Here we have the ultimate guide to speeding up a slow PC
1: Disable unnecessary services
Not every system service that
is running on a stock Windows 7 machine is necessary. A number of
services can either be disabled or modified to run only when needed.
Once you make these changes, the service no longer has to consume system
resources and the system no longer has to spend time starting the
service. Earlier this year, I wrote an article here at TechRepublic
titled
10+ Windows 7 services you may not need.
2: Reduce the number of startup items
Windows
7 systems eventually begin to suffer under the weight of software that
is installed in the normal course of business. Many software titles
install more than is necessary and include helper applications designed
solely to make the software start up more quickly or facilitate other
communication (e.g., iTunes helper). And new software installations
might add a permanent presence to the system tray, even if it's not
absolutely necessary for the system to function (Steam games, for
example).
You could go through your system tool by tool and remove
the offending software, but you might want to keep the underlying tool
around and just prevent the helper from loading. This and more can be
accomplished through the use of MSconfig, a tool that has long been a
part of Windows. MSconfig allows you to selectively disable startup
items and take other steps toward improving overall system performance.
To use MSconfig, go to Start and in the search box, type
MSconfig. From the Startup tab (
Figure A), you can disable items. Just be careful about what you choose.
Figure A
Disable items to improve overall system performance.
3: Remove the bloatware installed by vendors
I've
long felt that Microsoft's OEMs sometimes actively work against the
Redmond behemoth and sully the company's name. Nowhere is this more
evident than in the case of what has become known as "bloatware." In the
never-ending race to the bottom of the PC market, lower cost PCs have
had their profit margins bolstered by OEMs through the inclusion of
mostly junk software - short-term trials and the like -- that does
nothing but add a few dollars of profit while bringing performance to a
crawl. Frankly, this is one of the reasons that I believe that
Microsoft's Surface announcement, in which Microsoft noted that it would
make its own device, is brilliant. The company needs to start with a
clean slate in some ways (no pun intended).
If your PC shipped
with a bunch of stuff you'll never use, get rid of that software.
Generally, you can go to Start | Control Panel | Programs And Features (
Figure B)
and remove software you no longer plan to use. If the software adds
items to the startup process, getting rid of it will make the PC start
faster and, ultimately, perform better overall.
Figure B
Use Programs And Features to remove unwanted software.
4: Keep viruses and spyware off your system
If
you're running Windows, you need to be running an anti-malware program
to keep viruses and spyware off your system. Nothing will ruin good
performance like a boatload of spyware. My personal favorite (and free!)
tool for combating malware is
Microsoft Security Essentials. In my experience, it's been successful in catching bad stuff while not significantly degrading system performance itself.
5: Check your memory
How
much RAM do you have? Is your system consuming all or most of your RAM?
Does the system page out to disk? If so, you're suffering a massive
performance hit, which can be solved by adding more memory to your PC.
Greg Shultz explains how to do this
by using Resource Monitor.
6: Go solid state
Solid
state is all the rage these days, and with good reason. It's fast! More
and more laptops and even desktops are moving to the technology because
of the performance benefits. Solid state disks use memory cells from
which data can be read very quickly, as opposed to the relatively
plodding nature of rotational storage. By moving to SSD, you can give
your Windows 7 system renewed life -- and give yourself a whole new user
experience.
But SSDs can be expensive, so you need to be smart about how to use them in the most cost-effective way. See ZDnet's
Windows 7 and SSDs: Trimming the fat from your system drive for tips on manking good decisions about how to implement SSD.
7: Ensure that power settings favor performance
This
one is easy! When you're plugged in, configure Windows 7's power plans
to favor performance over power savings. When you choose to use Windows
7' high performance power plan, you might increase the computer's
performance in some (but not all) circumstances. It really depends on
the kind of work you're doing and how often you allow the computer to
sit idle.
To change power plans, go to Start | Control Panel | Power Options and choose your power plan settings (
Figure C). For more about how these plans operate, see
Evaluate the efficiency of Windows 7 power plan settings.
Figure C
Go to Power Options to choose Windows 7 power plan settings.
8: Keep your system defragmented (unless you've followed item 6)
If
you're using a traditional spinning disk in your Windows 7 system, you
can keep your system operating at peak efficiency by periodically
defragmenting the hard drive. If, however, you've opted to go with
SSD-based storage, don't do this. First, you won't get any performance
benefit and second, you'll significantly reduce the life of that
expensive SSD.
Disk defragmentation is scheduled to take place
once per week, but you can change this by going to Start | Accessories |
System Tools | Disk Defragmenter (
Figure D). In
addition to changing the schedule, you can run an on-demand defrag from
here. You can also run a defrag from the command line instead of from a
GUI.
Bill Detwiler's video explains how.
Figure D
You can schedule a defrag in the Disk Defragmenter dialog box.
9: Disable or tune search indexing
Windows
7's search is good, but it can also affect system performance. If you
really need to run a tool at full tilt, you can disable indexing
altogether. Or you can
tune the indexer to meet your specific needs, possibly reducing its overall impact on system performance.
10: Use ReadyBoost
Perhaps
you don't want to jump into the solid-state game right away but would
like some of the benefit that can be had from flash-based storage. Using
nothing more than a USB stick, you can do so through a Windows 7
feature known as
ReadyBoost.
(Note that if you're already using an SSD as your system drive,
ReadyBoost won't be available, since there would be no performance
gain.)
ReadyBoost allows the system to make use of one of these
speedy storage devices as a cache, improving overall performance of the
system. The flash storage device that you choose to use for ReadyBoost
should meet the following specifications set by Microsoft:
- Capacity of at least 256 MB, with at least 64 kilobytes (KB) of free space
- At least a 2.5 MB/sec throughput for 4-KB random reads
- At least a 1.75 MB/sec throughput for 1MB random writes
Here's another nice feature: If Windows doesn't think ReadyBoost will
provide a performance gain, it will tell you and won't let you enable
it. In
Figure E, you can see that I've opened the
properties for a portable USB stick, which I've added to my Windows 7
system. However, Windows knows that the system disk is already fast
enough, so ReadyBoost isn't available as an option. If you want to learn
more about how to enable and configure ReadyBoost in your system, see Take a closer look at ReadyBoost features in Windows 7.
Figure E
ReadyBoost isn't needed for this system.
