PC feeling sluggish? Getting frustrated waiting for things to happen? Discover how to quickly and effortlessly speed it up with our fuss-free, simple guide
Remember the days when your PC effortlessly booted, sped through tasks and rarely kept you waiting? Well, the good news is if your PC used to be that fast, it can be again.
Over time, a PC can become bogged down under the weight of new programs, files cluttering up its hard drive and inefficient system settings. As programs are added, many grab resources, even if they’re rarely used or don’t need them. Even after removal, some applications linger, leaving traces behind to clog up your PC.
It’s not just about keeping your PC clean either – this feature shares performance-enhancing tips and tools to give your PC a fresh burst of speed, even if it’s well maintained. And you don’t have to pay a single penny for the privilege.
Over the next few pages, you’ll discover how to give your PC a cleanout and reduce start-up times with a single tool, optimise key Windows Services with just a few clicks and return your hard drive to its absolute best.
You’ll also find out how to tweak system settings to optimise Windows for your setup, plus discover tools and shortcuts that transform the way your PC performs.
We’ve handpicked those tools we know will make a difference to how your PC performs, while also making the whole speed-up process as friendly and hassle-free as possible. There are no complicated settings to master, and we have only chosen apps that will deliver and perform in the areas that we’ve selected them to, keeping the whole process streamlined.
If your computer has been grinding to a halt in recent times and you’re on the edge of the despair, or if you simply want to maximise your computer’s performance to spend less time twiddling your thumbs and more time getting on with the task in hand, then turn the page to start freeing your PC from its chains.
The first thing you need to do before embarking on your speed-up mission is to check your hard drive is working correctly. Not only is this good housekeeping, but it may also provide you with your first speed boost, as problematic drives often slow down performance.
To do so, click the File Explorer button on the Taskbar or click ‘Start > Computer’, then right-click your C drive and choose ‘Properties’. Switch to the Tools tab and click the ‘Check Now’ button. Windows 8 will instantly tell you if it thinks there are problems, but we recommend clicking ‘Scan drive’ regardless – just in case. If problems are found, restart your PC when prompted to repair them.
If you’re running an earlier version of Windows, you need to tick both boxes and click ‘Start’. After a short pause you’ll be told the disk check can’t run while Windows is running, so click ‘Yes’ or ‘Schedule disk check’ to have the test perform when you next start your PC. Close any running applications, then reboot to let the Disk Check tool verify and – if necessary – fix problems with your hard drive.
Remove programs
Next, it’s time to clear out the rubbish to free up hard drive space and – more critically – system resources, all of which help your PC perform more nimbly. Start by removing unwanted programs – but not by using the ‘Programs and Features’ control panel. That’s because this relies on the program’s own tools to remove itself, and these uninstall utilities are notorious for leaving all manner of detritus behind.
Instead, you need the right third-party tool. Start by installing IObit Uninstaller (www.iobit.com). Once done, launch the program, select the application you wish to remove and click the ‘Uninstall’ button. Tick the box to take a Restore point – you can never be too careful – before clicking ‘Uninstall’ again. The program will now remove itself using its own built-in uninstaller, but once this is complete, IObit will offer to perform a leftover scan – click ‘Powerful Scan’ to do this, or tick ‘Powerful scan in automatic’ to have this done automatically in future. IObit will now look for leftover files and Registry entries – if it finds any, review them before ticking those you wish to remove (or selecting them all if you trust IObit – it did take a Restore point after all) and clicking the ‘Delete’ button.
If you’re in a hurry, look out for the ‘Batch Uninstall’ tick box above the list of programs. Selecting this allows you to remove multiple programs in one sitting. Each program is removed using its own uninstall utility, and then IObit will perform a powerful scan looking for leftovers from all of the removed programs.
