If your computer or laptop running Windows 7 is relatively slower, check 15 tips that can help you accelerate and increase performance on Windows 7.
1 – Deactivate visual effects
Windows 7 has great and beautiful visual effects, however, to produce them, the system consumes lots of resources. Deactivate visual effects on Windows 7, will let it a bit less attractive of course, but on the other hand, there will have a considerable performance on the operating system.
The easiest way to deactivate the visual effects is choosing a basic Windows 7 theme or the classic Windows theme. To change the theme on Windows 7, click right button on the desktop area > Personalize and then choose one of the themes mentioned above.
You can also choose which visual effects on Windows 7 you wish to disable, perform the following actions for it:
- Press Windows + Pause/Break key.
- In the “System” window click on the “Advanced System Settings” option.
- In “System Properties” click on the “Advanced > Settings”.
- In “Performance Options” select the options that you want to disable and click OK.
2 – Uninstall the programs you no longer use
The more installed programs you have, the heavier your operating system will get. That’s why, it is recommended to only install programs you really use. If you install a program and then find out you don’t actually need it, uninstall it immediately.
To uninstall programs, you can use Windows native tool or any other third party programs, like Revo Uninstaller, it helps uninstalling and removing anything left by the program.
To uninstall programs on Windows 7, follow these steps below:
- Click on Start menu > Control panel > Uninstall a program
- In the opened window, click on the program you want to uninstall with the right button and then select “Uninstall”.
3 –Put the unessential services on manual mode
Some automatically initialized services consume system resources with function that are not essential for most users. These services can be put on manual mode in order to increase the system operating system performance.
If you want to know for sure what Windows services can be deactivated safely, read the following article: Windows 7 services that can be deactivated.
4 – Disable unnecessary system startup programs
Many installed programs on your computer start automatically when Windows is initialized. They delay system initialization and consume many system resources.
Disabling automatic initialization of programs that don’t need to be loaded during windows startup, you can reduce the boot time and deliberate some system resources.
To disable automatically launched programs to run when Windows start, do the following:
- Click Start, write in the search bar “msconfig” and press ”Enter”
- In the “System Configuration” window click on the “Startup” tab
- Unmark the box next to the programs that are not important on startup
- Once disabled, click Apply, Ok and restart Windows
If you have any doubts on choosing programs to disable, use Soluto, a program that can help you identify which programs really need to be disabled and which ones should be disabled safely.
5 – Run a disk clean up
Reducing the number of unnecessary archives in the hard drive, you free up some space in the disk and make the computer faster.
Disk clean up on Windows removes temporary archives, empty the recycle bin and removes many system archives and other items you no longer need.
To launch Disk Clean up, follow the steps below:
- Click Start>All programs>Accessories>System tools>Disk Clean Up
- In the system Unities list, click system unit you want to clean and click OK.
- Mark the selection boxes referring the archive types and to be excluded and click OK.
- In the showed message, click “Clean up system file”.
Another way to do the disk clean up on Windows is using third party programs, like CCleaner, ACleaner, Glary Utilities, and many others.
6 – Organize your hard drive
No one likes to take out the trash, but it needs to be done. If you accumulate many archives, music, photos, videos and other files you downloaded from the internet, it will clog and slow up the read and write process in the hard drive.
To help you in this task, you can use programs that find duplicate archives and analyze disk space. Check the article: 10 Free programs to help you make a clean on Windows
7 – Run disk defragment
Data fragmentation makes the hard drive work more and hence, makes it slower. The disk defragmentation reorganizes these fragmented data so that the hard disk works more efficiently.
On Windows 7, the disk defragmenter is launched automatically by scheduling, but you can also defragment hard drives and unities manually. To do the disk defragmentation on Windows 7, just follow these steps below:
- Click on Start>All programs>Accessories>System Tools>Defragment Disk
- In Status, select the disk you want to defragment and then click “Analyze disk” (To determine whether it needs to be defragmented or not)
- If the defragmentation percentage is above 5%, defragment the analyzed disk
- Click on “Defragment Disk” and keep the end of defragmentation
You can also use third party programs to defragment your hard drive, you can use MyDefrag, PuranDefrag or Smart Defrag
8 – Clean Windows registry
One of the most important things on Windows is the Registry. However, the more you use your computer, the more trash you keep on it. The registry clean up removes invalid entries left by the system and uninstalled programs. This helps to avoid errors caused by invalid entries in the registry and improves the operating system performance.
To do the registry clean up, there are many programs available out there, some of them are Wise Registry Cleaner, Free Registry Cleaner and Glary Utilities
9 – Use a trustable antivirus
The use of an antivirus is essential to keep your computer free of viruses that install archives on your computer, disable operating system functions and make the computer slower.
Make sure you have a good antivirus installed on your computer and run a complete system verification at least once a week. This will guarantee that your system’s performance is not affected by viruses.
There are lots of free antivirus solutions available out there, some of them are Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira Antivir and Avast Home Edition
10 – Remove Spywares and other malicious software
Some malicious codes, like spywares, malwares, Trojan horses, hijackers and others, slow up the computer registering your navigation habits and sending information about you to a third party via internet.
Download a free anti-spyware (SuperAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware or A0Aware) and run a system verification weekly to remove spywares and other malicious programs that still your data and let the computer a bit slower.
11 – Update hardware drivers and Windows itself regularly
Make sure the graphic drivers, motherboard and any other hardware components of your computer are updated. The driver updates, bring many system corrections and solve many performance and incompatibility problems.
Although Windows 7 offers optional driver updates via Windows Update, most of the times, the provided versions are not the most recent. Access the manufacturers’ website in order to search for the most recent drivers.
In addition, always keep your Windows updated, the Windows updates are able to avoid and correct problems, increase computer security and improve performance.
To update Windows, perform the following actions:
- Access the “Control panel>System and Security>Windows Update”.
- In the left panel, click in “Check for updates”.
- Select the updates that you want to download and click “Install updates”.
You can also configure Windows to download and install important and automatic updates. To do this, do the following:
- In the Windows Update window, click the option “Change settings”
- In the “Important updates”, select the option “Install updates automatically” and click OK.
12 – Use Hibernate instead of Shutdown
You can save several seconds using hibernation. In addition to being fast, it saves the actual session and restores all the programs, archives and opened windows then you turn the computer on again.
In order to hibernate your computer, access the Start menu, click the arrow next to the “Shut Down” button and choose the option “Hibernate”. You can always create a shortcut in the desktop to fasten the hibernation process.
13 – Run System troubleshoot
The system troubleshoot on Windows 7 verifies the existence of problems that can slow up the computer’s performance and try to solve them automatically in order to improve the speed and overall operating system performance.
To execute it, access Control Panel>System and Security>Find and fix problems>Check for performance issues and follow step by step
14 – Add more memory RAM
If after all the trying all the above tips, your computer keep running slowly, maybe it is time for you to invest on some memory RAM upgrade. The prices are very reasonable and making a memory RAM upgrade great cost-benefit relationship in order to increase the speed and efficiency of your computer.
Determine the type of memory RAM your computer needs, check if there’s an empty slot and make an upgrade on your memory RAM. To obtain more information about your computer’s hardware, you need to use programs like Speecy, PC Wizard, WinAudit, LookInMyPC and FreshDiagnose
That’s it, hope I helped you improve or increase your computers performance.
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