All computers have a tendency to slow down over time and Windows PCs are certainly no exception, which gradually, but inexorably, end up becoming gradually slower, with longer waiting times, even for simple operations such as surfing the internet. We have listed the main reasons for slowing down computers in another article, specifying how and why both old and new PCs may suffer.Keep your Windows 10 PC fast it's not that easy, in addition to various programs that work in the background, there are unnecessary Windows 10 processes that take up memory or slow down CPU performance, compromising performance. In this article, let's see how to speed up Windows 10 by disabling some features and doing maintenance that can free your computer from ballast and protect it from problems. Some of these solutions to make Windows 10 faster than normal are also applicable to Windows 7, others instead concern the configuration of new options present only in the latest Microsoft operating system.
How to make Windows 10 faster
- Adjust the power settings
- Disable Windows 10 tips
- Uninstall bloatware (useless apps and programs)
- Reduce the number of background applications that start automatically
- Perform disk cleanup on Windows 10
- Find programs that take up more memory and use more CPU
- Close active programs from the taskbar, next to the clock
- Reduce animations
- Lighten the browser used to surf the internet
- Check for malware or adware regularly
- Restart or shutdown the PC periodically (if you use hibernation or hibernation)
- Change the mechanical disk with an SSD
- Reset and Restore
Adjust the power settings
The power saving settings allow you to make your laptop battery last longer, but it should only be used when you really need it and not by default. The saving mode, in fact, limits the processor power and slows down the PC also significantly.
To make Windows 10 faster, you must always use the high performance plan or, at least, the balanced one. To change this option you have to go to Control panel, then in Energy saving options and select High performance.
This, as explained in more detail in another post, is the best way to maximize CPU performance in Windows.
Disable Windows 10 tips
The function of the tips to better use Windows 10 is completely superfluous unless you are new users without experience. This feature provides useful tips for beginners, but anyone with Windows 10 experience can disable it, especially since it is a process many complained about because of performance issues.
To stop the Windows 10 tips function, open the Settings from the Start menu, then go to System> Notification and Actions. Then disable Get tips when using Windows .
NOTE: While we are on this screen, it would also be good for the system performance to disable notifications from apps that we do not use or that we are not interested in receiving. This way those apps will no longer be active in the background.
Uninstall bloatware (useless apps and programs)
With the words Bloatware or crap-ware we mean useless programs, those that are never used, superfluous ones, often unnecessarily big. The most serious problem is that these software can start background processes in Windows 10 that are not needed.
While bloatware is also a problem on Windows 7, in Windows 10, given the presence of many pre-installed apps, they are a rather significant slowdown factor.
To speed up Windows 10 you must therefore uninstall these programs and these apps and there are three sections in which you have to work:
- In Settings> App, scroll through the list of installed apps and remove the ones you don't need. Keep in mind that Windows 10 does not let you uninstall the pre-installed apps from here, so I refer you to the guide for remove pre-installed Windows 10 apps and system components.
- In Control Panel> Programs> Uninstall a program, you can uninstall programs you don't need. By using programs to uninstall programs it is possible to have more cleaning in the removal. Also you can use a program like Should i Remove it to remove unnecessary programs from your PC
- In Control Panel> Programs and Features, to disable Windows 10 features, such as Internet Explorer.
Reduce the number of background applications that start automatically
As with any Windows version, even with Windows 10 it is important check what is loaded when the PC starts, which not only slows down the initial power-on process of the computer, but also occupies background resources by remaining running.
This can be done by the task manager itself, where it is given the possibility to check the programs in automatic execution and to disable them.
Then press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys together to open Activity management, go to the Startup tab, press on the application or program to be disabled and press the button below to disable its automatic start.
Windows 10 also gives an impact assessment on performance, highlighting the elements that really slow down the PC.
Those who are experts can speed up the loading of the PC with the Microsoft Autoruns program, as explained in another article, so as not to waste time and resources on the computer in trying to load programs that no longer exist or that need not be active in the background.
Perform disk cleanup on Windows 10
There are many unwanted or temporary files that hide in the system and, in the long run, create performance problems.
To keep the system fast, it is convenient, once a month, to run the disk cleaning tool and remove unwanted and unnecessary files automatically. To open Cleaning disk from the Start menu, using the search bar. Select what to remove and then wait until completed.
In Windows 10 this cleaning tool has been deprecated as an old feature (so it may disappear in future versions). It can however be opened Settings> System> Storage and press the link on the right "Free up space now".
Disk cleaning of obsolete files can also be done with the latest version of Ccleaner, optimized for Windows 10.
