- Sep 19, 2014
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100 WINDOWS SPEED-UP TIPS
If your PC is getting slow, or is taking too long to carry out easy tasks, then there are plenty of ways to speed it up.
Here, we run through 100 easy techniques to save time and make your PC run faster…
1.TRIM YOUR START-UP
One of the biggest causes of your PC slowing down over time is too many programs competing to start when your machine boots up. Annoyingly for PC users, every turn is plagued by people peddling their wares, regardless of the impact on your user experience. Manufacturers pre-load trialware and bloated software onto your machine, while legitimate software makers believe that their programs should open as soon as your computer starts. The result is chaotic and can slow your PC to a crawl. Luckily, it’s easy to trim things back and get things moving swiftly.
In Windows 7 you can use Windows Defender to help stay on top of programs. Just go to the Start menu, type msconfig, and open the console. At the top you’ll see a tab called ‘Startup’. Click on it and you’ll see lists all of the programs that are scheduled to start when Windows does.
A lot of these are services for your laptop, and a clear start-up doesn’t always mean smoother running. For example, many laptops will have the HD Audio software start up automatically, which is pretty essential. However, as you scroll down the list, you’ll start to see regular offenders.
If you have been plagued by a slow boot, you’ll know which programs are the most bloated, so uncheck these before pressing ‘Apply’. If you don’t recognise a program, or its location doesn’t show it to be in the Program Files, we recommend that you just ignore it altogether.
2.CLEAN UP YOUR HARD DRIVE
Over time your PC will become clogged up with unwanted files, and this will cause it to get slower. Just like clearing out a racing car that’s full of unwanted junk, stripping the rubbish from your computer will make an enormous difference to its run times.
The first thing you can do is to go to ‘Start> Accessories > System Tools’ and click on ‘Disk Cleanup’. This checks your PC for unwanted temporary files that have been left behind after programs have been installed, as well as your Recycle Bin and other common clutter offenders.
It will give an estimate of how much waste you can lose. Just click ‘OK’ to perform the clean-up.
If your PC is really full, then you might need something a little stronger to declutter your system, so we’ve included an industrial strength program on the cover disc.
CCleaner is the Cillit Bang of Windows machines and goes a lot deeper than System Tools. Install the program and enable the option to smartly detect cookies to keep.
When the program opens, click on the ‘Analyse’ button to see how much rubbish is present – you might be in for a surprise.
When you’re ready, just click ‘Run Cleaner’ and watch as CCleaner trims the fat from your computer, leaving it leaner and faster. Run the program every month and you will be less susceptible to your PC slowing down in future.
There are other programs that can declutter your system and could help make a real difference to the speed of your PC.
3.DEFRAG YOUR COMPUTER
Some ways of speeding up your PC are as old as the hills, and defragging has been a part of Windows for as long as we can remember. The premise is that your spinning hard disk records information in sectors and, over time, these sectors get scattered about, which means that it takes longer to retrieve your information.
Defragging – or defragmenting– takes these fragments of data and orders them neatly. This means that your hard drive doesn’t have to work so arduously when you want to find that photo of Auntie Joan drunk at Christmas, which could be stored in a thousand different areas on your disk.
Windows has its own defragger, which you can access by going to ‘Start > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter’. Choose your drive (it’s usually C
and let Windows run its magic.
It takes a long time to run a defragger due to the nature of reordering thousands of sectors.
It can make the PC unresponsive,so it’s best to defrag overnight.
5.STREAMLINE YOUR PC
PCs take a lot of abuse, and those who like to try new software will often leave lots of unwanted applications on their PCs. It is quick and easy to remove them, and doing so will speed up your PC.
To begin, click ‘Start > Control Panel’, then select ‘Uninstall a program’. If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, then right-click the ‘Name’ column header, select ‘More’ and choose the details you’d like to see about each program.
We’d recommend checking the ‘Name’, ‘Size’, ‘Installed On’ and ‘Last Used On’ boxes.
Now choose to sort by ‘Date Last Used in Windows XP’, or click the ‘Last Used On’ column header in Windows Vista or Windows 7, and you’ll see your applications sorted by when they were last run.
If you have programs that haven’t been used in months, then try getting rid of them. Alternatively, switch to a free download that can be installed when and where you need it.
Many programs are now available in the cloud. This means that there’s next to no footprint on your PC and the bulk of storage is contained online. There are cloud versions of Photoshop, Office Word, Excel and OneNote, all of which offer stripped back functionality.
You can also click ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ or ‘Add/Remove Windows Computers’ to get rid of Windows applets you’re not using, but this generally has less effect.
If you never run an applet then it won’t slow you down and turning a feature off won’t free up much, if any, disk space either.
6.MANAGE YOUR SERVICES
Services are programs designed to work silently in the background on behalf of both Windows and some third-party applications.
They’re loaded before the Welcome screen appears, so they will run regardless of which user is logged on.
Services cover a wide range of uses and, depending on your computer, not all will be needed.
For example, the Windows Update service is essential because it monitors and downloads updates for Windows, but the Bluetooth Support service is only relevant if you have a Bluetooth adaptor installed in your PC.
