How to speed up your PC without programs

Would you like to speed up your computer a little, which seems to have slowed down in an obvious way these days, but you don’t want to install software for system maintenance, as you fear you won’t know how to use them? No problem: in this case, you can try to optimize your PC using only the tools already included in Windows or, in case you have a Mac,  macOS.

Perhaps not everyone knows this, but Microsoft and Apple’s operating systems include several utilities that, if used properly, help keep computer performance constantly high. If you don’t believe us, read this guide on how to speed up your PC without programs and try it yourself: I’m sure that, at the end of this reading, you will feel more than satisfied.

So, are you ready to get started? Yup? Fantastic! Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you need to concentrate on reading the next paragraphs and, above all, try to put into practice all the information I will give you. If your computer’s slowdowns aren’t caused by problems or major hardware limitations, you should notice significant improvements. Good luck for everything!

Index

• Disable the automatic start of unnecessary programs
• Identify viruses and malware
• Update operating system and programs
• Using “light” programs
• Defragment the disk
• Reduce system animations
• Restore the system
• Replace hardware components

Disable the automatic start of unnecessary programs

If there are too many programs running when the system starts up, they will inevitably occupy a large amount of RAM and, consequently, slow down the general operation of the computer. For this reason, the first piece of advice I give you is to disable the automatic start of unnecessary programs on your PC. In proceeding, however, be careful not to disable computer security software (such as antivirus) and system components, as you risk compromising the security of your computer. OK?

To disable the programs set to start automatically on  Windows, call the Task Manager tool by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys on the PC keyboard at the same time and then click on the Task Manager item in the menu that opens. Then click on the More details item in the window that opens (if necessary), select the Startup tab and you will be shown a list of programs set to start automatically.

At this point, right-click on one of the displayed applications, select the Disable item from the menu that opens (or press the Disable button at the bottom right) and repeat the operation for all the other programs you want to disable.

If you are using a PC running Windows 7  or an even older version of the Microsoft operating system, you can disable programs set to start automatically from the Run… panel. To recall it, press the Win + R keys on the keyboard at the same time, give the command msconfig and select the Start item from the window that appears on the screen.

Then go to the Startup tab and uncheck the programs you want to disable. If you want to learn more about how this last function works, consult the in-depth study dedicated to how to speed up the startup of Windows 7.

If you use a Mac, on the other hand, to disable the programs set to start automatically with the system, you have to go to System Preferences by pressing the gray icon with the gears located on the Dock bar or in the Launchpad, select the Users item and Groups from the window that opens, highlight your account (if necessary) from the left sidebar and click on the Login Items tab.

Next, locate the applications that you do not want to start when you turn on your computer, select them one at a time and then click on the (-)  button located in the lower-left corner, to remove them from autorun. Easy, right?

Identify viruses and malware

If you are using a Windows PC, I recommend that you check your PC for viruses and malware. In addition to consuming system resources, causing slowdowns and various problems, viruses and malware pose a significant threat to security and privacy, so better get rid of them as soon as possible.

To identify the malicious software I mentioned earlier, it may not even be necessary to install other programs on the PC, as your computer should already be equipped with Windows Defender, present “standard” on Windows 10 (or with other antivirus possibly installed on your computer). Then run a  full system scan and if you notice any viruses or malware on your PC, remove them immediately.

If you find it difficult to perform these operations, consult the in-depth information in which I explain how to delete viruses from your PC  and how to delete viruses from your PC without formatting, so as to have a clear idea of ​​how to proceed. If, on the other hand, you intend to try other antivirus, consult the guides in which I list the best free and paid solutions.

And on  Mac? Even if the computers of the “bitten apple” are notoriously less prone to cyber attacks, it must be recognized that even for macOS there are malware. To ward off any infections and sleep reasonably peacefully, even on Mac it is advisable to resort to anti-malware solutions (such as the famous Malwarebytes ), which I told you about in the guide on how to clean your Mac from viruses.

Update operating system and programs

Also update your operating system and programs can help to speed up your computer. In fact, software updates often contain bug fixes (ie corrections of errors in the code of programs or of the operating system), which are often at the origin of slowdowns and malfunctions of various kinds.

To search for new updates on  Windows 10, go to the Settings menu by clicking on the gear symbol located in the sidebar located in the Start menu, click on the  Update and security item and select the Windows Update item located in the left sidebar.

If you use a PC equipped with  Windows 7, however, type ” windows update ” in the search field located in the Start menu and click on the first result that is found. For more information on  Windows updates and how to update Windows, take a look at the insights I linked to you.

If you use a Mac, however, you can search for new updates available for macOS by clicking on the Apple logo located at the top left (in the menu bar), selecting the item About this Mac and then pressing the Software Update button  …

For more information on how to update your Mac, take a look at the guide I linked to you. I’m sure this reading will help you too.

