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7 Easy Ways to Speed Up Your Windows 7 Performance

The Microsoft Windows 7 has been designed for delivering better speed than its predecessor operating systems like Windows XP and Vista. But, as time goes by, the laptop/PC might tend to get slower. This is not exactly the fault of the OS. In fact, it is the common problem in all operating systems.
The main reason for this slowdown is the accumulation of junk in the computer system or run too many unnecessary programs. Here we’ll share some effective ways that can help you to speed up the windows 7 performance on your laptop or desktop computer.

1. Clean up the Hard Disk

Temporary files, internet cache, cookies, and unused programs can all fill up your hard disk which in result, slow down the Windows 7 performance on your computer. Therefore, regular disk cleanup is important to keep your computer system running fast.
You could use Disk Cleanup option to do this, as follows:

1. Click Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Cleanup
2. Choose on the drive that you want to perform disk clean up and then click OK.
3. The system will first scan and calculate how much space can be freed up in this way.
4. In the Disk Cleanup window (see image below) that appears, select the files that you want to be removed, and then click OK.
5. You will be prompted before deletion. Click Yes.

2. Perform Disk Defragmentation

When you save files on your computer, the files are automatically stored to the nearest available space on your hard drive. This means that files are fragmented if your hard disk is not organized properly. Fragmented files on your hard drive can slow down your computer by giving extra work to do. Defragmenting allows all these parts to be stored in contiguous memory locations. For defragmenting disk do the following:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
2. In the window, click on the drive that you want to defragment and then click Analyze disk.
3. When done click on Defragment disk.
4. Once done you can either View Report or click Close.

3. Disabling unused Start-up programs to speed up the windows start-up process

Some programs are set to start during system start-up. These might slow down the start-up process. The more programs that run automatically during start-up, the slower your PC booting. For this, you can disable some unused start-up programs by doing these following steps:

1. Click Start button. In the search box type ‘msconfig’ and press Enter.
2. In the System Configuration window, go to ‘Startup’ tab.
3. Uncheck the box next to those processes that are not important for start-up. This will disable them.
4. Once you’ve disabled the processes, click Apply and OK.

4. Run a trusted Anti-Virus program

Make sure that you have anti-virus software installed on your laptop/PC. This will ensure that no virus or spyware infect your computer system. Without such protection software, there is possibility of third-party spyware or viruses being stored on your system, causing harmful effects and slow down your windows performance.

5. Remove Unused Programs

Having even a few unnecessary programs can consume your computer’s system resources which leads to computer slow down. To alleviate this problem, Windows has provide a tool that allows you to remove programs that you don’t need or use anymore.
To uninstall programs from your computer:

1. On the Start menu, click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, click on the Programs and Features.
3. In the Programs and Features window (see image below), you will see a list of all the programs on your computer. Right click on the program that you want to get rid of and click Uninstall.
4. Follow the instructions given until the program is completely removed.

6. Minimize Visual Effects

Visual effects like animations, shadows and transparency can provide a great viewing experience for the user, but they require additional memory and space to function, which in turn slow down the windows performance.
If the visual effects are not important to you, disabling some (or all) visual effects can definitely improve the performance.
To minimize visual effects, do the following steps:

1. Right click on “Computer” and select “Properties”. In the context menu, click Advanced System Settings, then under Performance section click on Settings.
2. In the Performance Options window (see image below), under Visual Effects tab, disable the options that you do not need. Or simply selecting ‘Adjust for best performance‘ will disable all options.
3. When done, click Apply and then OK.

7. Disable sound effects

You can take it a step further by disabling sound effects that are triggered by certain actions, such as emptying recycle bins, exit windows, or open programs. By disabling these sound effects you can gain some speed and also free some system resources too.
To do this, follow the steps below:

1. On the Start menu, click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, click on the Sound.
3. In the Sound window (see image below), go to the Sounds tab
4. Set the Sounds scheme to ‘No Sounds’.
5. You can also disable the “Play Windows Startup sound” option.
6. Once done, click Apply and OK.