Having these services running can be a real drain on your PC’s performance, but with some nifty tools you can get them under control.
We’ve used SMART, which is found on this month’s cover disc, and takes a lot of the risk out of cancelling services by telling you which ones are safe to stop. Follow our three-step guide to using SMART (opposite page) and you could quickly make a real difference to the speed of your PC.
7.LAUNCH APPS FAST
To select Taskbar apps from the keyboard, hold the Windows key and press one of the numbers across the top of your keyboard. Press [1] to launch the first icon, [2] the second, [3] the third, carrying on up to [0] (that represents 10).
This allows you to open items in seconds.
8.FAST TASKSWITCHING
To quickly switch between windows of the same application, hold down [Ctrl] as you click the app’s Taskbar icon.
This is great for when you have multiple windows of Internet Explorer open, or when you’re working with a selection of photos and images.
9.KEYBOARD SPEED-UP
To switch to a Taskbar application from the keyboard, hold down the Windows key and press [T] to select the Taskbar, then use the left and right arrows to select an application and [Return] to launch it.
This can be easier than remembering numbers.
10.RELAUNCH WITH A CLICK
If you’ve launched an application and then want to run another copy, don’t go back to the Start menu – just hold down [Shift] and click the app’s Taskbar icon; Windows will fire up another instance of the program. Again, this works
especially well for browsing.
11.GET A PREVIEW
If you work with multiple window or tabs, finding them can be a drag. In Windows 7, click the program icon on the Taskbar to get live preview windows of every tab or window.
This will allow you to easily navigate to where you want to be.
12.HALT RUNAWAY PROGRAMS
If you can’t close a buggy program that is grabbing all your processor time and slowing everything else down, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] to launch Task Manager. Click ‘Processes’, then select ‘Show processes from all users’. Click the
CPU column header and find the program that is hogging the most CPU time.
Right-click the program, select ‘Set Affinity’ and clear all but one of your processor core boxes.
This will stop the program from using them and your machine will then speed up.
13.UNINSTALL THE RIGHT SOFTWARE
Uninstalling unwanted programs can speed up your PC. But which ones should go? Launch the ‘Uninstall a Program’ applet in the Control Panel and click the ‘Installed On’ column header to sort your programs by the date you installed them.
If you don’t see this option, right-click a column header and check the ‘Installed On’ box – if necessary, click ‘More’ to locate it.
You can see which programs you installed long ago. If there are any you’ve forgotten about that are surplus to requirements, uninstall them to make room for others.
14.LAUNCH INTERNET EXPLORER FASTER
If Internet Explorer seems slow to launch, fire up the browser, click ‘Tools > Manage Add-ons’, and click ‘Toolbars & Extensions’. This displays all your add-ons, along with a Load Time figure that shows how long they took to launch.
If you spot one that’s wasting time and you definitely don’t need it, uninstall it, or click the extension and select ‘Disable’.
15.HIGH PERFORMANCE MODE
Windows 7 Power Options can make a real difference to system speed. Go to ‘Control Panel >Hardware and Sound > Power Options’, and ensure you have ‘High Performance’ selected.
Alternatively, if your computer is being too demanding on your laptop’s battery, then you can go into a low power mode, but this will slow Windows down.
16. SET YOUR PC TO BOOT QUICKER
If you’ve installed multiple versions of Windows on your computer, you’ll get a menu asking which version you would like to launch.
By default, the PC waits up to 30 seconds before selecting the default choice.
If that’s too long,launch ‘MSCONFIG.EXE’, click the ‘Boot’ tab and set the Timeout figure to 10 seconds. This will allow you to get working faster.
22.DELETE DUPLICATE MUSIC IN iTUNES
If you’re an iOS user, then you may well have suffered from iTunes’s nasty tendency of duplicating music.
Unfortunately, the way iTunes likes to store your files in Windows is very different and it can lead to repetition of tracks.
Luckily, iTunes has included a tool that finds, identifies and removes duplicates, keeping your music collection trim and, more importantly, your computer lean.
23.REMOVE OLD PICTURES
When you edit a photograph in Windows Live Photo Gallery it keeps a copy of the original forever.
That’s great if you’ve actually made it look awful or want to keep the original, but otherwise it’s a waste of space.
To tweak this, launch Photo Gallery, click ‘File > Options’ and set ‘Move originals to Recycle Bin after’ to one month – or longer if you prefer.
24.SAVE RESOURCES
If you’ve installed an antivirus package, it’s a waste of resources to have Windows Defender running as well, since you will essentially have two programs doing the same tasks.
To turn off Defender, click ‘Start’, type Defender and click ‘Windows Defender’ to fire up the program. Click ‘Tools > Options > Administrator’ and clear the ‘Use This Program’ box, then click ‘Save’.
25.SPOT HIDDEN WINDOWS
Programs sometimes display a message asking you to do something, but it’s under another window and you don’t see it. You’re waiting for the program, it’s waiting for you, so nothing happens.
The window is made visible after 200 seconds, but you can shorten this lengthy delay.
Launch REGEDIT, go to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’, double-click ForegroundLockTimeout’ and select ‘Decimal’. Change the value to 30,000 milliseconds (30 seconds) and see how this works.
