Hello everybody!
This video will tell you how to speed up your computer, and how to set up your Windows for
maximal performance.
Of course, if you need to make the most of your computer, the best way is to replace
the old rig with the new fastest one.
But that’s obvious.
This video will also show you how to optimize and set up the operating system to get the
most of a particular computer, accelerate data processing and speed up operating system
boot time.
The video can be broken into two parts: improving a computer’s performance by optimizing the
operating system, and getting a faster PC by way of upgrading it.
Before you start optimizing Windows, let’s check what version of the operating system
is installed.
To do it, right-click on the Start menu and select System (for Windows 8/10), or right-click
on My Computer icon in Windows 7 or an earlier version of the operating system, and select
Properties.
• If you have an old and slow computer (with a single-core processor and less than 4 Gb
of system memory), your first step should be to install an older version of the operating
system.
For example, Windows 7 instead of Windows 10.
It is less hardware-demanding.
Watch another video by our channel to see how to install Windows.
You will find the link in the description: • If your computer has over 4 Gb of system
memory (RAM) and more or less powerful multi-core processor, it makes sense to try a 64-bit
operating system.
A 64-bit version can work with more than 4 Gb of memory, while a 32-bit system is limited
to managing up to 4 Gb.
The more system memory a computer can address, the better it performs.
Please note that in this case, 64-bit versions of software will be installed, which can often
be more productive than 32-bit versions.
After you have checked that the installed version of the operating system corresponds
to your hardware, it’s time to optimize it.
1. Make sure you have enough free space in the system drive.
For normal operation, you should have at least 10% of free space in disk C, and the best
would be to have 20% of free space.
A computer can slow down because it lacks free space.
Free up some space in the system drive and clean the desktop from unnecessary elements.
Don’t forget to empty the Recycle Bin.
Visit our channel to watch a detailed video about cleaning the system drive of a computer
or laptop.
You will find the link in the description:
2.
If you don’t use System Restore function, you can disable it.
To do it: • Go to Control Panel / Recovery / Advanced
recovery settings.
Find the link to the video on opening Control Panel in the description:
• In the Settings menu, disable protection and delete the existing restore points.
• This way you can free up some disk space and stop the unnecessary process.
Watch a detailed video about creating or deleting a restore point.
You will find the link in the description:
3.
Disable installing Windows automatic updates.
Follow the link in the description to see how to disable or uninstall Windows updates:
4.
Set power management options to High Performance, and disable Sleep and Hibernation.
To do it: • Go to Control Panel / Power Options
• Select High Performance Watch another video in our channel to learn
how to enable, disable and set up Sleep and Hibernation for your computer.
You will find the link in the description:
5.
Set up your paging file correctly.
• Paging file should be located in the fastest disk of your computer or in the system partition.
• We do not recommend letting the system decide on the size of the paging file, or
leaving it dynamic.
In this case, the system chooses a dynamic size which by itself can slow down your work.
It is better to set the size manually.
The best option is to make the maximal and minimal size the same.
• Another piece of advice: the more system memory your computer has, the less paging
file it needs.
Having 8 Gb of system memory or more, you can even delete the paging file.
There is already a video about modifying the size or deleting the paging file.
Find the link in the description:
6.
Also, in the tab Performance you can choose options for Windows appearance and performance.
Go to the tab “Visual effects” and select the item “Adjust for best performance”
and the system will work faster because visual effects will be minimized.
It doesn’t look too attractive in the end, but this method is more useful for those who
have very weak computers.
7.
Users often forget about keeping their drivers and codecs up to date.
Performance of the computer, operating system and the hardware depends on updating their
software.
System performance can be affected by outdated drivers of a network adapter, display, graphics
card etc.
In order to update drivers for a device: • Go to Device Manager
• Find the device you want to update drivers for and right-click on it.
• Select Update Driver Software / Search automatically for updated driver software
• If Windows can’t find a new driver, you can find and install it from the device
manufacturer’s website.
For example, Windows 10 default setting is to update drivers automatically.
Sometimes new versions of drivers installed automatically can be not always compatible
with your hardware and it results in errors or unstable work of your system.
In this case, it is better to update drivers manually, and disable the automatic driver
update.
There is a special video about it.
You will find the link in the description
8.
If your computer has some antivirus installed, don’t forget to update its signature database
regularly and scan your computer for viruses from time to time - as you know, they can
slow down the operating system a lot.