Safe cleanup
Next, install SlimCleaner Free (slimcleaner.en.softonic.com) to remove other leftover files and settings. We’ve chosen this program over other, similar tools because of its user-friendly interface, conservative cleaning settings and ability to restore Registry backups. No two system cleaning tools can agree on what Registry entries are safe to delete, which explains why so many people come unstuck after letting a cleaning tool run amok on their system without taking appropriate precautions first. By backing up all deleted Registry entries, SlimCleaner allows you to restore them should problems occur after cleaning your Registry.
The step-by-step guide reveals how to scan, review and finally delete obsolete files and settings from your PC. You’ll also find a Registry tab in the Cleaner section with 12 different areas of the Registry for you to select (they’re unticked by default). Remember that deleting Registry entries on their own has no effect on performance, but if you feel you need to do so, tick any or all of the sections to include them in your cleanup.
As with other SlimCleaner settings, you can review what Registry entries have been marked for deletion by doubleclicking the relevant entry. Untick those entries you wish to ignore, or right-click an entry and choose ‘Ignore this item’ to ignore it now and in all future scans.
Each time you clean the Registry, a single backup file containing all the entries deleted is taken. If your PC starts exhibiting strange symptoms after cleaning, restoring this is usually the remedy. To do so, launch SlimCleaner, click the ‘Settings’ button and switch to the Registry section. Here you’ll see a list of backups ordered by date and time – restore the latest to see if it fixes the problem. Some Registry-related issues aren’t manifested immediately after cleaning, so if the issue persists and you’re convinced SlimCleaner’s to blame, try an earlier backup.
As we’ve said, deleting Registry entries on their own won’t have any effect on performance – the best way to optimise the Registry for a small, but useful performance boost is compacting and defragmenting the Registry files themselves. Free Registry Defrag (www.registry-clean.net) does the job perfectly – it’s simple to use, just click ‘Analyze Registry’ to see how much space you can reclaim; if the Registry can be squeezed by at least 10-15%, click ‘Compact/Defrag Registry’ and reboot to do so. For safety’s sake, take a Restore point before you run it, just in case.
Defrag your drive
One of the biggest bottlenecks in any PC is the state of your hard drive. If you’re lucky enough to be using the newer, super-fast SSD (solid-state) hard drives, this section is redundant, but for those still using older, platterbased hard drives, your hard drive’s performance may start to suffer over time as a result of fragmentation.
Fragmentation occurs because of the way files are written to and deleted from your drive. The net result of this is, over time, more and more files are split into multiple blocks and squeezed into the available space, resulting in them being scattered all over the disk. This forces your drive to do more work to find all the parts and stitch them back together, slowing down performance and stressing the drive’s components, increasing its heat and ultimately shortening its lifespan.
The process of putting your files back in order is called defragmentation. Windows comes with a built-in utility called Defrag, which is set to run automatically in Windows 8, 7 and Vista, but not in Windows XP. For most people the built-in tool is perfectly adequate; if you want to squeeze that bit more out of your system (or you’re still running XP), then a third-party solution such as MyDefrag (mydefrag.com) or Puran Defrag Free (www.puransoftware.com) is well worth exploring.
As we stated, defrag software isn’t necessary for SSD drives – that’s because they’re able to access any part of the drive instantaneously, eliminating the effects of fragmentation. In fact, defragging an SSD drive can drastically shorten its lifespan, so if you’re an SSD owner running Windows 7 or earlier, you should verify Windows’ own Defrag tool is not set to run on your drive: press [Win]+[R], type dfrgui into the Run dialogue box that appears and press [Enter]. Highlight your SSD drive and – if it’s scheduled to run – click Configure schedule… Untick ‘Run on a schedule’ and click ‘OK’.
SlimCleaner has a built-in on-demand defragger, which can be used to both defrag normal hard drives and safely optimise SSD drives – click ‘Disk Tools’ and select ‘Intelligent Defrag’ to access it.
Trim startup
Programs that set themselves to start with Windows hit performance in two ways, first by lengthening the start-up process, and then by hogging valuable system resources. Consequently, cutting back on the number of programs that start with your PC can have a fillip on performance.