26.DISABLE AERO PERMANENTLY
If you’re running Windows 7 on an underpowered computer, improve performance a little by turning off the Aero interface.
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select ‘Personalize’, scroll to ‘Basic and High Contrast Themes’ and click ‘Windows 7 Basic’. If you miss the old look, return to the ‘Personalize’ dialog and choose an Aero Theme.
27.DISABLE AERO TEMPORARILY
When you’re running a program that requires all your RAM, you can give it a little extra by temporarily turning off Aero.
Browse to the executable file or its shortcut, right-click it, select ‘Properties > Compatibility’ and check ‘Disable desktop composition’. Run the program and Aero is turned off. Aero is restored when the program is shut down.
27.DISABLE AERO TEMPORARILY
When you’re running a program that requires all your RAM, you can give it a little extra by temporarily turning off Aero.
Browse to the executable file or its shortcut, right-click it, select ‘Properties > Compatibility’ and check ‘Disable desktop composition’. Run the program and Aero is turned off.
Aero is restored when the program is shut down.
38.USE ONE DEFRAG TOOL ONLY
If you’ve installed a third-party defrag tool, disable the Windows version. Otherwise it may continue to run, therefore wasting time and resources.
To turn it off, click ‘Start’, type Defrag, click ‘Disk Defragmenter’ and select ‘Configure Schedule’. Clear the ‘Run on a schedule’ box and that’s it.
39.BROWSE MENUS AT SPEED
A Registry edit can shorten the pause before Windows menus expand, therefore speeding up navigation.
Launch REGEDIT, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Desktop, double-click ‘MenuShowDelay’, and select ‘Decimal’. Change the default – 200, which is 0.2 seconds, works for us.
The result is a noticeably more instant browsing experience, which is highly addictive. Once you’ve enjoyed Windows opening like lightning, going back to the normal setting will feel like watching a slow-motion replay.
40.SOLVE SLOW STARTS
If Windows 7 is taking a long time to launch or shut down, the Event Viewer may tell you which program or driver is responsible. Click ‘Start’, type Eventvwr.msc and press [Return].
Expand the Applications and Services Logs section and browse to Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostic Performance\Operational.
Scroll the events list on your PC to see if Windows knows who to blame for your performance issues.
41.FIX THE BOOT BUG
Is your Windows 7 desktop background a solid colour? Then it may mean your PC takes 30 seconds longer than usual to boot. To restore normal start-up performance, change your background to an image; this will make your desktop look better as well.
But if you’re set on solid colours, then install a hotfix from Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977346) that will return your system to normal.
42.SEARCH THE WEB FROM YOUR START MENU
Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate users are able to set up the Start Search option to search the web.
In Start Search type gpedit and open the app.
Then navigate to ‘User Configuration >Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar’. Then doubleclick on ‘Add Search Internet link to Start Menu’.
When you type a search into the Start Menu, there will be the option to make it a web search, so you can get the information you need faster.
44.RESTORE RUN
Many people used to enjoy the Run option in Windows XP. If you are one of the people who misses this function, there is a way to get it back. Right-click the ‘Start’ orb, select ‘Properties > Customise’, check the Run Command box and
click ‘OK’. A Run option will then appear on the Start menu.
45.LAUNCH APPLETS FAST
Don’t waste time browsing to the Control Panel for the right tool when it is possible for you to launch it directly instead.
To run Device Manager, for example, click ‘Start’, type Device in the search box and Windows should display a Device Manager link for you. Windows also responds to vague searches, so if you type partition, the disk management tool will be listed.
You can also type the applet’s executable file name, such as devmgmt.msc (Device Manager), services.msc (Services), dfrg.msc (Disk Defragmenter), compmgmt. msc (Computer Management), diskmgmt.msc (Disk Management) and compmgmt.msc (Computer Management Console).
46.OPEN WEBSITES WITH A KEYPRESS
Click ‘Favourites’, right-click the Favourite for your particular site, and select ‘Properties’. Click in the ‘Shortcut Key’ box and press the key combination you’d like to launch the site – [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [G] for Google, say. Close your browser,
press your shortcut key, and your default browser opens to display the site.
This also works for any Windows programs and is a great way to get things done a lot faster.
47.ACCESS NETWORK FILES FASTER
There is an easy way to work on network files even when that PC isn’t connected (in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise).
When the network computer is available, browse to the file or folder you need, right-click it, make sure that ‘Always Available Offline’ is checked, and Windows will then make a local copy available for you.
48.FIND THE RIGHT FILE
If you occasionally need to search the contents of files that haven’t been indexed, just start your search with content:.
This will tell Windows to go looking inside your files for the right information, even if Windows Search hasn’t gone through and done it already. As this happens only a couple of times a day, new files might not be indexed, so it’s well worth doing. For example, typing content:zebra into any search box will locate files that have Zebra in their contents.
49.SAVE TIME ON SWAPPING PRINTERS
To have Windows switch your default printer as you change networks, click ‘Start’, type Devices and then click on ‘Devices and Printers’.
