Using our guide, you can speed up your laptop for free. You may not always be able to buy a new laptop, but you can save a lot of money and effort by speeding up your laptop and making it look new by following these steps: It’s all free.
The ways you get here can breathe new life into your existing laptop. It is also helpful if you bought a second-hand laptop (or a gift from a friend or relative).
We have listed nine affordable and comparatively easy ways of improving performance and speeding up your laptop.
Table of Contents
9 Best Ways to Speed up Your Laptop
1- Switch to a Solid-State Drive-SSD
Adding a solid-state drive to a laptop or PC is one of the best upgrades you can make. SSDs work in everything from old Lenovo ThinkPad laptops to dusty old Dell PCs, and the results are always worth it. Boot times are faster, reads/writes speed up significantly, and even the most frugal processors feel alive with an SSD on their side.
Since SSDs have no moving parts, read/write speeds are better than older optical (spinning disk) hard disk drives (HDDs). Buying SSDs won’t break your bank, but SSDs cost even more per GB than mechanical hard drives, which may mean compromising on storage.
2- Disable startup programs
When you turn on your PC, the startup program starts automatically. They run in the background and take up computer resources.
Therefore, if you have multiple autostart programs, you may experience slow start issues. Also, due to overload, it could take a while for the laptop to respond.
Turn off startup programs in Windows 7
Type MSConfig on the Windows logo key. Click MSConfig. Then click on Startup. Delete the checkbox next to the program that doesn’t need to run automatically at Startup.
Turn off startup programs on Windows 8 &10
Open Task Manager by pressing the Shift, Ctrl, and Esc keys simultaneously. Click Startup. After this, right-click the program you want to prevent from opening at Startup and select Disable. Your laptop should now be able to start faster.
3- Run Windows ReadyBoost
In Windows Vista and later, you can speed up your laptop using a built-in feature called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost uses an external flash drive to provide your computer with additional memory. This service is usually not available on most new PCs because of the hardware and performance benefits that outweigh the usefulness of the software.
4- Get rid of ‘bloatware.’
The newly purchased laptops also have many complex applications. These applications are only part of a commercial distribution process and can slow down your computer. These apps consume enough power and storage space. To save time and system power and to calm down, you should uninstall these apps immediately.
5- Virus and spyware removal
You can do this by running a built-in Windows Defender or third-party application. Still, your best bet is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, the top malware removal program from PCMag security guru Neil Rubenking. Free. But don’t forget to use ongoing anti-malware as well. Some AV products have a lighter system performance footprint than others, and Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is the lightest, according to Rubenking. Rubenking also awards AV software from Bitdefender and Kaspersky with 4.5-star Editors’ Choices. See our full roundup of the best antivirus software for more information.
6- Change the power plan
The power plan for all laptops is set to Balance by default to save more energy, and you may notice a slowdown in performance as a result. In this case, changing the power setting to High Performance will increase the speed of your laptop. The method is as follows.
You can type control on your keyboard by pressing the Windows logo key. Select Control panel. Then click Large icons. You can choose the high-performance after power option to speed up your laptop.
7- Restore your system by creating a Restore Point
In Control Panel, go to Security and System > System > System Protection to open the System Restore Options window.
You can restore your version of Windows to the saved restore point by pressing the big “System Restore” button. Your computer should create them regularly by default, but it will save more than before.
Click Configure to fine-tune your restore settings or create a new restore point. It’s not necessary to do this very often, but it’s a good idea to have a restore point for each driver if you encounter problems with new software or operating system updates.
8- Monitor CPU usage
There is a helpful feature that Task Manager hides in its cheat box. When you open the Task Manager window, you will see a small square icon with a grid pattern in the notification area in the lower right corner of the screen.
It may be hidden in the expanded menu. Drag it to the taskbar as needed by clicking the arrow. The icon is a microcosm of CPU usage, showing a small graph showing the amount of CPU currently in use, and hovering the mouse over it will show the exact percentage.
Select Hide In Minimize from the Task Manager Options pop-up menu to minimize the window, which remains visible when Task Manager is not open.
9- Organize your drive
The fewer things you have in your drive, the better it will work. This is true for older hardware, but it can also have a significant impact on SATA SSDs. It is recommended to clean the drive semi-regularly as it can extend the life of the drive.
You can accomplish this in a variety of ways, and working together works best. First, empty the Recycle Bin. It’s easy to forget that you have a small white trash can on your desktop, but it’s a good idea to empty it regularly.
Windows 10 has a built-in Disk Cleanup tool under Windows Administrative Tools on the Start menu. You should use it if you upgrade to Windows 10. You can safely delete old system files. If possible, move your files to a cloud storage solution such as Google Drive or OneDrive. This is also useful!
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