Certain programs, including your security software, need to start with Windows, but those applications you use infrequently don’t need to. Knowing which applications you can safely disable for best effect can be tricky, but you can easily trim your start-up routine with the help of Windows 8’s new, improved Task Manager.
Right-click the Taskbar and choose Task Manager, then click ‘More details’ if necessary to reveal a series of tabs – switch to the Startup tab to review a full list of programs set to begin with Windows. You can identify them using their name and publisher, plus use the ‘Startup impact’ column to see how demanding they are – those programs marked as ‘High’ are prime candidates for disabling if you don’t need the program’s features when you start your PC. Rightclick a program entry and choose ‘Disable’ to remove it from startup – if you need to find out more about it, choose ‘Search online’ to perform a web search of the program filename and name. Another way to find out about programs is to use SlimCleaner Free – switch to the Optimize section and you’ll see the same list of programs appear. You’ll also see how they’ve been rated by the SlimCleaner community – check out the guide to find out how to use the program to trim your startup.
Keep it fast
You may find that your computer generally performs well, but there are times when it seems to struggle with certain tasks. These bottlenecks can usually be traced to certain programs or background tasks taking more than their fair share of system resources, introducing problems for other parts of your system.
The problem is most keenly felt on older computers with 4GB RAM or less, running a 32-bit version of Windows on a single-core processor, but even the latest, high-memory, multi-core computers can suffer too. If your PC frequently encounters bottlenecks, you need to install Process Lasso (bitsum.com/processlasso). The Free version begins as a fully functional trial, then reverts to the cut-down free version with occasional nags to upgrade. The extra features aren’t necessary for most users, although the automatic gaming mode may appeal to gamers. You’ll find 32-bit and 64-bit versions available online.
Once launched, the main program window will open, where you can configure the program further. By default, only its ProBalance tools are enabled – these are what prevent your PC from seizing up when a program or process attempts to monopolise your system resources to the detriment of the rest of your system.
Open the Main menu and you’ll see three other available tools, all of which can be enabled as and when you require them. ‘SmartTrim’ is Process Lasso’s answer to memory optimisation, which can help free up physical RAM, but only when it’s specifically safe to do so. ‘IdleSaver’ conserves energy when your PC is idle, and ‘Gaming mode’ is a special mode that optimises your PC’s processor for maximum usage. Although it’s obviously named for gamers, any resource-intensive processes, such as HD video editing, may benefit from running in this mode.
Advanced users can then explore all the other options to fine-tune Process Lasso’s settings, but for average users, simply enabling or disabling these features should produce visible benefits.
Virtual memory
Windows is designed to run multiple programs at once, even if those programs require more memory than is installed in your PC. The problem is tackled by using part of your hard drive as ‘virtual memory’ where parts of programs and processes are stored when they’re not being used at that precise second.
Because non-SSD hard drives are so much slower than real memory, performance suffers when virtual memory – which is stored in a special paging file – is being used, but there are some tweaks you can perform if your performance is particularly sluggish, typically if you have 2GB or less of RAM installed.
First, you can attempt to gain a partial speed boost through ReadyBoost technology, which allows you to plug in a USB stick or memory card and use some or all of its capacity to help speed up virtual memory by utilising the parts of a USB drive that are faster than your internal hard drive.
It’s not a foolproof solution – some USB sticks or cards won’t work with ReadyBoost, while SSD drive owners will find no performance benefit from using it – but it’s still worth plugging in and finding out: if an Autorun dialogue box doesn’t pop up offering you the option, click ‘Start > Computer’, right-click your USB drive or memory card and choose ‘Properties > ReadyBoost’ tab to see if you can enable it.