Choose a printer and click on ‘Manage Default Printers’. Select ‘Change my default printer when I change networks’, choose a network and a default printer you’d like, and click ‘Add’. Repeat for other networks and pick a default printer.
Whenever you connect to a network, Windows will now automatically set a defined printer.
71.SPEED UP START MENU SEARCHES
Right-click on the ‘Start’ button and select ‘Properties’. Click ‘Customize’, scroll down the list of available options and select ‘Search without public folders’ under ‘Search other files and libraries’. Click ‘OK’ and results should appear much quicker than before, as there are far fewer places to search. Public folders are rarely used by most people, so axing them is an easy way to get your computer moving faster.
72.LOAD WEBSITES MORE QUICKLY
By changing your DNS servers to OpenDNS, you will be able to browse the internet more quickly and safely.
Visit www.opendns. com/start to sign up for a free basic plan today
73.SCALE BACK VISUAL EFFECTS
If you don’t have a lot of memory installed (1GB in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, or 256MB in Windows XP), click ‘Start’, right-click ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer‘ and select ‘Properties’. Select ‘Advanced system settings’ (‘Advanced’ tab in
Windows XP) and click ‘Settings’ under Performance. Select ‘Adjust for best performance’ and click ‘OK’ to give yourself a speed boost.
74.SPEED UP YOUR DRIVES
If you’re not afraid of data loss, press [Windows] + [R], type devmgmt.msc in the box that appears and press [Return] to open Device Manager. Expand Disk Drives, double-click each hard drive or USB drive in turn and switch to the ‘Policies’ tab. Select the option for better performance, but make a note of the warnings before clicking ‘OK’.
If you’re not backing up your system, then avoid this tip, as it dramatically increases the likelihood of a disk failure, which can be catastrophic.
75.GIVE YOUR PC A HELPING HAND
If you have a spare USB flash drive, you may be able to use it to give your PC a small boost. Plug the drive in and – if prompted – choose ‘Speed up my system’. Otherwise, click ‘Start > Computer’, right-click your flash drive and choose
‘Properties’, then select ‘Use this device to enable ReadyBoost’.
76.MAKE YOUR PC AS GOOD AS NEW
Get that shop-fresh feeling back by reinstalling Windows, using the disc that came with your PC. When you’re done, go to ‘Start > Search’, type Back up and Restore and set a restore point, so you can roll back to this clean setup in the future, bypassing the installation process.
77.MANAGE YOUR FONTS
Over time, the number of fonts installed on your PC swells and each one uses up precious system resources.
Use a program such as AMP Font Viewer (on the cover disc) to remove those fonts you never use. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users should right-click the program shortcut, choose ‘Properties > Compatibility tab’ and tick ‘Run this program as an administrator’ for it to run properly.
83.DEFRAG ON A SCHEDULE
Choose ‘Settings > Program Settings > Schedule’ to have your drive defragged regularly without having to remember to do it. We suggest no more than weekly.
84.DEFRAG IN THE BACKGROUND
Alternatively, choose ‘View > Auto Defragmentation’ to have Disk Defrag defragment your drive in the background when necessary, preventing fragmentation from building up in the first place.
85.MINIMISE DISRUPTION
If you find that the defragging process is interfering with your other work and slowing down your PC when you’re trying to get things done, choose ‘Settings > Defrag Priority > Low Priority’. Your drives take longer to defrag, but you
should find your other programs perform better in the meantime.
86.TWEAK LIBRARY SETTINGS
Edit an existing Library or create a new one by clicking ‘Start > Computer’, followed by ‘Libraries’ in the Navigation pane. Click ‘New Library’ or right-click an existing Library and choose ‘Properties’ to include new folders in the library
or remove existing ones.
87.SET UP YOUR FAVOURITE FOLDERS
If you want even quicker access to specific folders – again from any folder window or when choosing ‘Open’ or ‘Save’ in a program – just browse to the drive or directory containing your target folder, then click and drag it into place on the
Navigation pane under Favourites.
88.USE THE ‘SEND TO’ FOLDER
The Send To folder contains a number of useful shortcuts available to any file or folder, simply by right-clicking them and choosing ‘Send To’. This enables you to open a file in a specific program, compress it into a zipped folder in order to save space and create desktop shortcuts. And that’s just for starters.
89.INVERT SELECTION
If you need to select a large group of non-consecutive files within a folder, it’s quicker to select the files you don’t need before choosing ‘Edit > Invert Selection’.
If you can’t find this at first, don’t worry – the Edit menu is hidden by default in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
Choose ‘Organize > Folder and Search Options > View tab’, then tick ‘Always show menus’ and click ‘OK’ to display it.
90.SPEED UP INTERNET EXPLORER
If your Internet Explorer takes an age to open, select ‘Tools > Internet Options > Programs tab’. Click on ‘Manage add-ons’ and view the Load Times for each add-on (you may need to scroll to the right in order to view this). Add-ons cause
Internet Explorer to run at a slower rate, so have a go at disabling sluggish add-ons unless they’re important, such as those linked to your security program.
This isn’t a problem that’s confined to Internet Explorer.
A unique style point of the Firefox browser is its array of add-ons.
If you’ve added applets that you’re not using, slash them and enjoy the feeling of a more responsive browser.
