Summary
Most of the time, when an idea pops into my head, I want to start writing about it right away, or at least do a quick Google search before I forget where I was going with it. Naturally, that means reaching for my laptop. The problem is, by the time I open it, wait for everything to load, pull up Google Docs, and finally get to what I wanted to do, I’ve already lost my train of thought. It’s even more annoying when I just need to look something up quickly. The last thing I want is to sit there waiting for my laptop when I’m already in the middle of something. After this happened one too many times, I decided my aging Windows PC needed a little polish. I made just three changes, and they made a much bigger difference than I expected. Everyone wanted to start with Windows Let’s thin out the startup crowd First, I tackled everything that launched automatically the moment I turned on my PC. Over the years, I’d installed plenty of apps that had added themselves to Windows startup, and I hadn’t really paid much attention to them. As a result, every time I switched on my laptop, Windows wasn’t the only thing trying to get ready — game launchers, chat apps, update utilities, and a bunch of other programs all woke up at the same time. That was particularly annoying because those first few minutes were exactly when I wanted my laptop to feel its fastest. So, trimming my startup apps was the first change I made. And unlike some Windows tweaks where you’re left wondering whether anything actually changed, I could feel the difference here. My PC got to the desktop faster, but more importantly, it became usable sooner. I noticed another benefit: fewer unnecessary apps sitting in the background meant they weren’t constantly eating into my RAM and CPU resources. On an aging PC where I’m already juggling multiple tabs and documents, I’d much rather save those resources for something I’m actually using. So, if your PC also feels sluggish right after you turn it on, this is where I’d start:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
- Click the hamburger menu in the upper-left corner and select Startup apps.
- Check the Startup impact column to see which apps are putting the most load on your PC during startup.
- Pay particular attention to anything marked High.
- If you don’t need an app every time Windows starts, right-click it and select Disable. I wouldn’t go on a disabling spree, though. I left important things such as my antivirus, audio and touchpad utilities, and cloud syncing apps alone. Instead, I focused on things like chat apps and manufacturer utilities I didn’t need running every time I logged in. Disabling them here doesn’t uninstall them; they’ll still work perfectly fine when you actually need them. Pretty can wait; I want fast Windows doesn’t need to be this dramatic You know how changing the animation settings on a TV can suddenly make the whole interface feel quicker? You press a button on the remote and, instead of watching menus slowly slide or fade into place, everything just appears. The TV itself hasn’t magically become more powerful, but because there’s less happening between your click and the response, it feels that way. I wanted to see if I could get a similar effect on my Windows PC, and thankfully, Windows gives you plenty of control over its visual effects. By dialing them back, menus can appear almost instantly instead of fading in, minimizing and maximizing windows lose that little zoom animation, and Windows spends less time making everything look fancy. Now, this is important: this won’t turn an old laptop into a brand-new machine. What it does is remove visual fluff that can make an already slow PC feel even slower. On my machine, that made actions feel snappier. Here’s how I changed it:
- Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
Type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. - Head to the Advanced tab and click Settings under Performance.
- Select Adjust for best performance. This will disable Windows’ visual effects.
- Click Apply, followed by OK, and you’re done. There is a trade-off here, though. Windows definitely looks less polished once you strip away all those animations, which is why I wouldn’t bother doing this on a relatively new laptop that already feels quick. But on an older PC that hesitates every time, I’d happily sacrifice a little eye candy for something that feels much more responsive. I chose speed over sipping power My PC needed an espresso shot Finally, since performance was the whole point of this, I switched Windows to Best Performance mode as well. I’d previously left Windows to balance performance and power consumption on its own, but on my PC, I’d much rather have that extra performance when I need it. Here’s how you can change it:
- Open Settings on your Windows PC.
- Head to System.
- Scroll down and select Power & battery.
- Open the Power mode menu and select Best performance. Depending on your PC, you may see separate options for when it’s plugged in and running on battery. Keep in mind that Best Performance uses more power, so you may notice a hit to battery life on a laptop. For me, though, that trade-off was worth it. The new laptop itch can wait The best part is that I don’t think about my PC nearly as much anymore, and that’s exactly how I want it. Of course, none of these changes can hide the age of the hardware forever, and eventually an upgrade will make more sense. But I’m not there yet. For now, my PC feels good enough that replacing it has slipped much further down my shopping list, and I’ll happily take that as a win.