How to Make Windows 7 Faster: A Step-by-Step Guide

If your Windows 7 computer is starting to slow down, there are a variety of optimizations you can perform to speed it up–even if you're using older hardware. The tweaks range in simplicity from a few clicks to installing new hardware. If you're not ready to upgrade to a newer version of Windows, this guide—with helpful tips from tech expert Ken Colburn—will teach you the best tips and tweaks to make Windows 7 run faster.

Quick Ways to Speed Up Windows 7

Delete programs you don't need. For programs you still use, remove them from your list of startup apps to make your PC boot faster.
Disable visual effects like transparency, shadows, and the Aero theme.
Disable search indexing, especially if you don't use the Search feature often.
Use a USB flash drive to add virtual RAM with ReadyBoost.

Method 1

Method 1 of 12:

Deleting Unused Programs

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Click the Start menu and select Control Panel. "Getting rid of programs and things that you don't need can make a difference," explains Colburn.^{[1]
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Ken Colburn
Tech Expert

Expert Interview} If you've accumulated a bunch of installed programs over the years of using Windows 7, they may be slowing you down by always running in the background.
- Colburn also recommends using the "Manual" installation process when installing new software. This way, you will be able to see beforehand what's about to be installed and remove unnecessary items that would sneak in otherwise (extra programs, toolbars, etc.).^{[2]
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This will load a list of all the installed programs on your computer. The list may take a while to load if you have a lot of programs installed.

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Select a program that you no longer use and click Uninstall. Follow the prompts to remove the program. The uninstallation process may take a few minutes.
- Many PC manufacturers install software, often called "bloatware," that you don't really need. Feel free to delete these extra programs.
If you aren't sure what a program is, perform a web search on it. Generally, you'll want to keep anything on the list that you use, or that is published by Microsoft or any of your hardware manufacturers.

Method 2

Method 2 of 12:

Turning Off Visual Effects

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Open the System Properties panel. Windows 7's visual effects, like animations, transparency, and drop shadowing, slow down your computer's performance, especially on older hardware. You can disable these enhancements in the System properties panel. To get there:
- Press the Windows key or click the Start menu.
- Type sysdm.cpl into the search bar.
- Press Enter.
You'll see it at the top of the window.
Settings... button under "Performance." A checklist will appear.
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Uncheck any effects you want to disable. For the biggest speed boost, select "Adjust for best performance" from the radio buttons at the top. Alternatively, you can select "Custom" and uncheck options individually.^{[3]
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- Unchecking "Enable transparent glass" will give you one of the biggest performance increases.
Apply to save your changes. Windows will take a few moments to make the changes, and then you can see what your new settings look like.

Method 3

Method 3 of 12:

Disabling Startup Programs

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Colburn recommends disabling programs that start automatically when you boot your computer, as they can really slow down your PC.^{[4]
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Ken Colburn
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Expert Interview} To get started, click the Start menu, type msconfig, and press ↵ Enter.^{[5]
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This will list all of the processes that start with Windows.
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Uncheck every program that you don't need to start with Windows. Lots of programs will launch in the background when Windows starts to "save you time", but when too many fill up your list, your startup time suffers dramatically. Uncheck everything that isn't absolutely vital to starting your essential programs.
- Windows will boot just fine with nothing checked, though some of your peripherals may not start without the correct software loaded.
- If you don't know what something is, search both the "Startup Item" name and the program listed in the "Command" column.
Apply after unchecking everything you don't need.
Your changes will take effect when Windows starts up again.^{[6]
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Method 4

Method 4 of 12:

Cleaning Up Your Hard Disk

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Delete old files that you don't use anymore. Windows needs a certain amount of free space on your drive to perform well. If your drive is too full, your computer may slow to a crawl, or you might experience errors. Microsoft doesn't specify exactly how much free space you should have, but the general rule of thumb is about 20% of your hard disk capacity, or 2.5X the amount of RAM you have installed.
- You can check how large your hard disk is by pressing ⊞ Win+E and selecting your hard drive. It is more important to keep free space on your Windows hard disk if you have more than one installed.
- You can check how much RAM you have installed by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, selecting Task Manager, and clicking the Performance tab.
Press .⊞ Win+R, type cleanmgr and press ↵ Enter. This will launch the Disk Cleanup utility. This utility will scan your hard drive and remove unused and old temporary files. You can free up a significant amount of space using this utility.
This is typically the C: drive. Disk Cleanup will scan the drive for files to be removed, which may take a few minutes.
The amount of space you will recover will be listed next to each entry. Generally, it is safe to remove everything that Disk Cleanup reports.
Once you have everything checked, click the button to remove the files. Disk Cleanup will handle the process automatically.

Method 5

Method 5 of 12:

Unclogging Your Web Browser

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If you've been using your web browser for a long time, it could be accumulating cruft that will slow down your browsing experience. Removing the excess add-ons and files can give your browser a significant boost.
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Remove any toolbars you don't use. If you've installed extra toolbars for your browser, they may be slowing you down. If you've found that you aren't using these extensions, remove them to increase performance.
- Check out our guide to removing toolbars for detailed instructions.
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Delete the cache and temporary files. Your browser will store data to help improve the time it takes for websites to load. Over time, however, these files can build up and do more harm than good.
- For detailed instructions on clearing the cache in all web browsers, check out How to Clear Your Browser's Cache.
If you are using Chrome, you may want to switch to Firefox or Opera. If you are using a different browser already, reinstalling may fix poor performance.