If your PC is getting slow, or is taking too long to carry out easy tasks, then there are plenty of ways to speed it up.
Here, we run through 100 easy techniques to save time and make your PC run faster…
1.TRIM YOUR START-UP
One of the biggest causes of your PC slowing down over time is too many programs competing to start when your machine boots up. Annoyingly for PC users, every turn is plagued by people peddling their wares, regardless of the impact on your user experience. Manufacturers pre-load trialware and bloated software onto your machine, while legitimate software makers believe that their programs should open as soon as your computer starts. The result is chaotic and can slow your PC to a crawl. Luckily, it’s easy to trim things back and get things moving swiftly.
In Windows 7 you can use Windows Defender to help stay on top of programs. Just go to the Start menu, type msconfig, and open the console. At the top you’ll see a tab called ‘Startup’. Click on it and you’ll see lists all of the programs that are scheduled to start when Windows does.
A lot of these are services for your laptop, and a clear start-up doesn’t always mean smoother running. For example, many laptops will have the HD Audio software start up automatically, which is pretty essential. However, as you scroll down the list, you’ll start to see regular offenders.
If you have been plagued by a slow boot, you’ll know which programs are the most bloated, so uncheck these before pressing ‘Apply’. If you don’t recognise a program, or its location doesn’t show it to be in the Program Files, we recommend that you just ignore it altogether.
2.CLEAN UP YOUR HARD DRIVE
Over time your PC will become clogged up with unwanted files, and this will cause it to get slower. Just like clearing out a racing car that’s full of unwanted junk, stripping the rubbish from your computer will make an enormous difference to its run times.
The first thing you can do is to go to ‘Start> Accessories > System Tools’ and click on ‘Disk Cleanup’. This checks your PC for unwanted temporary files that have been left behind after programs have been installed, as well as your Recycle Bin and other common clutter offenders.
It will give an estimate of how much waste you can lose. Just click ‘OK’ to perform the clean-up.
If your PC is really full, then you might need something a little stronger to declutter your system, so we’ve included an industrial strength program on the cover disc.
CCleaner is the Cillit Bang of Windows machines and goes a lot deeper than System Tools. Install the program and enable the option to smartly detect cookies to keep.
When the program opens, click on the ‘Analyse’ button to see how much rubbish is present – you might be in for a surprise.
When you’re ready, just click ‘Run Cleaner’ and watch as CCleaner trims the fat from your computer, leaving it leaner and faster. Run the program every month and you will be less susceptible to your PC slowing down in future.
There are other programs that can declutter your system and could help make a real difference to the speed of your PC.
3.DEFRAG YOUR COMPUTER
Some ways of speeding up your PC are as old as the hills, and defragging has been a part of Windows for as long as we can remember. The premise is that your spinning hard disk records information in sectors and, over time, these sectors get scattered about, which means that it takes longer to retrieve your information.
Defragging – or defragmenting– takes these fragments of data and orders them neatly. This means that your hard drive doesn’t have to work so arduously when you want to find that photo of Auntie Joan drunk at Christmas, which could be stored in a thousand different areas on your disk.
Windows has its own defragger, which you can access by going to ‘Start > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter’. Choose your drive (it’s usually C
and let Windows run its magic.It takes a long time to run a defragger due to the nature of reordering thousands of sectors.
It can make the PC unresponsive,so it’s best to defrag overnight.
5.STREAMLINE YOUR PC
PCs take a lot of abuse, and those who like to try new software will often leave lots of unwanted applications on their PCs. It is quick and easy to remove them, and doing so will speed up your PC.
To begin, click ‘Start > Control Panel’, then select ‘Uninstall a program’. If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, then right-click the ‘Name’ column header, select ‘More’ and choose the details you’d like to see about each program.
We’d recommend checking the ‘Name’, ‘Size’, ‘Installed On’ and ‘Last Used On’ boxes.
Now choose to sort by ‘Date Last Used in Windows XP’, or click the ‘Last Used On’ column header in Windows Vista or Windows 7, and you’ll see your applications sorted by when they were last run.
If you have programs that haven’t been used in months, then try getting rid of them. Alternatively, switch to a free download that can be installed when and where you need it.
Many programs are now available in the cloud. This means that there’s next to no footprint on your PC and the bulk of storage is contained online. There are cloud versions of Photoshop, Office Word, Excel and OneNote, all of which offer stripped back functionality.
You can also click ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ or ‘Add/Remove Windows Computers’ to get rid of Windows applets you’re not using, but this generally has less effect.
If you never run an applet then it won’t slow you down and turning a feature off won’t free up much, if any, disk space either.
6.MANAGE YOUR SERVICES
Services are programs designed to work silently in the background on behalf of both Windows and some third-party applications.
They’re loaded before the Welcome screen appears, so they will run regardless of which user is logged on.
Services cover a wide range of uses and, depending on your computer, not all will be needed.
For example, the Windows Update service is essential because it monitors and downloads updates for Windows, but the Bluetooth Support service is only relevant if you have a Bluetooth adaptor installed in your PC.
Having these services running can be a real drain on your PC’s performance, but with some nifty tools you can get them under control.
