So, if you are not happy with your PC performance, then follow these below steps to speed up slow Windows 10 PC.
Speed Up Slow Windows 10 Computer
First, Restart Your System Ok, this is the first thing you need to do if you think your Windows 10 system is slow or acting strangely. More often than not, just restarting your system can fix most stuff or you will know what broke your system.
1. Scan Your System for Infections
If your system is slow even after restarting then next obvious thing you need to do is to scan for any virus or malware infections. The good thing is, there are a lot of free antivirus software out there and you can use any one of them. However, you can also use the built-in Windows Defender to scan and remove infections. To do that, search for Windows Defender in the Start Menu and then open it.
After opening, make sure that the virus definitions are up to date. If not, you can update those definitions from the “Update” tab.
Now, select the radio button “Full Scan” and then click on the button “Scan Now.”
Depending on how big your file system is and how many files are there, it can take some to scan and fix the issues if any.
2. Disable Startup Programs
If there are no infections in your system then you can proceed on to the other improvements. The first one you need to do disable all the unnecessary startup programs on your system. This is because most programs you install on your system will tag themselves and start at every system startup. Thankfully, it is easy to disable the startup programs in Windows. To do that, right-click on the taskbar and then select the option “Task Manager.”
Once the task manager has been opened, navigate the “Startup” tab. To disable a startup item, simply select the program you want to stop and then click on the button “Disable” appearing at the bottom of the window. That’s it.
3. Disable Animations
If you are using an old system with Windows 10 then you can improve your system performance by disabling the Windows animations. To disable Windows animations, search for “System” in the start menu and then open it.
In the System window, click on the link “Advanced System Settings” appearing on the left panel.
The above action will open the System Properties window. Here, click on the button “Settings” in the Performance section.
Now, select the radio button “Custom” and deselect all the check boxes and then click on the button “Ok” to save the changes.
That’s it. You’ve successfully disabled all the window animations in Windows 10.
4. Disable Background Apps in Windows 10
Windows 10 has many modern apps that are installed by default and some of them run in the background consuming your system resources. Disabling those background apps can be helpful. To do that, press the keyboard shortcut “Win + I” to open the Settings app.
Here, navigate to “Privacy > Background Apps.”
On the right panel, you will see the apps that can and are running in the background. Just toggle the button next to the app to disable the app from running in the background.
Also Read: 5 Ways To Monitor Broadband Usage in Windows
5. Free Hard Disk Space
If you are using an SSD and your C drive has no more space than it may lead to slow read and write speeds, thus making the system a bit slow. To free up the disk space, search “Disk Cleanup” in the start menu and then open it.
Now, select the C drive from the drop-down menu and click on the button “Ok.”
Once the scan has been completed, select all the checkboxes under “Files to delete” and then click on the button “Ok.”
That’s it. If you also want to clear files created by Windows then click on the “Clean up System Files” in the Disk Cleanup window.
6. Remove Unused Programs
If you bought a new PC from companies like Dell, HP, etc.., then you might have some bloatware in it. Other than that, if you are using your PC for long enough, you might’ve installed a good deal of software. So, uninstalling those unwanted software can help your system. To uninstall a program, search for “Programs and Features” in the start menu and open it.
Now, select the application you want to uninstall and then click on the button “Uninstall” appearing on the top navigation bar.
Just follow the on-screen instructions and you should be good. If you want to, you can also use dedicated uninstallers like Revo Uninstaller.
7. Disable Search Indexing
If you are using an old PC then the Indexing service might be using a lot of resources and slowing down your system. So, disabling the Indexing Service might be helpful. To do that, press “Win + R,” type “services.msc” and press the enter button.
Now, find and right-click on the service “Windows Search” and then select the option “Properties.”
Here, select the “Disabled” from the drop-down menu, click on the button “Stop” and then click on the button “Ok” to save the changes.
That’s it. You’ve disabled the Indexing service. If you want to re-enable, simply change the options back to “Automatic” and then click on the button “Start” to start the indexing service.
8. Improve Power Settings
By default, Windows uses the balanced power plan. If you are using a laptop unplugged then Windows might change the power plan to Power Saving mode which in turn slows down your system. To deal with this you can change the power plan to “High Performance.” To start off, search for Power Options in the start menu and open it.
Now, select the radio button “High Performance” and you are good to go.
However, keep in mind that once you select the option, Windows just focuses on performance rather than saving power.
9. Use CCleaner to Clean your System
Cleaning the Windows Registry, memory dumps, file fragments, cache, etc.., can help speed up your system To clean those files, you can use the CCleaner. So, install the CCleaner and open it. Now, click on the button “Analyze.”
Here, click on the button “Run Cleaner” to delete those unwanted files.
You can also clean the Registry in the same way from the “Registry” tab appearing on the left pane.
10. Scan and Fix Problems
If you think the problem is with hardware or other devices then you can use the built-in troubleshooter to find and fix those problems. To do that, search for “Troubleshooting” in the start menu and open it.
Now, click on the link “Hardware and Sound.”
Here, find and double-click on the option “Hardware and Devices.”
Now follow the on screen instruction to find and fix the problems.
Wrapping up The above steps should significantly improve your PC performance. But software optimization can go up to certain limits with the hardware upgrades. So, do consider upgrading to SSD, this will drastically boost the bootup time for OS and overall read and write speed. Most laptops these days can include an SSD drive by replacing the CD drive enclosure. And you can use the SSD as a secondary drive along with your regular hard drive. Similarly, if your computer hangs while switching between two application or when you use Google Chrome browser (which is very RAM hungry) consider upgrading your RAM. Sometimes, the computer also slowed down due to excessive heating. So, if you have an old computer, chances are, the dust particles in heat vents, that are obstructing the air flow. To fix this, open up your computer and use an air blow gun to remove the dust particles. If you are not sure how to do it, take it to the nearby computer repair shop. Hope that helps and do comment below to share your thoughts and experiences about using the above methods to speed up slow Windows 10 PC. Also Read: Useful Software for Windows Computer
