Maximize Your PC Speed!

Having a slow PC sucks, you can remember the days when your PC ran blazingly fast. With this guide I am going to help your PC return to its glory days.

As always there is a video you can watch or you can read this text tutorial.

1. Uninstall Unwanted Programs

You probably have been using your computer for many years hence why you are reading this. Through those years you've probably installed many programs, some which you may have used only once. These programs pile up over the years and can really slow down your computer, having empty  disk space is one of the keys to having a fast PC.

To uninstall your programs, simply search for "Programs and Features" in your search bar. You will then come across this screen:

Here you will see all your installed programs, uinstall the programs you don't need anymore and ones you don't recognize google them.




NOTE: DO NOT UNINSTALL DRIVERS, these will damage your system. If you're not sure which is a driver, do not uninstall programs from publishers such as Microsoft, or your computer manufacturer.

2. Disable Startup Programs
Disabling startup programs simply disables programs that start right away when you boot up your PC. This can give you a faster bootup because you won't be waiting for your computer to startup all those programs. 

To disable startup programs for Windows 7: 

a) Search "MSconfig.exe" in start, and open the program you see

b) Go to the startup tab, and you will be greeted with all startup programs for your PC.

For Windows 8 & Windows 10 this will be in the taskmanager,

Now disable the services you don't want at startup, as you can see in the picture Google Update is not necessary at startup so disabling it will prevent it from running at boot. Remember not to disable anything from Microsoft.

3. Disk Cleanup & Disk Defragment

Remember having an empty disk space is key to running a faster computer. Disk cleanup can be accessed by going into file explorer -> right-clicking your main hard-drive -> opening "properties" tab. 

This should give you a menu that shows your hard drive properties. From there simply click "disk cleanup" and the program will start analyzing your files, this won't take too long. From there simply select the files you want gone, and disk cleanup will do the rest. 

Disk defragmenting is also done by opening the hard drive properties, simply click the "Tools" tab and select "Optimize". Now if you have never done this before and your computer is quite old, defragmenting will take a long time, because windows has to index your files so accessing them in the future will be easier. This is worth the wait though as I myself have experienced a significant speed increase.

4. CCleaner - https://goo.gl/r8bwx9

CCleaner is a simple, light-weight application that cleans up junk in your PC. Simply install the application and its easy to use interface should be straightforward.

5. Virus Detection

If you suspect you have a virus or any malware on your PC, you should run an anti-virus program. There are many to choose from but the one I recommend is Malware Bytes - Free , the free version will allow you to scan your PC for viruses while the payed version gets your real-time protection. Depending on how many files you have the scanning might take long. Malware Bytes has one of the highest detection rates for anti-viruses, but you're welcome to use any.

6.  High Performance Power Plan

This is for laptops only, what this does is allows your CPU to run at 100%, the only downside is you will run out of battery fast, so make sure you're plugged in. To do this,

Search for "power options" in the start menu, and select "High Performance" as the power plan.

7. Windows - Best Performance

This will make windows use the least resources freeing up RAM, but it will make windows look bland. To do this: 

Right-click "My Computer" - > "Advanced System Settings" -> "Performance" -> "Adjust for Best Performance". 

Thank you for reading this, and I hope my guide has maximized your PC speed.