How to Speed Up Your Windows 10 Performance (best settings)

How to Speed Up Windows 10 

Step 1: Change Power Plan to High Performance

1. Go to the Start Menu.

2. Search "Power Options."

3. Select "Power Options" from the results.

4. Change the plan from "Balanced" to "High Performance."

5. Close the window.

Changing to the High Performance power plan ensures your system uses maximum power, enhancing performance for tasks that require more processing power. This provides faster response times and better overall system performance.

Step 2: Disable Unwanted Startup Programs

1. Right-Click on an empty area of the taskbar (usually the taskbar at the bottom of the screen) to open the menu, select Task Manager from this menu to open the Task Manger window.

2. Select "Task Manager."

3. Go to the "Startup" tab.

4. Disable unnecessary programs by right-clicking and selecting "Disable."

5. Avoid disabling Microsoft or antivirus programs.

Disabling unnecessary startup programs reduces the load on your system when it boots up. This speeds up the startup process and frees up system resources, making your computer run more efficiently.

 Step 3: Defragment and Optimize Drives

1. Go to the Start Menu and search "Defragment."

2. Click "Defragment and Optimize Drives."

3. Select your system drive (usually C:).

4. Click "Optimize."

5. Once the optimization process is complete, your system drive will be optimized for better performance. At this point, you can close the optimization window. 

Defragmenting your drives rearranges fragmented data so your disks can read files more efficiently. This improves access times and overall system performance, especially if you have a traditional hard drive.

Step 4: Delete Unnecessary Temporary Files

1. Open the Run box (right-click Windows icon and select "Run").

2. Type `%temp%` and click "OK."

3. Delete all files in the folder.

4. Launch the Run dialog box, enter `temp`, and press "OK."

5. Click ''Continue'', then delete all files in the folder.

6. Open the Run dialog box once more by right-clicking the windows icon and selecting ''Run''. This time, type 'prefetch' into the text field and click 'ok'. When the prefetch folder opens, select all the files within it and proceed to delete them.

Temporary files fill up over time and use up valuable disk space. Deleting these files frees up space and can improve system performance by reducing the number of unnecessary files the system has to manage.

Step 5: Clean Up Memory

1. Open File Explorer.

2. Right-click your system drive (usually C:).

3. Select "Properties."

4. Click "Disk Cleanup."

5. Click "Clean up system files."

6. After scanning, click "OK" to delete files.

Disk Cleanup removes unnecessary files such as system cache, temporary files, and other system detritus. This frees up disk space and can improve system performance by making more resources available for important tasks.

Step 6: Reduce Runtime Services

1. Open the Run box (right-click Windows icon and select "Run").

2. Type `msconfig` and click "OK."

3. Go to the "Services" tab.

4. Check "Hide all Microsoft services."

5. Click "OK."

By hiding all Microsoft services and disabling non-essential services, you reduce the number of background processes running on your system. This frees up system resources, improving performance and reducing the risk of conflicts.

Step 7: Registry Tweaks

1. Open the Run box (right-click Windows icon and select "Run").

2. Type `regedit` and click "OK."

3. Go to `HKEY_CURRENT_USER`, select `Control Panel`, and then select `Mouse`.

4. Change "MouseHoverTime" value to 10 and click "OK."

5.  Go to ' HKEY_CURRENT_USER`,  select `Control Panel`, and then select `Desktop`.

6. Change "MenuShowDelay" value to 10 and click "OK."

Registry tweaks reduce the delay for mouse hover actions and menu displays, making your system feel more responsive and faster in daily use.

Step 8: Adjust Visual Effects for Best Performance

1. Go to the Start Menu and search "System."

2. Click "Advanced system settings."

3. In the Performance section, click "Settings."

4. Select "Adjust for best performance."

5. (Optional) Check specific effects to keep, like "Show shadows under mouse pointer."

6. Click "Apply" and "OK."

Adjusting visual effects to prioritize performance over appearance reduces the graphical demands on your system. This frees up resources for other tasks, making your system faster, especially on older or less powerful hardware.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why should I change my power plan to High Performance?

Changing to the High Performance power plan ensures your system utilizes maximum power, resulting in faster response times and improved overall system performance, especially during resource-intensive tasks.

How does disabling startup programs help speed up my system?

Disabling unnecessary startup programs reduces the load on your system during boot-up, resulting in faster startup times and freeing up system resources for essential tasks.

What is the purpose of defragmenting and optimizing drives?

Defragmenting and optimizing drives rearrange fragmented data on your disks, improving access times and overall system performance, particularly beneficial for traditional hard drives.

Why should I delete temporary files from my system?

Deleting temporary files frees up valuable disk space and reduces clutter, leading to improved system performance by reducing the number of unnecessary files the system has to manage.

How does Disk Cleanup contribute to speeding up my system?

Disk Cleanup removes unnecessary files such as system cache and temporary files, freeing up disk space and making more resources available for critical system tasks, thus enhancing performance.

What is the significance of reducing runtime services?

By hiding and disabling non-essential services, you reduce the number of background processes running on your system, freeing up system resources and improving overall performance while minimizing the risk of conflicts.

How do registry tweaks affect system performance?

Registry tweaks, such as reducing mouse hover time and menu display delay, enhance the responsiveness of your system, making it feel faster and more efficient in daily use.

Why should I adjust visual effects for best performance?

Adjusting visual effects to prioritize performance over appearance reduces the graphical demands on your system, resulting in improved performance, especially on older or less powerful hardware, without compromising essential functionality.