balanced” or “high performance” to achieve this.

1. Launch Control Panel.

2. In the search box type “Choose power plan.” Click on the search result.

3. Set to either “Balanced” or “High Performance.” Note that “High performance” is best but consumes more energy.

7. Use the Windows Built-in Troubleshooter

If you suspect that your Windows is running slow because of an internal issue, you can fix it using Windows’ built-in troubleshooter. It is capable of scanning through your system files to detect problems. After detection, it resolves them automatically. This action can boost your running speed by a wide margin.

1. Launch the Control Panel utility.

2. In the search bar type “system maintenance.” Select the option that says “Perform recommended maintenance tasks automatically.”

3. A pop-up requesting permission will come up.

4. Grant administrator permission and run the troubleshooter. It should detect and correct all problems.

Wrapping Up

Listed above are seven effective ways to make your computer run faster on Windows OS. Follow them to optimize your PC. You can do one or all the recommended solutions above to make your Windows OS run faster.

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.