We’ve used SMART, which is found on this month’s cover disc, and takes a lot of the risk out of cancelling services by telling you which ones are safe to stop. Follow our three-step guide to using SMART (opposite page) and you could quickly make a real difference to the speed of your PC.
7.LAUNCH APPS FAST
To select Taskbar apps from the keyboard, hold the Windows key and press one of the numbers across the top of your keyboard. Press [1] to launch the first icon, [2] the second, [3] the third, carrying on up to [0] (that represents 10).
This allows you to open items in seconds.
8.FAST TASKSWITCHING
To quickly switch between windows of the same application, hold down [Ctrl] as you click the app’s Taskbar icon.
This is great for when you have multiple windows of Internet Explorer open, or when you’re working with a selection of photos and images.
9.KEYBOARD SPEED-UP
To switch to a Taskbar application from the keyboard, hold down the Windows key and press [T] to select the Taskbar, then use the left and right arrows to select an application and [Return] to launch it.
This can be easier than remembering numbers.
10.RELAUNCH WITH A CLICK
If you’ve launched an application and then want to run another copy, don’t go back to the Start menu – just hold down [Shift] and click the app’s Taskbar icon; Windows will fire up another instance of the program. Again, this works
especially well for browsing.
11.GET A PREVIEW
If you work with multiple window or tabs, finding them can be a drag. In Windows 7, click the program icon on the Taskbar to get live preview windows of every tab or window.
This will allow you to easily navigate to where you want to be.
12.HALT RUNAWAY PROGRAMS
If you can’t close a buggy program that is grabbing all your processor time and slowing everything else down, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] to launch Task Manager. Click ‘Processes’, then select ‘Show processes from all users’. Click the
CPU column header and find the program that is hogging the most CPU time.
Right-click the program, select ‘Set Affinity’ and clear all but one of your processor core boxes.
This will stop the program from using them and your machine will then speed up.
13.UNINSTALL THE RIGHT SOFTWARE
Uninstalling unwanted programs can speed up your PC. But which ones should go? Launch the ‘Uninstall a Program’ applet in the Control Panel and click the ‘Installed On’ column header to sort your programs by the date you installed them.
If you don’t see this option, right-click a column header and check the ‘Installed On’ box – if necessary, click ‘More’ to locate it.
You can see which programs you installed long ago. If there are any you’ve forgotten about that are surplus to requirements, uninstall them to make room for others.
14.LAUNCH INTERNET EXPLORER FASTER
If Internet Explorer seems slow to launch, fire up the browser, click ‘Tools > Manage Add-ons’, and click ‘Toolbars & Extensions’. This displays all your add-ons, along with a Load Time figure that shows how long they took to launch.
If you spot one that’s wasting time and you definitely don’t need it, uninstall it, or click the extension and select ‘Disable’.
15.HIGH PERFORMANCE MODE
Windows 7 Power Options can make a real difference to system speed. Go to ‘Control Panel >Hardware and Sound > Power Options’, and ensure you have ‘High Performance’ selected.
Alternatively, if your computer is being too demanding on your laptop’s battery, then you can go into a low power mode, but this will slow Windows down.
16. SET YOUR PC TO BOOT QUICKER
If you’ve installed multiple versions of Windows on your computer, you’ll get a menu asking which version you would like to launch.
By default, the PC waits up to 30 seconds before selecting the default choice.
If that’s too long,launch ‘MSCONFIG.EXE’, click the ‘Boot’ tab and set the Timeout figure to 10 seconds. This will allow you to get working faster.
22.DELETE DUPLICATE MUSIC IN iTUNES
If you’re an iOS user, then you may well have suffered from iTunes’s nasty tendency of duplicating music.
Unfortunately, the way iTunes likes to store your files in Windows is very different and it can lead to repetition of tracks.
Luckily, iTunes has included a tool that finds, identifies and removes duplicates, keeping your music collection trim and, more importantly, your computer lean.
23.REMOVE OLD PICTURES
When you edit a photograph in Windows Live Photo Gallery it keeps a copy of the original forever.
That’s great if you’ve actually made it look awful or want to keep the original, but otherwise it’s a waste of space.
To tweak this, launch Photo Gallery, click ‘File > Options’ and set ‘Move originals to Recycle Bin after’ to one month – or longer if you prefer.
24.SAVE RESOURCES
If you’ve installed an antivirus package, it’s a waste of resources to have Windows Defender running as well, since you will essentially have two programs doing the same tasks.
To turn off Defender, click ‘Start’, type Defender and click ‘Windows Defender’ to fire up the program. Click ‘Tools > Options > Administrator’ and clear the ‘Use This Program’ box, then click ‘Save’.
25.SPOT HIDDEN WINDOWS
Programs sometimes display a message asking you to do something, but it’s under another window and you don’t see it. You’re waiting for the program, it’s waiting for you, so nothing happens.
The window is made visible after 200 seconds, but you can shorten this lengthy delay.
Launch REGEDIT, go to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’, double-click ForegroundLockTimeout’ and select ‘Decimal’. Change the value to 30,000 milliseconds (30 seconds) and see how this works.