It is also important to free up disk space if it is almost full. The problem with hard drives and also with SSDs is that if they are almost full, they slow down your computer. To speed up Windows 10 it is therefore important to always have some free space on the hard drive. In another article, all the ways to free up disk space on your PC.
Find programs that take up more memory and use more CPU
If you have a slow PC, surely there is some program that is keeping it busy preventing others from working as they should.
If suddenly every operation you try to do, even the simple opening of a folder, should take longer than necessary, it means three things: either that a process is taking up almost all the CPU power or that it is taking up almost all the memory RAM or that is using the disk 100%, preventing other applications from loading or saving data.
To find out what slows down program loading, just press the keys together Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open the Task manager.
As already explained, the task manager of Windows 10 is much improved compared to that of XP and Windows 7 and allows you to control well how each individual process or program is running uses resources.
If you find the culprit, you can select it, press on it with the right button to find the path of the file that generates it and, therefore, the program to be removed.
If it is not an app that can be deleted, the process can be terminated.
Close active programs from the taskbar, next to the clock
If, in addition to volume, network, language and notification center, you should see other icons next to the clock (press the arrow upwards to show all the icons), it means that there are programs in the background.
These may include an antivirus or a video card management tool.
To recover memory and speed up Windows, everything that is not needed must be closed by pressing the icon with the right button and then on Close or Go out.
Usually these programs have, in the settings, the option to prevent them from loading automatically when the computer starts.
You should therefore use it or go to the next point.
Reduce animations
Keeping Windows animations in great detail is not helpful and slows down your computer.
The most visible example of these animations occurs when you try to minimize or maximize a window, which is not immediate like a flash, but shows the movement of the window up or down.
To turn off animations in Windows 10 and improve PC performance, press the keys together Windows + X or press the right mouse button on the Start button, go to System, then click on the left side Advanced system settings and, in the form advanced, press on Settings under Performance.
Then choose the "Adjust for best performance"to disable all animations, or manually select which ones to keep and which ones to exclude.
Personally I have all disabled them except 4 options on the shading of the windows, on the rounded corners of the characters, on active Peek and on the previews.
Then go on Start> Settings> Accessibility> Other options and turn off the switch next to the item Play animations in Windows.
Regarding this point, I also recommend discovering the trick that alone makes Windows faster
Lighten the browser used to surf the internet
The browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) becomes a heavy program when enriched with too many extensions.
Removing extensions can alleviate it so you can surf the internet faster.
Check for malware or adware regularly
It is not said that a virus shows its obvious presence, it may even remain hidden without giving any problems, if not to make the PC slower and, above all, surfing the internet.
Every now and then it really pays to do a malware scan to make sure that there are no infected files on your computer or adware, that is, programs for advertising purposes, which can use resources to collect information on the use of the computer and which can display advertisements everywhere.
There are two programs to keep aside and to use every month or two: ADWCleaner to make adware scans and Malwarebytes for virus scans.
The antivirus required for real-time protection of the computer is usually very slow in full scans and is often not as efficient as MalwareBytes.
Restart or shutdown the PC periodically (if you use hibernation or hibernation)
If we often use computer hibernation or hibernation, we will have to restart or shut down the PC at least once a week, so that Windows can apply updates and restart all active processes.
Although it may seem like a trivial suggestion, a computer that is never restarted or turned off for a long period of time will become slower and slower, so better remember to restart a PC set up for hibernation or suspension every so often or at set times (better mark it on the calendar).
Change the mechanical disk with an SSD
It is understood that every computer goes faster if the hardware from which it is made is newer and with better performance. In particular, if it hasn't already been done, it's really worth it buy a new SSD drive in which to move Windows 10 and keep the old hard disk as secondary only to save photos, videos, archives and music, so as to speed up Windows 10 to the maximum.
If we do not want to lose the system and the programs already present we can move everything to SSD as seen in the guide Move Windows to SSD without reinstalling everything.
Reset and Restore
Unlike other versions of Windows, there is a true full reset option in Windows 10.
We can think of this function as an automatic and fast way to format the PC, reset it and reinstall Windows 10 in its original version, without any pre-installed programs.
So if we brought problems or slowdowns from Windows 7 or Windows 8 or if the computer is full of useless things, we can proceed with the reset Windows 10 which can keep personal files or, if we have saved them in a safe place (another disk), it can be total.
Conclusions
Windows 10 has the advantage of being an already particularly fast system but we can maintain it with these performances even after many months or years of use, carefully following the advice exposed in the chapters in the guide above.
Other possible operations to speed up Windows 10 have been explained in our article ai Simpler tricks to make Windows 10 faster.
If instead we want to speed up the network connection, we advise you to read our guide How to speed up the Internet connection: expert tricks.