There is a whole series of videos in our channel to help you remove any kind of viruses, including
ransomware, encryptors and rootkits, and a rating of best antiviruses, including free
products.
I will give all the links in the description:
1.
However, an antivirus itself can also reduce the computer’s performance.
That is why you can disable it for the time when a resource-intensive work has to be done,
or even uninstall it, if you don’t usually visit suspicious resources on the Internet
or don’t use unreliable sources of information.
Windows Defender built into Windows 10 is a different topic.
It is an application integrated into the operating system, and it is activated if there is no
other antivirus installed.
It is also a resource-intensive application which is not so easy to disable.
Find the link to the video about enabling, disabling or deleting Windows Defender in
the description: If you are not going to disable it, then watch
my video on setting up Windows Defender properly.
Find the link in the description: 2.
The next step in optimizing the work of your operating system is to disable unnecessary
resource-intensive tasks and background processes.
To begin with, remove unnecessary programs and applications from the startup.
It is better to start them manually, if necessary.
It has a great influence on how quickly Windows boots and works.
To do it: In Windows 8/10:
• Go to Task Manager / Startup • and disable unnecessary applications
• Right-click on each of them and select Disable.
In Windows 7, Task Manager does not have a Startup tab, so to clean the startup:
• Enter msconfig in the search field • Go to System Configuration / Startup
• and disable startup by unchecking boxes next to unnecessary applications
3.
After that, in System Configuration: • go to the tab Services
• check the box next to Microsoft Services • and disable all unnecessary items by unchecking
their boxes.
Usually there are about 90% of them.
4.
After that: • go to the tab Boot / Advanced options
• Now check the Number of processors option • and select the maximum number of processors
available.
• It can influence how quickly the system boots.
5.
At the last stage of optimization, don’t’ forget to clean up your hard disk and Windows
registry from junk files.
You can do it with the help of free utilities such as CCLeaner, WinDirStat and VisiPics.
These utilities will help you to correct registry errors, find the files taking up your free
space, and delete copies of documents, images and other files.
You will see it all in detail in another video.
Find the link in the description as usual:
6.
Among others, Windows 10 has pre-installed default applications which can receive data,
send notices and update even if you don’t use them.
To prevent them from working in the background mode:
• Go to Settings / Privacy / Background Apps
• And disable all of them, or only those you are sure you don’t need.
• Go to the tab Radios and disable it as well.
7.
Advanced users know that for older versions of Windows, disk defragmentation was necessary.
This is a quite resource-intensive process, but it’s automated by default in Windows
10.
It is better to disable this function and optimize disks manually when necessary.
Follow the link in the description to see how to enable, disable and set up disk optimization
in Windows 10:
8.
A computer or laptop with Windows 10 can be slow because of hard disk load - it can happen
when the system has activated automatic indexing function, caching search results and properties
for files, and services Superfetch and Prefetch.
Follow the link in the description to see how to disable these services:
You shouldn’t forget that a computer’s performance depends greatly on the condition
and performance of its hardware elements.
• For example, it is especially important to monitor the temperature of the processor,
hard disk and motherboard during the hot season.
Find the link to the corresponding video in the description:
• Installing your operating system on an SSD will give a computer a serious boost.
Very soon, we will publish a video in our channel about installing an SSD and how to
move the operating system from HDD to SSD.
Find and watch it.
• You can also use faster PCI SSDs or create a RAID of several SSDs.
Besides, Windows has a function to create a software RAID which is known as Storage
Space.
There is already a video about it in our channel - follow the link in the description
• Using a modern quad-core or even eight-core processor for a modern computer is no longer
a luxury but a necessity.
Modern processors support faster work with memory and graphics card.
Follow the link in the description to find an expert rating of processors by performance
• Having at least 8 Gb of system memory is the requirement set by modern software,
especially games.
Memory frequencies should meet the maximum frequencies supported by the processor.
• Fans of modern computer games can’t do without a powerful graphics card.
Find the link to the graphics cards performance rating in the description
We are going to create a video on how to assemble an optimal computer in terms of price and
quality.
We’ll discuss how to choose a motherboard, processor and graphics card, mention compatibility
issues and see if it’s worth paying more for latest generation hardware and so on.
Don’t miss it.
That is all for now.
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Thank you for watching and good luck!