26.DISABLE AERO PERMANENTLY
If you’re running Windows 7 on an underpowered computer, improve performance a little by turning off the Aero interface.
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select ‘Personalize’, scroll to ‘Basic and High Contrast Themes’ and click ‘Windows 7 Basic’. If you miss the old look, return to the ‘Personalize’ dialog and choose an Aero Theme.
27.DISABLE AERO TEMPORARILY
When you’re running a program that requires all your RAM, you can give it a little extra by temporarily turning off Aero.
Browse to the executable file or its shortcut, right-click it, select ‘Properties > Compatibility’ and check ‘Disable desktop composition’. Run the program and Aero is turned off. Aero is restored when the program is shut down.
27.DISABLE AERO TEMPORARILY
When you’re running a program that requires all your RAM, you can give it a little extra by temporarily turning off Aero.
Browse to the executable file or its shortcut, right-click it, select ‘Properties > Compatibility’ and check ‘Disable desktop composition’. Run the program and Aero is turned off.
Aero is restored when the program is shut down.
38.USE ONE DEFRAG TOOL ONLY
If you’ve installed a third-party defrag tool, disable the Windows version. Otherwise it may continue to run, therefore wasting time and resources.
To turn it off, click ‘Start’, type Defrag, click ‘Disk Defragmenter’ and select ‘Configure Schedule’. Clear the ‘Run on a schedule’ box and that’s it.
39.BROWSE MENUS AT SPEED
A Registry edit can shorten the pause before Windows menus expand, therefore speeding up navigation.
Launch REGEDIT, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Desktop, double-click ‘MenuShowDelay’, and select ‘Decimal’. Change the default – 200, which is 0.2 seconds, works for us.
The result is a noticeably more instant browsing experience, which is highly addictive. Once you’ve enjoyed Windows opening like lightning, going back to the normal setting will feel like watching a slow-motion replay.
40.SOLVE SLOW STARTS
If Windows 7 is taking a long time to launch or shut down, the Event Viewer may tell you which program or driver is responsible. Click ‘Start’, type Eventvwr.msc and press [Return].
Expand the Applications and Services Logs section and browse to Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostic Performance\Operational.
Scroll the events list on your PC to see if Windows knows who to blame for your performance issues.
41.FIX THE BOOT BUG
Is your Windows 7 desktop background a solid colour? Then it may mean your PC takes 30 seconds longer than usual to boot. To restore normal start-up performance, change your background to an image; this will make your desktop look better as well.
But if you’re set on solid colours, then install a hotfix from Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977346) that will return your system to normal.
42.SEARCH THE WEB FROM YOUR START MENU
Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate users are able to set up the Start Search option to search the web.
In Start Search type gpedit and open the app.
Then navigate to ‘User Configuration >Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar’. Then doubleclick on ‘Add Search Internet link to Start Menu’.
When you type a search into the Start Menu, there will be the option to make it a web search, so you can get the information you need faster.
44.RESTORE RUN
Many people used to enjoy the Run option in Windows XP. If you are one of the people who misses this function, there is a way to get it back. Right-click the ‘Start’ orb, select ‘Properties > Customise’, check the Run Command box and
click ‘OK’. A Run option will then appear on the Start menu.
45.LAUNCH APPLETS FAST
Don’t waste time browsing to the Control Panel for the right tool when it is possible for you to launch it directly instead.
To run Device Manager, for example, click ‘Start’, type Device in the search box and Windows should display a Device Manager link for you. Windows also responds to vague searches, so if you type partition, the disk management tool will be listed.
You can also type the applet’s executable file name, such as devmgmt.msc (Device Manager), services.msc (Services), dfrg.msc (Disk Defragmenter), compmgmt. msc (Computer Management), diskmgmt.msc (Disk Management) and compmgmt.msc (Computer Management Console).
46.OPEN WEBSITES WITH A KEYPRESS
Click ‘Favourites’, right-click the Favourite for your particular site, and select ‘Properties’. Click in the ‘Shortcut Key’ box and press the key combination you’d like to launch the site – [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [G] for Google, say. Close your browser,
press your shortcut key, and your default browser opens to display the site.
This also works for any Windows programs and is a great way to get things done a lot faster.
47.ACCESS NETWORK FILES FASTER
There is an easy way to work on network files even when that PC isn’t connected (in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise).
When the network computer is available, browse to the file or folder you need, right-click it, make sure that ‘Always Available Offline’ is checked, and Windows will then make a local copy available for you.
48.FIND THE RIGHT FILE
If you occasionally need to search the contents of files that haven’t been indexed, just start your search with content:.
This will tell Windows to go looking inside your files for the right information, even if Windows Search hasn’t gone through and done it already. As this happens only a couple of times a day, new files might not be indexed, so it’s well worth doing. For example, typing content:zebra into any search box will locate files that have Zebra in their contents.
49.SAVE TIME ON SWAPPING PRINTERS
To have Windows switch your default printer as you change networks, click ‘Start’, type Devices and then click on ‘Devices and Printers’.
Choose a printer and click on ‘Manage Default Printers’. Select ‘Change my default printer when I change networks’, choose a network and a default printer you’d like, and click ‘Add’. Repeat for other networks and pick a default printer.
