Solved Speed up computer (Win 7)

[CriticalError]

My computer is starting and running quite slow it is getting old, but still can run most applications.

Following specs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Processor 4400+ 2.30Ghz
3GB
Windows 7 Ultimate (32)
ATI Radeon DH 3450

I don't play much games on it nowadays mostly use if for development, but the issue is it takes around 5 minutes to start and load everything. Yesterday I removed a bunch of applications using revo-uninstaller, but the Microsoft ones are the issue they commonly leave registry items behind but it's hard to delete them as they are linked to other applications. All my games are stored on a separate internal hard drive (Seagate 3Gb/s). I also use classic theme. How else can I speed the PC up..?

 

[Northernsoul55]

Hi,

There are many ways to speed up the PC, the obvious one being to upgrade the RAM (if possible?)

1. Turn off Unused Windows 7 Features:

1. Open up ” Programs and Features ” from Control Panel.
2. Click the ” Turn Windows features on or off ” from the left pane.
3. Now uncheck all the Feature that you don’t use in Windows 7 and
restart the system for the changes to take effect.

There are many features in windows 7 that you can disable if not used.
Disabling these unused features in Windows 7 would indeed help in speeding things up.

2. Disabling the Search Indexing Feature in Windows 7:

1. Right Click the “Computer” Icon in the desktop and select “Manage”.
2. Click “Services and Applications” in the “Computer Management” window.
3. Click on “Services”.
4. You’d see a lot of services being listed inside the window. Find “Windows Search” from the list.
5. Right Click on “Windows Search” from the list and choose “Properties”.
6. The “Windows Search Properties Window” will open up. From “Startup type”
click on the drop down menu and choose “Disabled”.
7. Click “Apply” then “OK” and that’s it. The Windows 7 Search Indexing Feature is now disabled.

3. Disabling the Unwanted Visual Effects in Windows 7 to Speed Up more:

1. Right click on ” Computer” and select “Properties” from the right click menu.
2. Click on ”Advanced System Settings” from the left pane to open up the ”System Properties” window.
3. Select the “Advanced” tab from it. Then Under ”Performance” click ” Settings “.
Choose ”Custom” Options From it.
4. Now un-tick all the options (Choose “Adjust for best performance“) and select only the
last four options (actually three are preferable you can un-tick the second option out of the last four)

4. Disable the Windows 7 Sidebar (The Gadgets):

1. Right click on the sidebar and choose ”Properties“.
2. On the properties windows un-tick the check box showing ”Start sidebar when Windows Starts“
3. From now on windows sidebar won’t start when windows 7 start up.

5. Change the Power Plan To Maximum Performance:

1. Double click the ”Power Options” in the Control panel.
2. Click the down arrow showing ”Show Additional Plans” to see the ”High Performance” power plan.
3. Activate the ”High Performance” plan.
4. You may go for the advanced settings for further tweaking if you want.

6. Free up the startup/Disable Startup Programs:

1. Click on the "Start button"
2. Type “msconfig" (without quotes), click the resulting link. It will open the System Configuration window.
3. Select the “Startup” tab.
4. Deselect all items other than the antivirus.
5. Apply > then OK
6. Click the "Services" tab, click the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box, then click "Disable All".
7. Click OK, then restart the computer.

If you need to use a registry cleaner then use :ar: CCleaner but use wisely

Hope this helps a bit Perhaps other members may have additional suggestions.

cheers

Dave

 

[CriticalError]

Majority of that is done, I have turned features off, disabled the visual effects, and setup msconfig. I can't upgrade RAM because I'd have to re-install windows under 64Bit and that's a pain..This PC is getting quite old, might need to invest in a new one..

 

[Northernsoul55]

I can't upgrade RAM because I'd have to re-install windows under 64Bit and that's a pain

Well upgrading the RAM is the best way, so basically you could upgrade if you really wanted to,
but your just being lazy (It is Sunday after all)

No seriously, if you want hassle free computing then maybe a new PC with 8/16/or 32GB
of RAM is the way forward. Then you will not have any constraints running anything.

cheers

Dave

 

[Northernsoul55]

Just to add, you don't need to upgrade to 64-bit to upgrade RAM

 

[CriticalError]

Just to add, you don't need to upgrade to 64-bit to upgrade RAM

Computers (32bit) don't address full 4GB of RAM. So IMHO I'd see no point upgrading unless I upgraded to 8GB or 6GB.

 

[Northernsoul55]

Hi,
A 32-bit OS can support 4GB. The reality is that not all of that RAM is made
available to the OS all the time as the system reserves portions, it is still utilised...
just in other ways, and the system usually only reports 3.2 /3.6GB installed, just thought the extra 1GB might be enough for your requirements and a relatively cheaper option

 

[Layback Bear]

Speed up a computer magic SSD.