How to speed up a Windows laptop

Many users are wondering how to speed up a laptop due to the fact that the computer has become slower, and programs and the Windows operating system do not immediately respond to user actions. A logical question arises, if the laptop slows down, what should I do?

The reasons for the slow operation of a laptop can be very different, depending on the operation of the hardware and software on this device. The laptop itself can be old or new, with different specifications.

Content:

1. Hardware affecting laptop speed
2. If your laptop slows down, how to speed it up
3. How to speed up a laptop on Windows
4. What not to do to speed up the system
5. Article Conclusions

Over time, technology becomes obsolete, the appetites of programs and systems grow, and computer performance gradually decreases. It is not always possible to purchase a new laptop to replace an outdated laptop.

All suggestions on how to speed up a laptop basically boil down to the following:

• It is necessary to replace the problematic components of the computer hardware with new and more powerful ones.
• Adjust Windows operating system settings for optimal computer performance.

In this guide, we will analyze why the laptop slows down, you will find information about various methods to speed up the Windows laptop.

Hardware affecting laptop speed

If the user notices that the laptop has begun to slow down, one of the main reasons may be problems with the operation of the hardware components of the computer. For example, laptop performance drops due to outdated hardware.

The Windows operating system must run on any computer to meet the needs of users. Each version of the operating system: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, etc., has its own recommended minimum system requirements for the system and other software to work.

Device manufacturers assemble computers from various components. Laptop modifications differ markedly in their characteristics, depending on the model, even from the same manufacturer. All this should function normally and ensure the operation of Windows and programs.

When MacBook owners (Macbook) talk about stable macOS on their devices, as opposed to “buggy” Windows, they forget to compare the number of hardware configurations on Apple and Microsoft devices. These values ​​are not comparable, the difference is simply huge. It is not known how macOS would work on such a huge number of modifications to the hardware components of devices.

Therefore, inevitably, on some computers, various problems will occur due to the configuration of the hardware component on these devices. It is impossible to check the interaction of software and hardware in advance on all modifications of the PC.

The following hardware components significantly affect the speed of your computer:

• CPU.
• RAM.
• HDD.
• Cooling system.

In most cases, the laptop user will not be able to influence these characteristics in order to upgrade the PC hardware. Replacing a processor is difficult and often not economically viable.

If possible, it is recommended that you do the following:

• Add RAM strips, if there are free slots on the motherboard.
• Replace your hard disk drive (HDD) with a fast solid-state SSD drive.
• Perform a complete physical cleaning of the device.

Adding random access memory (RAM) will increase the speed of the laptop. You can replace the old RAM sticks with another faster and larger RAM if the motherboard supports this type of memory. It is desirable that the memory strips work in dual-channel mode.

Replacing the HDD drive with a faster SSD drive will lead to a noticeable increase in the speed of starting Windows and installed programs. On laptops with a CD/DVD drive, an SSD drive can be installed instead of an optical drive. In this case, the device will have an old hard drive (hard drive), which is advisable to use as storage, and a new SSD drive designed for the Windows operating system and programs.

It is necessary to regularly clean the laptop from dust. Due to dust, heat transfer is disturbed, parts heat up and may fail, the presence of dust affects the speed of the laptop. In some cases, you will need to replace the thermal paste on the processor and video card.

If you can’t clean your computer yourself, go to a computer repair shop. In most cases, you will notice the effect of this operation.

If your laptop slows down, how to speed it up

If the laptop starts to slow down, then a common cause of slow work is the computer software settings. The following factors have the greatest influence on the speed of a laptop:

• version of the Windows operating system;
• driver compatibility;
• optimal Windows setup;
• installed programs;
• the presence of viruses;
• full system partition.

New devices install the Windows 10 operating system, mainly the 64-bit version, which takes up more disk space and computer memory than the 32-bit version. 2-3 GB of RAM installed on cheap laptops is not enough for comfortable work if several programs are running on the PC at the same time.

After the end of support for Windows 7 , Microsoft recommends moving to the modern Windows 10 operating system. This is not always worth doing on older and weaker devices.

There are no suitable drivers for laptop hardware, in a situation where manufacturers refuse to release drivers for outdated hardware components for a new operating system. Therefore, there is a risk that after switching to the “top ten”, some equipment on the computer will stop working due to lack of drivers.

Another case: a “weak” laptop has insufficient capabilities to pull the requirements of Windows 10. On this hardware configuration, the system will certainly slow down. Some devices do not meet modern requirements, they do not even pull Windows 7. In this situation, it makes sense to switch to one of the lightweight Linux distributions.

An important point is the optimal setting of Windows, thanks to which you can reduce resource consumption, which will positively affect the acceleration of your PC.

Some users are forced, due to lack of funds, to buy cheap laptops. Many relatively cheap models do not have enough RAM installed.

Currently, the programs have become more “gluttonous”. For their work, they require much more computer resources than some time ago. Now any browser consumes 2-3 times more memory than it used five years ago.

The speed of work is affected by malicious software that has penetrated the computer. It is necessary to check the laptop for viruses, for example, using a virus scanner. Read about the review of the best antivirus scanners here .