Whenever you connect to a network, Windows will now automatically set a defined printer.
71.SPEED UP START MENU SEARCHES
Right-click on the ‘Start’ button and select ‘Properties’. Click ‘Customize’, scroll down the list of available options and select ‘Search without public folders’ under ‘Search other files and libraries’. Click ‘OK’ and results should appear much quicker than before, as there are far fewer places to search. Public folders are rarely used by most people, so axing them is an easy way to get your computer moving faster.
72.LOAD WEBSITES MORE QUICKLY
By changing your DNS servers to OpenDNS, you will be able to browse the internet more quickly and safely.
Visit www.opendns. com/start to sign up for a free basic plan today
73.SCALE BACK VISUAL EFFECTS
If you don’t have a lot of memory installed (1GB in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, or 256MB in Windows XP), click ‘Start’, right-click ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer‘ and select ‘Properties’. Select ‘Advanced system settings’ (‘Advanced’ tab in
Windows XP) and click ‘Settings’ under Performance. Select ‘Adjust for best performance’ and click ‘OK’ to give yourself a speed boost.
74.SPEED UP YOUR DRIVES
If you’re not afraid of data loss, press [Windows] + [R], type devmgmt.msc in the box that appears and press [Return] to open Device Manager. Expand Disk Drives, double-click each hard drive or USB drive in turn and switch to the ‘Policies’ tab. Select the option for better performance, but make a note of the warnings before clicking ‘OK’.
If you’re not backing up your system, then avoid this tip, as it dramatically increases the likelihood of a disk failure, which can be catastrophic.
75.GIVE YOUR PC A HELPING HAND
If you have a spare USB flash drive, you may be able to use it to give your PC a small boost. Plug the drive in and – if prompted – choose ‘Speed up my system’. Otherwise, click ‘Start > Computer’, right-click your flash drive and choose
‘Properties’, then select ‘Use this device to enable ReadyBoost’.
76.MAKE YOUR PC AS GOOD AS NEW
Get that shop-fresh feeling back by reinstalling Windows, using the disc that came with your PC. When you’re done, go to ‘Start > Search’, type Back up and Restore and set a restore point, so you can roll back to this clean setup in the future, bypassing the installation process.
77.MANAGE YOUR FONTS
Over time, the number of fonts installed on your PC swells and each one uses up precious system resources.
Use a program such as AMP Font Viewer (on the cover disc) to remove those fonts you never use. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users should right-click the program shortcut, choose ‘Properties > Compatibility tab’ and tick ‘Run this program as an administrator’ for it to run properly.
83.DEFRAG ON A SCHEDULE
Choose ‘Settings > Program Settings > Schedule’ to have your drive defragged regularly without having to remember to do it. We suggest no more than weekly.
84.DEFRAG IN THE BACKGROUND
Alternatively, choose ‘View > Auto Defragmentation’ to have Disk Defrag defragment your drive in the background when necessary, preventing fragmentation from building up in the first place.
85.MINIMISE DISRUPTION
If you find that the defragging process is interfering with your other work and slowing down your PC when you’re trying to get things done, choose ‘Settings > Defrag Priority > Low Priority’. Your drives take longer to defrag, but you
should find your other programs perform better in the meantime.
86.TWEAK LIBRARY SETTINGS
Edit an existing Library or create a new one by clicking ‘Start > Computer’, followed by ‘Libraries’ in the Navigation pane. Click ‘New Library’ or right-click an existing Library and choose ‘Properties’ to include new folders in the library
or remove existing ones.
87.SET UP YOUR FAVOURITE FOLDERS
If you want even quicker access to specific folders – again from any folder window or when choosing ‘Open’ or ‘Save’ in a program – just browse to the drive or directory containing your target folder, then click and drag it into place on the
Navigation pane under Favourites.
88.USE THE ‘SEND TO’ FOLDER
The Send To folder contains a number of useful shortcuts available to any file or folder, simply by right-clicking them and choosing ‘Send To’. This enables you to open a file in a specific program, compress it into a zipped folder in order to save space and create desktop shortcuts. And that’s just for starters.
89.INVERT SELECTION
If you need to select a large group of non-consecutive files within a folder, it’s quicker to select the files you don’t need before choosing ‘Edit > Invert Selection’.
If you can’t find this at first, don’t worry – the Edit menu is hidden by default in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
Choose ‘Organize > Folder and Search Options > View tab’, then tick ‘Always show menus’ and click ‘OK’ to display it.
90.SPEED UP INTERNET EXPLORER
If your Internet Explorer takes an age to open, select ‘Tools > Internet Options > Programs tab’. Click on ‘Manage add-ons’ and view the Load Times for each add-on (you may need to scroll to the right in order to view this). Add-ons cause
Internet Explorer to run at a slower rate, so have a go at disabling sluggish add-ons unless they’re important, such as those linked to your security program.
This isn’t a problem that’s confined to Internet Explorer.
A unique style point of the Firefox browser is its array of add-ons.
If you’ve added applets that you’re not using, slash them and enjoy the feeling of a more responsive browser.
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