Top 10 Optimize Windows 7 for better performance

[Asrokhel]

No matter how fast or shiny computers might be when they?re new, they all seem to get slower over time. That state-of-the-art PC you bought last year might not feel like such a screamer after you install a dozen programs, load it with antispyware and antivirus tools, and download untold amounts of junk from the Internet. The slowdown might happen so gradually that you hardly notice it, until one day you?re trying to open a program or file and wonder, ?What happened to my poor PC??

Whatever the cause, there are lots of ways to help speed up Windows and make your PC work better ? even without upgrading your hardware. Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows 7 for faster performance.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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:

7.1: 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.

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

7.3: 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.)

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

For more information, see What is the Windows Experience Index?

http://readitsolutions.com/top-10-optimize-windows-7-performance

[Phouchg]

  On 11/11/2012 at 15:05, Asrokhel said:

6. Run fewer programs at the same time

  On 10/09/2012 at 04:25, warwagon said:

Windows 7 X64 SP1

  On 10/09/2012 at 06:04, remixedcat said:

OPEN ALL THE PROGRAMS!!!!!

*cough* :laugh:

[n_K]

ROFL @ that screenshot! Oh god

[Semtex]

10,5. Buy SSD :p

[Noir Angel]

  On 11/11/2012 at 20:02, Semtex said:

10,5. Buy SSD :p

This, Windows 7 absolutely zips along on an SSD

[Knife Party]

Top 10 most well known facts for the past 8 years, congrats to 2012 /s On another note, what an useless article, it's stating some of the most obvious things ever....what's next? Want multiple screens, get 2 screens or more /s.

[primexx]

  On 11/11/2012 at 21:15, - Kaboose - said:

Top 10 most well known facts for the past 8 years, congrats to 2012 /s On another note, what an useless article, it's stating some of the most obvious things ever....what's next? Want multiple screens, get 2 screens or more /s.

not to mention half the tips aren't even useful.

disable visual effects? that does nothing these days. don't use multiple programs? what year is this?

[bjoswald]

This list of "tips" is the same you find in every PC magazine since Windows 98.

[NEVER85]

  On 11/11/2012 at 22:33, primexx said:

not to mention half the tips aren't even useful.

disable visual effects? that does nothing these days. don't use multiple programs? what year is this?

No kidding. Disabling visual effects just offloads the work from the GPU back to the CPU. What benefit does that serve? Also, don't use multiple programs? Superfetch is a GOOD thing. Maybe if you've got like 1 GB of RAM, it's not so great, but this isn't 2005.

[Raa]

All of these tips should be done on any computer, not just Windows 7 ones! ;)

[Brandon H Supervisor]

  On 11/11/2012 at 22:54, Raa said:

All of these tips should be done on any computer, not just Windows 7 ones! ;)

except the 'disable visual effects' one, that's just putting more on the cpu

[singularity87]

Defragmenting will do nothing on an SSD since it uses random rather than sequential access. The location of the fragments doesn't affect performance.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I remember on an earlier version of Windows (it may have been Windows XP?) disabling the startup sound made your computer boot quicker as the system waited for the sound to finish playing before it continued loading. :rofl:

[ArialBlue]

Don't use antivirus software.

Instead, lock down your computer hard,

You can prevent executable programs from launching via policies - just block places that should not contain executables like %TEMP%

Many viruses save themselves to folders like TEMP - but having a group policy which dissalows executabes from that directory - well you will be very secure.

use hosts and filtering lists to filter out advertisements - advertisements are one of the primary infection vectors.

Don't use administrator account for normal work.

Only disable UAC driver if your system is sufficiently secure. Disabling UAC will speed up applications by removing the sandbox.

The issue is, say IE9/10 is extremely unsecure. Microsoft has NO NEED to make IE secure. Instead they sandbox it, ignoring XP-era exploits.

If you disable UAC, you will get infected with XP-era viruses unless your are extremely locked down.

[McKay]

Why does Chrome do this crap?

[ArialBlue]

  On 11/11/2012 at 23:35, McKay said:

Why does Chrome do this crap?

So it would be hard to realize that it is a memory hog?

[Buendia]

Because it uses separate processes for each tab to improve security and stability. Hence so many Google Chrome entries in Task Manager.

[n_K]

Peopled moaned about flash crashing a whole browser and making it insecure, so it was moved to a seperate process.

People then moaned about pages and javascript causing a whole browser to crash and lag every other tab, so each tab was moved to a seperate process.

[hjf288]

Reboot regularly?

My last one was 19 days ago and I'm having no issues :p

[+unabatedshagie Subscriber¹]

As stated above Chrome does that so that (in theory) an extension or tab crashing shouldn't kill the browser. Every tab and extension is ran in it's own little sandbox.