Top tips to get your PC up to speed
A mix of hardware updates and software tweaks can help you put some much-needed pep back into your PC, writes Pat Pilcher.
It’s got to be my biggest bugbear with Windows – a computer that once was zippy can become agonisingly slow. Over the course of anything from a few months to a year, Windows can go from nimble to numpty. The good news is that many Windows slow-downs are easily fixed. Here are some tips on how to put some pep back into your PC.
Add RAM
Adding memory can provide a solid performance boost.
Windows 10 mightn’t consume as much as earlier versions of Windows, but RAM is an easy and affordable way to improve performance.
While it’s easy to add to a desktop PC, it can be tricky with notebook PCs. If your computer can take extra RAM, head to a RAM supplier website (Crucial or Kingston) to find out what sort of RAM your PC needs before buying.
Go solid state
If you already have plenty of RAM, you may want to upgrade your PC’s storage.
Performance-wise, mechanical hard drives seem positively snaillike compared to fast solid state drives (SSDs).
Installing an SSD delivers big speed increases.
They’re also becoming increasingly affordable. Crucial’s Mx500 1TB SSD costs about $500 if you shop around. Lower capacity SSDs are even more walletfriendly.
With an SSD, Windows starts faster and apps load in the blink of an eye. For non-upgradable laptops, an external SSD may be a solution.
Simplify
It isn’t just hardware. There’s a pile of small tweaks that can make a big difference.
The simplest one involves reining in Windows 10 graphical effects. These can impact performance by consuming system resources.
Menu transparency is a wellknown graphical effect resource hog.
To disable it, open the Settings menu and go to Personalisation and then Colours. Unselect the Make Start, taskbar, and action centre transparent.
Other effects can also be disabled, freeing up more system resources. Turning them off is as easy as clicking Advanced system settings to open the System Properties menu. Click the Advanced tab under Performance, and then click Settings. This should open the Performance Options menu. On the Visual Effects tab, choose ‘‘adjust for best performance’’. Once done, click OK.
It’s all in the start
If your PC is taking an eternity to boot, you may have a bunch of apps attempting to launch when you start your PC. These accumulate over time and when they’re all trying to start, they’ll slow your PC’s boot-up. Fixing this involves right-clicking the Start button.
Click Task Manager and then the Startup tab. You’ll see a list of programs that start when you power up your computer. Uncheck any you’re not needing. Equally handy is the ability to sort these programs by their impact on your PC’s startup time.
Power up
Windows 10 power management impacts overall PC performance but is easy to change. For notebooks/tablets used away from the mains, power management can be used to extend battery life. To see what the power management options are set to on your PC, open the Control Panel. Go to Hardware and Sound, then Power Options. If your PC is plugged into the mains, choose a High Performance or Balanced plan.
Disk cleanup
Reclaiming space on your PC’s hard drive is as easy as running the Windows Disk Cleanup utility and following that up with the Disk Defragment utility (which isn’t needed with SSDs).
You’ll gain more space and your PC should run faster. Doing this removes a lot of digital detritus from your PC. The Defragment utility will make sure files are logically laid out for faster access with older mechanical hard drives.
Get a utility
If fiddling with PC settings has you breaking out in hives, relax. There’s a lot of easy-to-use utilities that’ll keep your PC ship-shape. My favourite is System Mechanic (iolo.com). It costs US$24.95 and its licence allows it to be installed on all the PCs in your home. It keeps Windows factory fresh but is easy to use.
Reset Windows
One of the quickest and simplest ways of doing this is to do a reset which, in effect, is a fresh Windows install. It isn’t difficult to do, but as it wipes third-party apps and settings, it’s really only an option for when other tweaks are not working. Also, backing up data is a must. To do a reset, navigate to Settings and Select Update & Security, clicking Recovery in the left-hand pane. Choose Reset this PC and click Get started under Reset this PC.