In today’s video, I’ll be showing you ten easy ways you can make your PC start up
faster within Windows 10. Most of the methods I’ve included are fairly simple as is the
aim with this series, so just follow along with the video and you’ll be fine. If you
want to know ten easy ways you can speed up your PC in general, then click on the card
now to watch another video of mine showing you that after this one. You’ll be able
to zoom through that video as some of the methods in this video are included in that
one. Remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe for more tips if the video helps.
Let’s get into the first method! Method one to reduce start up times is to
make sure that fast start up is turned on. This is a simple setting to change but you
will need to be an administrator on your PC to be able to do it. First head to the control
panel, you can get there by searching for it in the search bar. In the control panel,
choose system and security and then click on power options from the list. Now find the
option called “choose what the power buttons do”. It should be on the list on the left
side of the control panel. On this page you should see the option to turn on fast start
up, but it will be greyed out. To be able to change these settings, click on “change
settings that are currently unavailable” which is in blue towards the top of this page.
This will now allow you to turn on fast start up if it isn’t on already so check the box
next to it and remember to click on save changes at the bottom. Let’s move on to the second
method. The second method is to disable some of the
applications that will run automatically when we start up our PC. The more programs set
to run at start-up, the longer it will take and the slower your PC will be when you first
log in. This is one of the best methods to improve start-up times and it should make
a noticeable difference. To disable start up applications the first thing we need to
do is go to the task manager. You can access the task manager by right clicking on the
taskbar at the bottom of your screen and then by choosing task manager. Now find the tab
called start up, it should be the fourth option and click on it to show the list of all the
applications that can start up when you turn on your PC. You’ll need to go down the list
and look for any programs you know you don’t use, or those that you don’t use regularly.
Disabling them in here won’t make them stop working, however they might take a bit longer
to run when you want to use them. But of course, if you don’t use them that often, this won’t
make too much difference. To disable an application in here, all you need to do is right click
on it and then choose ‘disable’. It’s helpful to look at the start up impact column
to help make your decision on whether it’s worth disabling them. You can always enable
the program again by right clicking on it and selecting enable.
The third method to speed up start-up in Windows 10 is to turn on high performance mode. Remember
that turning on high performance will use more power so if you have a laptop, the battery
will drain much quicker. To turn on high performance mode, first go to the control panel. You can
get there by searching for it in the search bar. In the control panel, go to system and
security and then find power options from the list. You will probably be set to ‘balanced’
if you haven’t changed these settings in the past. Find where it says high performance,
if you don’t see it, you may need to click on show additional plans. Check the box at
the left of it to turn it on. Let’s now move on to method four.
The next method is to free up space on your PC. This should help speed up your PC in general
as well as having the possibility to speed up start-up times. We can first use a tool
called Storage Sense which is built into Windows 10 to help free up space automatically. To
turn on storage sense or to change the settings to run it now, you need to search for storage
settings in the search bar. When the storage settings page opens, check that storage sense
is turned on at the top of the page. Now click on the blue “configure storage sense or
run it now” link below this to open the settings. You can change the frequency that
storage sense will run at the top, feel free to make this whatever you want depending on
your situation. If you want, you can check the box below this to delete temporary files
and set it to delete files that have been in your recycle bin and downloads folder for
over 30 days. If you’re confident you don’t need any of these files, then you can run
storage sense now by clicking on the clean now button at the bottom. This should free
up some space and improve your PC’s performance. Also, if you go back to the main storage settings
page by clicking the back button, you can see the types of files that are taking up
the most space on your PC. Take a look to see if there’s anything that you can remove
but please double check! The next method to reduce start-up times is
closely linked to the previous method. All it is, is to remove and uninstall any apps
that you don’t use. This will prevent them from clogging up your drive and if they do
run in the background, removing them could help improve start up times. To uninstall
apps, head back to the storage settings using the method from the last tip but this time
click on apps & features. On the next screen, you’ll see a list of all the apps on your
PC. You can use the sort function to help show them in order of size, date and name.
To uninstall an application in here, simply click on it and then choose uninstall. You
then may need to follow the steps it brings up. Let’s move on to method six.
The sixth method is to change the sign in options. This one is completely up to you
of what you want to change but a different sign in method will make it quicker to get
into Windows 10. Although technically not the start-up time, it should help make it
seem like you are getting onto your desktop sooner. To change the sign in options, first
go to the main settings page by clicking on the cog icon within the start menu. In settings,
choose accounts and then click on sign in options from the list on the left. You can
change the sign in type on this screen so have a look at all the choices and choose
one that you think might be quicker to allow you to login such as changing to a pin rather
than a password. You could also choose to remove a password. Be careful if either you
use a shared PC or if anyone else can access it. I would recommend having at least a pin
set but if you do want to remove a password completely then first select never in the
drop-down box below the sign in options. The next way to remove the password sign in is
to search run in the search bar. In the run box, type in “n” “e” “t” “p”
“l” “w” “I” “z” and hit enter. Now in the new window, uncheck the box that
says, “users must enter a username and password to use this computer”. Click OK or apply
to save these changes and then we’ll move on to the seventh method.
The next method is to change some of the visual settings in Windows, this might help at start
up and will definitely help after that. This method is especially effective on old PCs.
If you have a relatively new PC with average hardware, it’s unlikely that this one will
make much difference so feel free to skip straight to the next method. To change the
visual animation settings, search “advanced system settings” and click on view advanced
system settings. In the new window, click on settings in the performance section, it
should be the top settings option. This will bring up the performance options window, and
in here you can quickly select adjust for best performance to help speed up your PC
or you can have a look at the individual options to create a custom plan. The fewer boxes you
select, the faster your PC will be, but you will obviously lose some of the animations.
Feel free to play around with each of the options to find out what you prefer and what
suits your PC. Let’s move on to the next method.
The next method to reduce start-up time is to scan your PC for viruses. Viruses could
be slowing down your PC and increasing the time it takes to boot up. You can use your
own anti-virus software to do this if you have it, but if you don’t have any, we can
use Windows’ built in software. To scan for viruses, search Windows security in the
search bar and then when the window opens, choose virus and threat protection from the
options on the left. In here, you can choose quick scan or if you go to scan options, you
can click on full scan and then scan now to search for viruses. Allow Windows to perform
the scan and then we can move on to the next tip.
The ninth method is to defragment and optimise your hard drive. You only need to do this
if you have a hard drive, if you have an SSD then that’s pretty much the end of the video
as you won’t need to worry about the tenth method either. So, if you have a hard disk
as one of your drives first search defrag in the search bar and click on defragment
and optimise drives. This will open a new window and in there you can first select your
hard drive and then click on optimise. Follow the steps and allow Windows to optimise your
drive, it might take a while but just let it complete fully. This will help your hard
drive to run more efficiently and should improve your PCs performance at start up as well as
in general. Let’s now move on to the final method.
The last method is a quick one and it is to improve your PCs hardware. I’ve left this
one to the end as I’m sure you want to avoid this for as long as possible as its expensive
and potentially complex to improve hardware. If you only make one change it would be to
upgrade or add a solid-state drive or SSD. It might be worth getting an SSD just for
the operating system, meaning it doesn’t even need to have a large capacity. This is
without doubt the most effective way to improve start up times.
And so those are my ten easy methods to help make your Windows 10 PC start up faster. If
you have any questions, then let me know in the comments. I really hope I was able to
help you today, remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe if the video helped.
Be sure to stick around to see some of my other videos you might be interested in. Thanks
so much for watching and I will see you in another video!