For normal operation in the Windows operating system, it is necessary to have free space on the system partition, usually the “C:” drive. There should be free 15-20% of the space that is used when performing various tasks on the computer. It is necessary to transfer some of the data to other drives (flash drive, external hard drive, etc.). I advise you to clean up your PC , this will give a positive effect.

How to speed up a laptop on Windows

Now you will get acquainted with general recommendations on how to speed up a laptop on Windows 7, on Windows 8, on Windows 10. For Windows 10 users, I recommend additionally reading other articles on my website. There you will learn how to speed up a Windows 10 laptop, due to the configuration features of this operating system.

You may also be interested in:

• Optimizing Windows 10 to speed up your PC
• Cleanup Windows 10: automatic and manual removal of unnecessary files

The user can slightly increase the speed of his laptop by the following methods:

• Setting up Windows startup.
• Defragmenting the hard drive.
• Cleaning your computer from unnecessary files.
• Disable visual effects.
• Set up a power plan.

The speed of starting and running Windows is affected by the automatic launch of programs at startup. Many programs, when installed on a computer, register themselves in startup. This means that the program starts running in the background as soon as Windows starts.

The user may not need this application at all for some time, but the program will work and consume the computing power of the PC. A more logical option is to run the program manually when the user needs it. Therefore, it makes sense to disable unnecessary programs from startup.

In the Windows 7 operating system, you can enter startup in the following way:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the Run dialog box, type “msconfig” (without quotes).
3. In the System Configuration window, open the Startup tab.

On Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) operating systems, you will need to follow this procedure:

1. Right-click on the “Taskbar” and select “Task Manager” from the context menu.
2. In the Task Manager window, open the Startup tab.

Disable programs that do not need to be launched with the start of the operating system. Some programs need to start automatically, such as an antivirus or a cloud storage client, to synchronize data with a remote server on the Internet.

Remove unnecessary programs from your computer. If you have a low-power laptop, make sure that you do not run many programs at the same time when working on a PC.

Check if automatic defragmentation is enabled on the hard drive. Defragmentation helps to collect fragmented files in one place, thanks to which the system works faster.

Do the following:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Right-click on the system partition, usually the “C:” drive.
3. In the context menu that opens, click on “Properties”.
4. Open the “Service” tab.
5. In the “Optimize and defragment disk” section, click on the “Optimize” button.

If defragmentation is disabled, enable this feature. Select the disk, click on the “Analyze” button, if fragmented elements are found, click on the “Optimize” button. You can use third-party programs to defragment disks, such as Defraggler .

Clear your laptop of debris. Over time, a large number of unnecessary files accumulate on the computer, so they need to be deleted.

This can be done by means of the system or with the help of optimizer programs, such as the CCleaner program. If you use third-party software, perform only a simple standard cleaning of the system to remove garbage: temporary files, cache. log files, etc. About third-party programs for optimizing the system, many articles have been written on my website in the “Maintenance” section.

Also Read: How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows 10

Visual effects consume a lot of computer resources. Most of the effects can be painlessly disabled:

1. Open Control Panel and then System.
2. In the “View basic information about your computer” window, click on “Advanced system settings”.
3. In the System Properties window, go to the Advanced tab.
4. In the “Performance” section, click on the “Settings …” button.
5. In the “Performance Options” window, in the “Visual Effects” tab, select the “Give best performance” option.

If, due to the application of this setting, the system has become too austere, activate the following items: “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing”, “Display thumbnails instead of icons”, “Smooth scrolling of lists”, “Display shadows cast by windows”, “ Smoothing jagged screen fonts.

In Windows 7, go to personalization settings, turn off the “Aero” theme, and instead turn on one of the themes: “Classic” or “Windows 7 – Simplified Style.”

Select a power plan for your laptop. In the power settings, activate the “High performance” or “Balanced (recommended)” scheme.

Reinstalling the Windows operating system will help to get a positive effect. As a result, all data will be deleted from the PC, some of which could have a negative impact on the operation of the computer.

On low-powered laptops with little RAM, try using ReadyBoost technology, which can slightly improve the performance of the device.

Read more: ReadyBoost – speed up the system and applications

What not to do to speed up the system

Quite often, there are tips on the Internet that will not help speed up the computer, and in some cases can affect the worse. These methods should not be used by particularly inexperienced users:

• optimization and defragmentation of the registry – this function will not affect the speed of Windows in any way, but in the process of performing this task, the optimizer program, which works according to its own algorithms, can delete some registry entries that affect the system’s performance;
• disabling Windows services – will not help speed up the PC, but can lead to problems with the laptop;
• disabling the Windows paging file – this action can adversely affect the speed of the computer;
• disabling system protection and deleting restore points – this will not make the computer work faster, and there will be no opportunity to “roll back” Windows due to problems resulting from incorrect user actions;
• using several antivirus programs – this slows down the PC;
• carrying out a deep cleaning of the system using optimizer and cleaner programs – the result may be the opposite of what was intended, the laptop will not get accelerated, but on the contrary, it will work slower due to the deletion of important files.

Article Conclusions

When working on a laptop, many users are faced with the problem of slowing down the speed of the computer. The reasons for the appearance of brakes arise due to outdated hardware, low-power hardware configuration, not optimal Windows settings and programs. Some problems can be fixed by replacing parts on the laptop, or by optimizing the Windows operating system.