Last Updated: May 30, Approved. This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades.
He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! This article has been viewed 2, times. As your computer ages, it accumulates fragments of temporary files and the hard drive becomes encumbered as a result; after enough time has passed, you will notice windows 10 laptop slow free download significant windows 10 laptop slow free download in your computer's processing speed.
While you can't completely negate computer slow-down as it pertains to age, you can do a few things to speed up your computer's processing speed and startup time. Open the Task Manager. Click the Start-up tab. Select a process. Click Disable. Repeat for other processes that you don't need to open automatically. Reboot your PC. Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue.
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Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1 of This will bring up your PC's task menu. If you have a myriad of programs starting up when you log into your computer, you'll likely have to deal with several minutes of general slow-down. Disabling startup programs will fix this issue. Click the "Task Manager" option. This will open your computer's Task Manager, from which you can alter or end PC processes. Click the "Startup" tab.
This is near the top of your Task Manager window; doing so will bring up a list of the programs that boot up when you start your PC.
Click on a process you wish to disable. Note that "disabling" a process will not disable it from running at all; rather, it will prevent the program from starting up automatically. Click the "Disable" button. This is in the bottom right corner of your Task Manager window. You can also right-click a process and then click "Disable" in the context menu.
Repeat this disabling process for all relevant programs. Some common high memory-usage culprits include Skype and Steam If you're unsure of which programs to disable, look at the "Startup impact" column on the right side of the Task Manager window; generally speaking, you should disable any "High"- or "Medium"-rated programs.
It is recommended that you leave your antivirus enabled; otherwise your antivirus might not run at startup and thus you would be unprotected from viruses.
Close the Task Manager when you're done. To get the most out of this process, you'll also need to clear out the Hidden Icons menu. Open the "Hidden Icons" menu. This is the upward-facing arrow on the right side of your taskbar and to the left of your clock. Click or tap it to open your menu. Review your Hidden Icons menu. Often, you'll find background processes running here e. Killing these processes will windows 10 laptop slow free download up random access memory RAM which will in turn increase your computer's processing speed.
You can end these processes from within this menu. Right-click a process you wish to end. For example, if you aren't using your computer's cloud storage app, you should consider ending this process. Click "Exit" at the bottom of the context menu.
This will usually prompt you to confirm your decision by clicking "Exit App Name ". You'll need to repeat this process for every single process you want to end.
Part 2 of Open Control Panel. Search for it in the Search bar, located near the windows 10 laptop slow free download right corner of your screen. Fast startup is a new Windows 10 windows 10 laptop slow free download, which speeds up the startup time on your computer.
Next scroll down to the Shutdown settings screen and check the "Turn on fast startup" option. Part 3 of Open the Start menu. This is in the bottom left corner of your computer screen. Visual effects in Windows 8 and 10 were designed for relevant brand-new machines; if you updated to one of these operating systems with an older computer, you've probably noticed some significant slow-down.
Turning down the visual effects will speed up your computer's processing immensely. Open the "Control Panel" windows 10 laptop slow free download. You can do this by windows 10 laptop slow free download "control panel" into Start's search bar, or you can open Control Panel manually from the "Windows System" folder at the bottom of the Start menu. Type "Adjust the appearance" into Control Panel's search bar. The search bar is in the top right corner of your Control Panel window.
Click "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows". This should be near the top of the "System" group on the left side of the Control Panel window. Review your computer's visual effects. You have a few options in this menu: Adjust for best appearance - This will turn Windows effects all the way up, which is effectively the opposite of what you should do.
Adjust for best performance - This will turn Windows effects down considerably, speeding up your computer in the process. Custom - Un-check the box next to any feature you wish to disable. For optimal performance on an older machine, disable every feature. Click the option that best pertains to your PC. For older machines, using the Custom option to disable all visual effects is your best course of action, while the "Adjust for best performance" option will take care of most mid-range computers.
Exit the Performance Options window. You may notice a decrease in the presentation quality on your computer, but its processing speed should have increased. Part 4 of Open your Start menu.
This is in the lower left corner of your screen. Type "disk cleanup" into the search menu. You should see an app appear at the top of the Start screen.
Click the "Disk Cleanup" app. Disk Cleanup is a standard utility on an Windows computer; it rids your computer of temporary files, processes, and other small bits of information that can slow down your PC's processing speed. Go to source. Check every box under the "Files to Delete" heading. This will clear the following items from your computer's windows 10 laptop slow free download Downloaded program files Temporary internet files Recycle Bin contents Temporary files Thumbnails You may also see other options here depending on which default apps shipped with your device.
Windows 10 laptop slow free download perfectly safe to check any windows 10 laptop slow free download in this menu, so check these too.
Click "OK", then confirm by clicking "Delete Files". This will get rid of your computer's temporary files. If you don't perform this cleanup often, you can find several gigabytes' worth of temporary windows 10 laptop slow free download and such here.
Open Start again, then type "defrag" into the search bar. This will locate the disk defragmentation app on your computer.