Another tweak – again unnecessary for those running Windows on a SSD drive – can be made if you have a second internal hard drive installed. Having two separate hard drives (as opposed to a single hard drive partitioned in two) allows you to split your paging file across both drives for better performance. To do this, click Start, right-click Computer or My Computer and select ‘Properties’, then click ‘Advanced system settings’ (or switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab in XP).
Next, click ‘Settings’ under Performance, switch to the Advanced tab and click the ‘Change’ button. Untick ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives’. Start by selecting drive C, which currently holds the entire paging file. Choose ‘Custom’, then enter 200 into both ‘Initial’ and ‘Maximum Size’ boxes. Click ‘Set’. Now select your other drive. Choose ‘System managed size’ and click ‘Set’ again.
Now click ‘OK’ three times and reboot when prompted. Once complete, return to this screen and verify that drive C has a paging file of 200MB, and your second drive has a system managed paging file in place. With the load spread more evenly, you should notice further performance improvements.
Tweak searches
Searching your hard drive for files and folders is much faster in later versions of Windows thanks to a process called ‘indexing’, but it can be a drag on lower powered systems, so if you rarely – if ever – need to search your drive for files, and are happy for those searches to take longer, disable it entirely. To do this, click ‘Start > Computer’, right-click your drive and choose ‘Properties’, then untick ‘Index this drive for faster searching’ on the General tab before clicking ‘OK’.
Alternatively, tweak your options so the indexing process works as efficiently as possible. Click ‘Start’, type index and click ‘Indexing Options’ from the list that appears. A list of all folders and drives currently being indexed will be displayed: click Modify followed by ‘Show all locations’, and then untick those areas you don’t want to index before clicking ‘OK’.
If you want to push things further, you can restrict what types of file are indexed too: click the ‘Advanced’ button. This launches a dialog that enables you to change more indexing configurations. On the File Types tab, you can opt to add or remove certain file extensions from indexing. Consider removing executables and files that you’re unlikely to search for.
Nine speed-up tricks and shortcuts
1 Copy files faster
Windows 8’s File Copy tool is a big improvement on earlier versions of Windows, but for faster and more versatile file copying, install Ultracopier (ultracopier.first-world.info). Features include queuing up file transfers and better error handling.
2 Get driver updates
Updating certain drivers (graphics and chipset drivers can boost performance squash bugs and introduce new features. If you can’t find the latest drivers for your PC, install Snappy Driver Installer (snappydriver-installer.sourceforge.net).
3 Extend AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect and AutoText help speed up typing in Microsoft Word, but imagine what you could do if you could extend them to any application on your PC? WordExpander on the cover disc lets you do just that.
4 Manage your fonts
Every font loaded into memory consumes system resources. If you’re a font junkie then use AMP Font Viewer to manage them – it allows you to remove unused fonts, and load fonts for one-time use, giving you the best of all worlds.
5 Use the Taskbar
Create custom toolbars by right-clicking the Taskbar and choosing ‘Toolbars’ – select Address Bar to gain access to sites or apps from the Taskbar, or choose ‘New toolbar’ to pick a folder or drive, and get access to contents.
6 Launch apps quickly
Keyboard shortcuts are the quickest way to open programs – the first ten shortcuts on the Taskbar can be opened by pressing [Win]+[1] to [Win]+[0]. Or, create your own by right-clicking the shortcut and choosing ‘Properties’.
7 Scale back visual effects
Click Start, right-click ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’. Click ‘Advanced System Settings’ (or in the Advanced tab click ‘Settings’ under ‘Performance’). On the Visual Effects tab select ‘Adjust for best performance’ to disable everything.
8 Ditch power saving
If your PC or laptop is permanently connected to the mains, and you’re happy to ditch energy-saving measures, open the ‘Power Options’ control panel from the Start menu and choose the ‘High Performance’ setting.
9 Use Jump Lists
Windows 7 and 8 users should right-click a program’s Taskbar icon to access recently opened files. Or install Jumplist-Launcher, which allows you to create custom Jump Lists containing chosen apps, files and folder shortcuts.