There are lots of tips and advice out there on the internet about how to tweak the performance of your PC. Some of them have some useful tips, but the vast majority are of very little use, either because they are for the wrong operating system, or they don’t apply to your setup, or because they’re just plain wrong. When someone brings a PC to me and says its too slow, before I advise them to upgrade it (and that is always an option) I have a quick look for several things that are the leading cause of slow PC performance. ओवर 90% of the time carrying out the various steps detailed below results in a substantial improvement and a happy PC user.
Some of the advice provided is very easy to follow. Some requires a little bit more technical competence. If you’re not sure what you’re doing it’s better to stop and ask than to mess up your system even more.
1. Anti-Virus / Firewalls etc.
There is an abundance of security solutions out there. Some are better than others. The most common ones often come bundled with new PC’s. They may be effective, but in my view the “cure” is almost as bad as the “disease”. Suites by big names (e.g. Norton, McAfee) take an appauling toll on the performance of your PC, and come with a yearly renewal “tax” to boot. The first thing to do is replace them with an excellent and free solution with a low impact on system performance: माइक्रोसॉफ्ट Secur अल्पसंख्यक अनिवार्य
- डाउन लोड security essentials for your version of Windows from Microsoft
- Uninstall your previous anti-virus suite: Go into control panel and then open “add/remove programs” or “programs and features” (depending on your version of windows). Look for and uninstall any products related to: Symantec, Norton, McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky, AVG, Avast, BitDefender, Panda, Trend Micro.
- Note — WikiPedia provides a full list of antivirus software
- Install and update Security Essentials
1बी. Security
Whilst we’re updating your anti-virus protection it is worth updating various other pieces of software to reduce the likelyhood of any nasties getting onto your PC
- Update windows (via the start menu, control panel, या your web browser)
- Use the Mozilla plugin checker to check for updated versions of plugins for your system
2. Check for nasties
In my experience the large majority of typical 3+ year old PC’s are infect with some kind of nasty, even if they have had anti-virus software installed. Before going any further it is worth checking for and eliminating any malicious programs.
- Run a full scan with Microsoft Security Essentials and remove anything it finds
- डाउन लोड प्रणाली निंजा and in the process manager tab run the “MalRun Destroyer” tool
- If you are still suspect there may be malware present, try using one of the free online virus scanner (e.g. HouseCall)
3. Remove old software that you no longer use
If you have old software that you never used still installed it is worth removing it. It is occupying disk space which causes a small reduction in performance, and it is also possible that it has services or start-up utilities that were installed with it that will be running on your system all the time using resources for no good reason!
- Open control panel and then open “add/remove programs” or “programs and features” (depending on your version of windows).
- Go thru the list and uninstall any programs that you are confident you no longer need or use
4. Clear disk space and temporary files
Over time all PC’s build up a collection of unnecesary files. These slow disk access, and Windows response times. They are easy to clear automatically. The first thing to run is a built-in Microsoft tool, and then to be thorough, also download and use a free utility
- Start पर क्लिक करें, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk cleanup (or use start: run and type cleanmgr)
- Wait for the scan to complete
- On Vista and Windows 7 click the “Clean up system files” button on the window that appears
- Tick all the options and click OK
- डाउनलोड और इंस्टॉल करें CCleaner
- डाउनलोड और इंस्टॉल करें CCEnhan-प्रमाणपत्र
- Run CCleaner
- Click Analyze
- Click Run Cleaner
- If you haven’t already, download प्रणाली निंजा
- Run System Ninja and use the “Junk Scanner”
5. Run a disk defrag
This probably wont do a great deal for performance overall, but if you freed up much disk space with steps 2 या 3 then it should improve windows boot-up time and may make a small difference to responsiveness. Some versions of windows carry out scheduled defrags anyway in which case this wont make any difference, but it certainly can’t do any harm.
- Open start: all programs: accessories: system tools: Disk defragmenter
- Follow the instructions
6. Install or update chipset drivers
Many पीसी I have encountered over the years have used very outdated, or simply haven’t had any chipset drivers installed at all. Having very old chipset drivers, or relying on the generic drivers microsoft builds into windows can sometimes severely impact performance.
- डाउन लोड, install and run सीपीयू-साथ
- Select the “mainboard” tab
- Make a note of the first 2 entries in the line “chipset”. These will be the manufacturer and model.
- If the information isn’t clear or helpful try using Speccy instead
- Most chipsets are manufactured by: इंटेल, Via, Sis, AMD / ATi, nVidia, ULi / ALi
- Go to the manufacturers website and find the “downloads” section (clicking on the manufacturer name above should take you to the correct area)
- Search for drivers appropriate for your version of windows for your model of chipset
- Download and install drivers if you locate them.
- Restart windows
7. Install or update video drivers
This is unlikely to make much difference to general windows performance, but it could make a large difference to some applications, especially games.
- If you haven’t already, download, install and run सीपीयू-साथ
- Select the “Graphics” tab
- Try to identify the manufacturer and the model name of your graphics chip from the name box, सीपीयू-Z will probably display a logo with the manufacturer name on.
- If the information isn’t clear or helpful try using Speccy या GPU-साथ instead
- The manufacturer is likely to be one of the following: इंटेल, nVidia, AMD / ATi / Radeon, Via, Matrox, SiS
- Go to the manufacturers website and find the “downloads” section (clicking on the manufacturer name above should take you to the correct area)
- Search for drivers appropriate for your version of windows for your model of graphics card
- Download and install drivers if you locate them.
- Restart windows
8. A hardware issue…
Your PC needs good airflow to keep cool. Whilst modern पीसी are unlikely to crash from overheating, they instead suffer severe performance degradation. The सीपीयू will detect that it is getting to hot and will decrease its speed to keep cool. This is an issue that I have very frequently encountered with laptops. Desktop पीसी are far less prone, but many still suffer.
- If you have a desktop PC take the case off (unless it is still in warranty in which case skip this tip!) and check for dust or fluff in the large metal heatsink. Also check for dust or fluff inside the case in general. If there is much present I recommend disconnecting the wires, moving the PC to the open air and carefully using a vacuum cleaner (or even better an air duster / compressed air) to remove as much of the dust as possible.
- If you have a laptop or portable carefully check the vents in the bottom, side and rear of the casing. With some laptops it may also be possible to remove the part of the casing over the area. Carefully remove any dust or fluff. If there is substantial fluff blocking the vents that you can’t remove try using an air duster. If this fails consider taking your laptop to a local expert.
9. Startup programs: the most difficult, but most effective…
This is the largest and most complicated part of any PC clean-up procedure and as such I have given it a dedicated post. (coming soon!). मतलब समय में, use the Startup Manager included with प्रणाली निंजा
“Hi James I realise it has been a long while, but I just checked this on windows 11 (build 23H2)…”