Top 5 Ways to Speed Up Laptop Speed And Performance

Trying to work on a slow laptop computer can be a real irritation as programs struggle to open or process commands.

In this post you will find out the 5 essential methods to speed up your laptop boot time and overall performance when running many programs at the same time.

1. Start by reducing the strain on your hard disk. The Windows disk defragmenter tool can clean up drive sectors by co-locating fragments of your files. Less fragments makes file access quicker for applications and system programs. For extra benefits keep over 10% of the disk empty for use by the operating system (for virtual memory).
    
2. Keep the software on your laptop up to date and damage. This involves running the Windows Update regularly for device driver and system updates. Most third-party applications provide a 'Check For Updates' option as a sub-menu item. Having the latest code ensures you have the fastest, most secure and stable code on your computer.
    
3. Reduce the number of programs running at any one time. You can do this via the Task Manager by checking which programs in the processes tab are using up all your memory. Alternatively, you can speed up laptop boot up times by disabling services that get initialized as Windows is starting. Use the Microsoft System Configuration application for this (start menu > run > enter msconfig.exe).
    
4. Degraded internet performance can result in perceived poor laptop speeds, when in fact the connection or the browser are at fault. Disable browser add-ons to reduce the number of remote calls the browser makes. Use your firewall settings to restrict which applications are permitted web access. Test your connection speeds (e.g. at speedtest.net) to ensure you do not have slow connection problems.
    
5. Finally, it is still worth considering a RAM upgrade for your laptop. This can speed up laptop performance considerably and is cheap and easy to implement. If your OS supports ReadyBoost enabled flash drives then you could try allotting some of the USB drive's memory to be used as additional RAM. 

Check out the PC Maintenance blog for articles on how to fix a slow computer, computer repairs and software reviews.