How about making your PC faster without upgrading it? Sounds exciting! It is possible as we have brought you a list of easy-to-perform tips that not only give new life to your PC but also save you from spending a great deal of money and time searching the right alternatives. Below are the simple steps that help your PC gain massive performance:
Change Power Settings - Windows, by default settings, puts battery-run computers (e.g. laptops) on the "Balanced" power mode that maintains balance between battery life and computer performance. The battery life seems to be useless if you have your system plugged in all the time. Therefore, you can choose to enhance the power settings of your laptop with an advanced power plan that is hidden by the Windows by default.
For that, you need to right-click on the battery icon presented in the system tray on the bottom right hand side of your laptop. When a list pop ups, click on "More power options", then click on "Show additional plans", and then select "High performance". It will disable sleep mode among other features in your laptop and save enormous restarting time.
Run Antivirus Scans - You need to run antivirus scans frequently on your PC even if it has no virus infection. You can schedule a weekly full scan for your PC during the night so that it does not affect your daily activities on computer.
Clean Hard Disk Drive - If your hard disk is overloaded then it will slow down your computer. So, if you have lots of stuff on your PC, transfer it to external hard disk drives or archival storage etc. and then run 'Disk Cleanup' utility to remove all the junk⁄temporary files, installation programs, as well as "Recycle Bin" junk.
To get to the "Disk Cleanup" utility, click on "Start", then type "disk cleanup" in the Search box, and hit [Enter] on the keyboard. A list of the all the programs will be populated, select the programs that you want to remove and run "Disk Cleanup". It will make your PC faster than you expected.
Disable Search Indexing - Available in Windows Vista and Windows 7, the "Search Indexing" feature enables you to search through your PC at a search engine-like speed. So, if you are using indexing service, your PC will slow down extremely. To modify indexing settings, you need to click on "Start", type "services" in the search box, and then hit [Enter] on the keyboard. Run the services application, scroll down to "Windows Search" and right click on it, select "Properties" from the list. In the "Properties" window, click to modify the "Startup type" to "Disabled", and then click on [OK] to close the window and let the change take effect.
Registry Cleanup - Registry cleaning can be considered as a good option to make your PC faster and enhance its efficiency.
Uninstall Programs - If your PC is loaded with various software, programs, and applications, most of which are not in use, then you can choose to uninstall such programs as they clog your PC and make it go slower. For uninstalling programs, you need to click on "Start", go to "Control Panel", and then select "Programs and Features". Remove any program or application that you don't use. Keep in mind that when you remove any program, it will prompt you to reboot your PC again. Therefore, removing many programs would require you to reboot your PC every time.
ReadyBoost - If your PC is an old one having very low RAM (random access memory), then you can use ReadyBoost, a disk cache component from Microsoft. ReadyBoost allows you to attach a USB thumb drive to your PC and use it instead of actual RAM modules. For using ReadyBoost, you need to have a high-speed USB interface along with a large, high-speed USB drive. Provided that the USB drive is compatible with ReadyBoost, Windows will offer an option to activate it once you plug it in. Once the "AutoPlay" window is up, click to choose "Speed up my system" and follow rest of the instructions to make your PC faster.
Download New Drivers - One should keep the PC updated by installing new drivers even if it has no problem. But before you go to download latest drivers from a website, create a "System Restore" point in order to avoid any problem likely to be caused by these drivers and restore your PC to the earlier point. For this, you need to click on "Start", type "create a restore point" in the Search box of the start menu, and hit [Enter] on the keyboard. When a window pops up, click on "create restore point" and it will protect your PC against any damage likely to be caused by drivers.
Also activate "Windows Update" to let the drivers or any other updates be installed on the PC. You can also visit your PC manufacturer's website or Microsoft website to check the list of compatible drivers and components with your PC.
Remove Startup Applications - Your PC may have lots of applications in the startup menu that may not be in your use. Such applications clog the PC and hamper its productivity. Therefore, you can remove the applications that you don't use by clicking on "Start" menu, typing "msconfig" in the Search box, and pressing [Enter] on the keyboard. A window pops up listing all the programs that are running on your computer. Identify the programs you want to remove, and put a checkmark in their respective boxes and click on "Disable all", click on "Apply", and then click on "OK". You can also opt to download and run a free cleanup tool Soluto to clean up the startup applications. However, you should use this tool only when there is lots of unused stuff in your PC.
Decompression - There is no need to create compressed files⁄folders if your hard disk drive has large storage capacity. If you compress folders then it will slow down your PC. You can decompress a compressed folder without using a third-party software on your PC. For that, you need to right click on the folder and from the list of option, select "Extract All", follow the instruction to place uncompressed files in the desired destination and when finished, remove the compressed folder.
Remove Splash Screens - These screens hamper your PC's speed and performance every time an application is launched. For disabling splash screens, you need to go to "Application Settings" and remove the checkmark from the box "Enable Splash Screen".
Disable Thumbnail - Viewing thumbnail images in a large image folder might make Windows clog at the task. Therefore, disable thumbnailing by going into "Windows Explorer", clicking on "Tools", and then clicking on "Folder Options". When the window pops up, click on the "View" tab and then put a checkmark in the box "Always show icons, never thumbnails".
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