IT Tips & Tricks: Speed Up Your PC September 6, 2024 – Posted in: IT Support, IT Tips & Tricks
Four key ways to speed up your PC or laptop:
1. Regular Reboots
Restarting your computer at least once a week will make sure all updates are applied and it gets a chance to reset itself and remove any left over services and programs that might be slowing it down.
A key trick is to make sure that Fast Start is turned off. The option doesn’t shave more than a second or two off the startup time of a modern computer. What it does is tell your PC to go to sleep rather than turn off fully when you shut down. That means updates wont apply and you wont get a clean boot unless you restart rather than shut down. Simply go to Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do then untick the Turn on fast start-up box.
2. Turn Off Unnecessary Startup Programs
Some programs need to run on startup, things like audio drivers or system programs. Other programs decide independently that they are so important you must want them to start on startup. Things like OneDrive, Teams or Edge are common culprits. If you use OneDrive for backup or to sync your SharePoint drives it does need to start with the PC, but if not it will be an unnecessary drain on resources.
To check what is starting when your device turns on simply right click the start button and open Task Manager. Go to the Startup tab – if you only see icons on the left hand side then click the three lines at the top left to open out the menu – from here you can see what is starting on startup and disable unnecessary items.
3. Run Regular AntiVirus Scans
Your antivirus scan might slow things down a little whilst it is running, but nowhere near as much as a virus will. Regular scans will help make sure your computer isn’t struggling with spyware or malicious software. You may be able to set regular scans so you don’t need to remember to run them manually. Open your AntiVirus – Settings > Windows Security is a great place to find your virus and threat protection options.
4. Keep Your Computer Up to Date
Updates help protect you from security risks, but did you know they can also speed things up? Your device should run updates automatically but sometimes it needs a little help. Open Settings > Updates and check for updates, the run and install any that show up. Remember to click on Advanced Options, here you can toggle on updates for other Microsoft products and also download any optional updates.
There is one caution on updates – if you are on Windows 10 you may be offered the opportunity to update to Windows 11. If your device is less than 2 years old it should cope well, and bearing in mind Windows 10 goes out of support in October 2025 it’s a good idea to take the free upgrade. However you might find an older machine will struggle with Windows 11, potentially making it slower not faster.
If you’d like advice on how speed up your business PCs and laptops or would like to discuss any other IT Support needs you might have please give us a call on 01245 265100 or email us at .