Using “light” programs

If your machine is very dated or if, in any case, it has a hardware compartment that is not particularly advanced (for example it has little RAM or a low-end CPU), I suggest you use “light” programs, preferring the latter to nobler and perhaps heavier. Do you want me to give you some examples?

Instead of using antivirus suites that require important resources, use Windows Defender or BitDefender, which are much lighter. On the productivity side, use AbiWord instead of Microsoft Word,  Sumatra PDF  instead of Adobe Acrobat and  MPC instead of Windows Media Player. As for the management of e-mail, however, I recommend the excellent Mozilla Thunderbird which, despite being a program not excessively heavy, is full of many useful features.

As for browsers, however, I suggest you use those installed by default on your computer (eg Edge on Windows 10 and Safari on macOS), as they have been designed to optimize energy consumption. If you really want to turn to a third-party browser, I recommend Firefox, which is often “lighter” than the more popular Chrome.

If you want some more advice on the best computer programs and on how to make your PC fast through the aforementioned programs, consult the insights I linked to you.

Defragment the disk

If you use a Windows PC, defragmenting the disk is also a fundamental operation to prevent the system from slowing down. The data saved on the PC, in fact, with the passage of time are arranged in a disordered way due to the lack of contiguous spaces on the disk. This phenomenon is called fragmentation and particularly affects the mechanical disks and file systems used by Windows (eg NTFS and FAT32 ).

Defragmentation, therefore, is nothing more than the operation by which the fragmented files are put back in order, allowing the operating system to find them more quickly. Given the fact that the fragmentation problem affects  SSD drives and file systems used by macOS less, it may not even be possible on the latter. For SSDs, however, the optimization function included in Windows must still be activated (always in the disk defragmentation utility).

Most likely, disk defragmentation has already been turned on by default on your Windows computer. If you want to verify that this is indeed the case, open the  Start menu, search for “ defragment and optimize drives ” in the latter and select the first result that is found.

In the window that opens, presses the Change settings button, put the checkmark on the items  Run on a schedule (recommended)  and Notify in case of three consecutive scheduled executions not completed, select the option Every week from the Frequency menu and save the changes by pressing the OK button. For more information on this, read this guide.

Reduce system animations

Do you like Windows and macOS animations and graphics? Admittedly, they actually make the computer experience more enjoyable, but there is a downside to be aware of: they can slow down your system, especially if you are using an older machine. That’s why you might want to consider reducing system animations.

On Windows, go to the Classic Control Panel  (looking for it in the search field of the Start menu and then selecting the first item that is found), click on the System and Security item located at the top left and, finally, select the items  System and Advanced System Settings (in the left sidebar).

In the System Properties window that opens, select the  Advanced tab, press the Settings button, click on the Performance Options item, press the Visual Effects tab  and remove the checkmark from the items corresponding to the animations from (eg. Animations on the toolbar applications, Show window shades, and so on). Then save the changes by pressing the Apply and  OK buttons.

On macOS, on the other hand, go to System Preferences by clicking on the gray icon with gears located on the Dock bar , presses on the  Accessibility item, click on the Monitor item and check the Reduce movement and  Reduce transparency boxes.

If you want to disable the animations that are activated when windows are opened and closed, press the  Dock item  (from the main System Preferences window  ) and remove the check from the Zoom and  Animation boxes when opening applications.

Restore the system

If you have read this far in the guide, you have evidently not noticed any improvements despite having applied the suggestions I gave you in the previous chapters. If the problems are not caused by hardware problems, you have one last card left to “play”:  reset the system.

I guarantee you that this operation, quite simple to carry out, is able to solve all the most common software problems that cause slowdowns. For more information on this, read my tutorials on how to reset  Windows 10, Windows 8,  Windows 7,  Windows XP  and macOS.

Replace hardware components

If not even system restore did speed up your computer, it seems obvious to me that your machine has hardware problems. The only way to “straighten out” the situation is, therefore, to replace the hardware components, primarily  RAM and disk.

By increasing the RAM memory, you will notice a noticeable improvement in the execution of particularly “heavy” programs or during rather demanding multi-tasking sessions. By replacing the mechanical disk with an SSD drive, on the other hand, you can significantly speed up the computer startup and the opening of files and programs.

Before buying  RAM  and  SSD drives, I invite you to take the time to carefully read my buying guides dedicated to these components, so as to be clear which products are best suited to your needs and also to your pocket. If, on the other hand, you want some advice on how to install the new components purchased (as long as this does not invalidate the warranty of your computer), you can find some “tips” on what to do in the guides in which I explain how to assemble a PC ,  how to increase the RAM of the PC  and how to upgrade the PC.

 

 

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