How to speed up your PC – Ways to Speed Up your System

When your PC starts to slow down, opens windows and programs too slowly, and in the worst cases crashes applications, the situation can become very inconvenient, especially if you use your PC essentially for work.

A slow PC isn’t necessarily a machine to throw away or blame; quite the opposite. As we will see below, the slowdown in performance is often the result of our lightness. How to speed up your PC? Just like any other machine, the computer requires routine maintenance and correct use to maintain good functionality.

We will see below how to speed up the PC and accelerate its processes, following the 4 guidelines that can guide its restoration of correct functioning and solve all problems related to the speed of execution of the processes.

Steps to Cleaning your PC

You should follow some steps to clean your PC. Look at below and follow these steps one by one!

Cleaning the PC

The first and simplest thing to do when we realize that the PC is slow and no longer allows good performance for the use we make of it, or to speed up and improve its processes, is to clean the PC memory.

Even when we do not know it, the PC accumulates data every time we play a video game or surf the internet, and it is not enough to move them to the trash to prevent them from compromising the correct functionality of the machine.

Let’s see how to make the PC faster by optimizing the spaces present in the memory, i.e., with a thorough cleaning of its fundamental components:

Cleaning

the hard drive: Your PC hard drive can be full of temporary files that don’t even exist. These are not files that you downloaded, yet they are there.

Let’s see how to delete these junk files based on the operating systems. Select the Start menu and type “disk cleanup” in the search bar; then follow the instructions.

If you have a Mac, the path to follow to speed up cleaning, always from the Start, is About this mac> File> Manage and choose the cleaning function to use.

Cleaning the cache 

The cache is a space that keeps in memory all the temporary data of internet browsing, from downloads to the history up to the cookies necessary for browsing. It is a good habit to regularly get rid of these files to prevent them from engulfing the browser: this habit speeds up your PC considerably.

You can clear the cache directly from the browser settings (Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc.) or the PC. If you have a Windows PC, select the Control Panel and enter Internet Options to delete them. However, if you are using a Mac, the path is Hard Drive> System> Libraries> Caches.

When you decide to clean up to lighten your slow PC and speed up its performance, don’t forget to uninstall programs and applications that you have not used for a long time: it is often in the accumulation that all the problems of your poor PC are hidden!

The use of Programs to Speed up the PC

There are also programs specifically designed to speed up and improve the performance of PCs, notebooks, and all-in-one PCs. Let’s see the most used for Windows and Mac.

How to speed up the PC with dedicated programs? If you use Windows, the two software you could try are:

• IObit Advanced SystemCare, an all-in-one remedy: scans all sections of your computer and eliminates unnecessary files and system errors. It also optimizes the startup settings, which are often the source of the problem.
• WinDirStat: Like IObit Advanced SystemCare, this software is also totally free. Optimize storage space and organize files by ordering them by size, and in doing so, speed up processes.

If you have a Mac, you could try this software instead to speed up your computer:

• Onyx: this software also deletes all temporary files and web browsing; it can also do hard disk diagnostics and proceed with system settings adjustments.
• CleanMyMac: is a paid program, but a lot used by Apple users. It allows you to uninstall various unnecessary applications, clean from temporary files or not, and even delete attachments from too heavy emails.

Even if you don’t think about it often, the problems of a slow PC can mostly derive from files that we don’t know we have crammed inside the hard disk or from too “liberal” startup settings.

Especially in the case of Windows, many applications often start automatically when the operating system is started. We absentmindedly selected the option that recommends starting it every time the system is turned on during the installation phase. Now starting Windows means starting many useless programs, which consume energy.

Then check by selecting Start from the Task manager menu, which programs are set to AutoRun, and manually change the settings to speed up the PC. Or use any of the programs suggested above, which also take care of this problem.

PC Optimization

When the PC gives performance problems, or we realize that it is too slow for the use we make of it, one of the solutions to be pursued is defragmentation, which optimizes all the data present in the physical memory of the PC.

The lack of order causes slowdowns and malfunctions. The computer will have to search for the various pieces that make up the individual files in potentially distant sections of the PC before allowing you to access the desired content. Therefore, the optimization of spaces and processes is fundamental. How to speed up the computer by optimizing spaces, then?

Defragmentation is a feature of the Windows operating system. The Mac does not break files into smaller pieces unless you talk about files of enormous extension (such as 4k videos), and Linux operating systems do not require defragmentation. Except in very specific cases.

If you are using a Windows PC or notebook and want to complete the disk cleaning, proceed with the defragmentation. You will easily find the command that starts the automatic defrag process from the Start button.

However, if you have never done it, pay attention to the timing: the process can take hours and needs to be restarted at the end of the operating system.

Hardware Changes

The last card to play, to make your PC faster, is to implement the hardware or work on the machine’s actual power.

How to speed up the PC by intervening in this sense?

You can increase the computer’s performance by replacing some components, first of all, the RAM, that is, the memory that the PC uses in its searches (of files, processes, and instructions to process).

It is true that with the spread of smaller and smaller laptops and notebooks, the ability to access individual computer components is becoming increasingly marginal, but if it is possible, increasing RAM is an excellent remedy.

Or you can increase the internal memory, even here, only if the technical characteristics of the computer allow it.

Better still would be to switch to SSD (Solid State Drive), which, unlike the hard drive, has no moving parts and therefore does not overheat and risk mechanical malfunctions.

Other interventions at the hardware level that allow you to speed up the PC are modifying the graphics card and processor, but these are much more invasive and, at times, as expensive as the machine we would like to restore.

How to keep a fast PC over time

As we have seen, the performance of our PC does not depend only on its technical characteristics, but above all on the use, we make of it. Here is a list of practical tricks that will help us keep it free from unnecessary weights that slow down its performance and improve its response times:

• check the software with automatic start and change its settings;
• disable unnecessary functions and services, such as animations;
• uninstall programs that are useless or that you no longer use;
• regularly free up disk space: delete or transfer unnecessary files on external hard drives or other storage tools, so as not to burden your PC;
• always perform system and driver updates;
• Identify any problems or incompatibilities between hardware and software.

And if you use a Windows operating system, remember to periodically check for malware and defragment your hard drive at least once every two or three months.