Method 6

Method 6 of 12:

Disabling the Aero Theme

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Use a theme with fewer features to speed up Windows 7. The Aero theme is what gives Windows its unique visual flair. On lower-end machines, it can take up a significant amount of valuable system resources.
- Right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize.
- Choose any of the "Basic and High Contrast Themes". This will strip the Windows UI down to the bare bones, potentially giving your system a significant performance boost.

Method 7

Method 7 of 12:

Defragmenting Your Drive

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Defragment the hard drive. As files are moved around, installed, and deleted, they leave behind fragments that can slow down your computer’s ability to access your hard drive.^{[7]
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Research source} Defragging is typically set to run on a schedule by default, but you can run it manually too.
- Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragment.
- Click Defragment disk.
- Note: It is not recommended to defrag SSDs.

Method 8

Method 8 of 12:

Getting Rid of Adware and Viruses

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Because Windows 7 is no longer receiving updates from Microsoft, it's important to have good antivirus and antimalware protection installed on your computer. You should only have ONE antivirus program installed at a time, as having more than one can cause conflicts and errors.
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Download and install a few anti-malware programs. Besides an antivirus, you should really have a couple of antimalware programs on hand to scan for malware and adware. These are malicious programs that aren't as serious as viruses, but can be significant personal security risks and can also slow your system down.
- One of the most popular antimalware programs is Malwarebytes' Antimalware.
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Reboot into Safe Mode. Safe Mode boots Windows with only the essential system files, which can help find and remove more viruses and malware.
- To boot into Safe Mode, restart your computer and hit F8 before Windows loads. Select "Safe Mode" from the Advanced Startup menu.
Allow your computer to complete a full virus scan while in Safe Mode. Quarantine or delete any infected files that are found.
Run through each of your antimalware programs, allowing each one to perform a complete scan. Remove or quarantine any infected files that each scan finds.

Method 9

Method 9 of 12:

Disabling Search Indexing

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Search indexing uses a lot of resources. Turning off this service will trade search speed for general computer performance. If you don’t use the search function often, then you probably will not need it enabled.
- Click Start, type services.msc, and press Enter.
- Scroll down to Windows Search, right-click it, and select Properties.
- In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled.
- Click Apply to save the changes.
- Click Stop to terminate the current service, and it will not start the next time Windows boots.

Method 10

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Using ReadyBoost

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Use a spare USB drive to increase your available RAM. Windows 7 allows you to use a USB thumb drive as a "RAM expansion" using a utility called ReadyBoost. This lets you repurpose old USB drives to help improve your computer's performance.^{[8]
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- Attach a USB flash drive or external hard drive (500 MB or larger) to an available USB port on your computer. An "Autoplay" dialog box will appear on the screen as soon as your computer recognizes the device.
- Choose the Speed up my system option under "General Options" in the Autoplay dialog box.
- Click the ReadyBoost tab when the Properties dialog box appears.
  - Select Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost if you want to apply all the available space on your extra storage device to your computer and use it as memory.
  - Select Use this device and adjust the slider to designate the amount of memory you want to apply to ReadyBoost. This option is useful if you want to reserve space on your storage device.
- Click Apply and then OK.

Method 11

Method 11 of 12:

Reformatting and Reinstalling

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Back up all of your important data. One of the easiest ways to get the best performance possible out of Windows 7 is to simply wipe your computer clean and start over again. This may seem like a hassle, but once you've backed up all of your data, it should only take about an hour.
- Reformatting will delete all of the data stored on your computer, so make sure everything you need is backed up.
You will need your Windows installation disc to start the reinstallation process. You will also need your product key to reactivate Windows. You can usually find the product key on your installation disc's case, but it may be affixed to your computer instead.
This will allow you to change the boot order for your computer and boot from the setup disc. You can access most BIOS menus immediately after startup by pressing F2, F10, F11, or Del.
Navigate to the Boot menu in your BIOS and set your computer to boot from the optical drive first. This will allow you to boot from the installation disc.
Press a key when prompted to boot from the Windows 7 installation disc.
The installation process has gotten much more straightforward over the years, and Windows 7 requires minimal input to reinstall.

Method 12

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Upgrading Your Hardware

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While ReadyBoost can give you a performance boost if you're low on RAM, physically upgrading your RAM will provide much greater benefits. The type of RAM you need depends on the type of hardware you have installed in your computer, so this will be a little more involved (and expensive) than using ReadyBoost.
Solid state drives (SSDs) use memory chips instead of spinning disks like a traditional drive. This can lead to massive boosts in performance for tasks that are hard disk-dependent, such as booting up your computer. Solid state drives are still pricier than traditional drives, but prices are going down.^{[9]
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If you play a lot of games, installing a new graphics card can take gaming to a whole new level. A good graphics card can be pretty pricey, but the performance gains are often worth it if you take games seriously.
The processor is the "brain" of your computer, and is one of the main factors involved when determining the speed at which things run. Upgrading your processor is one of the more complex upgrades you can perform, and it is also one of the most expensive.

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How can I clean Windows graphics memory which is pre-installed?

Community Answer

Graphics memory is cleared when you shut down the computer. Start, shut down.

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Restart your computer at least once per week. Most computers are fine to leave on for extended periods of time, but regular restarts will help keep your computer's memory clear and everything running efficiently.

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Avoid running a bunch of programs at once. The more programs you have running, the more your processor and RAM have to work, which will impact performance. Close programs when you're finished running them, and make sure they aren't still running in the System Tray.

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