Fixing lags and slow performance issue in Windows 10: Ever since Microsoft rolled out the free update to Windows 10 for PC, people upgraded to the latest version on Windows which brought major software and user interface updates. Nevertheless, it wasn’t tested to perfection and turns out brought some performance issues like Windows 10 running slow with it on most of the computers which made many users to even downgrade to an earlier version of Windows. However, these performance issues can be tweaked to make your PC faster and reduce the lags from the operating system.
Fixing a Slow Start-up:
Nothing is quite as bad as a PC that takes ages to boot up. It is mainly because of the numerous applications that automatically queue themselves up in the start-up applications and use a lot of memory while the OS loads. To make the booting process faster and fix Windows 10 running slow issue, we can disable some of the unused applications from start-up by following the given steps:
1) Firstly, press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together to bring up the Task Manager dialog box.
2) Visit the start-up tab and select the program that is not used often and clicks the Disable button.
How to Fix Windows 10 running slow issue
Solid State Drives or SSDs can also be used which are a much faster type of memory that helps to load up the operating system faster than a HDD, decreasing the bootup time and making the start-up faster.
Once the Windows start-up has been optimized by disabling unwanted applications and the bootup time has been decreased, we can now move on to tweaking the windows operating system to make it faster while working on it in real time.
Also Read: Change Default Account Picture in Windows 10
This can be done in the following ways:
- Defragmenting the hard disk
- Changing page file size
- Upgrading RAM
- Removing unnecessary files
- Updating windows drivers
Defragmenting the Hard Disk:
1) Search Defragment in the search box and click on Defragment and Optimize Drives.
2) Analyze the drive you want to defragment and then Optimize it. Then defragment the drive if it is to be defragmented.
Changing Page File Size:
The root folder of your windows contains a virtual memory file called the Page File Size. This is generally hidden by default attributes. If the system you are running runs low on RAM (Random Access Memory), it will move some memory to pagefile.sys in order to run smoothly. The file is automatically managed by the system but can be changed for better performance.
1) Type “performance” in the search box at the bottom left of desktop and click on Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows in pop-up menu.
2) In the Advanced tab, click on the Change… button.
3) Clear the box that says Automatically manage paging file size for drives. Select the disc containing Windows 10. In the Custom, size section change the Initial size and maximum size to the recommended values (In this case, the given size is 1855 MB. Other sizes might be unalike.). Later, select the Set button.
4) Select the OK button.
5) The effect is applied after restarting the system.
Upgrading RAM:
Volatile memory can be of two types: DDR3 and DDR4. One being older, having launched back in 2007, while the latter was launched previously, with Intel’s X99 platform in the year 2014.
They both work on the principle of volatility: Random Access chips store data that the computer needs immediately, but it’s lost when the power of the system is turned off.
Higher the clock speed of the Random Access Memory, the faster it works and the larger the amount of memory, the better it is.
Most of the windows PCs come with an upgradable memory option. The RAM can be upgraded or downgraded as required by the user unlike the Macbooks which have soldered and non-removable memory chips. Upgrading the RAM increases the volatile memory of the system and the PC can access memory faster, making the operating system faster and more efficient.
For running a lot of applications at the same time, a large amount of RAM is better. It will make the system faster and capable of running multiple apps simultaneously.
Removing Unnecessary Files:
Your PC is probably filled with unwanted temporary files and system logs that you, as an end user, will never use or never even look at. Although these files take up a lot of space in your system drive and make the computer slow. It not only makes the system slow but also takes up a large amount of space that can otherwise be used for storing other useful information.
Therefore removing these files makes the OS much faster and also frees up quite a lot of space.
Removing temporary files in Windows 10:
Step 1: In the left pane of the start menu, open the Settings app.
Step 2 The home page of the Settings app contains the Storage option, Click on it.
Step 3: In the storage section, click on the system drive where Windows 10 is installed. By default, Windows 10, shows a windows icon next to the drive that contains the Windows files which is usually the C drive.
Step 4: After clicking on the system drive, you will see the Storage usage page. This page displays various things like disk space used by the system and reserved files, apps & games, documents, pictures, music, videos, mail, desktop, other users, maps, OneDrive, and temporary files.
Step 5: In the Temporary files page, click on the check box next to Temporary files and then click on the Remove files button to delete all temporary files and unnecessary log files from your Windows 10 PC. In the confirmation dialog, click OK button to delete the temporary files.
Updating Windows Drivers to fix Windows 10 running slow:
Windows Update provides the safest way to get the drivers updated because the packages available through this channel have been verified and signed by Microsoft itself and are legitimate.
To download and install the Windows drivers updates, do the following:
- Open Settings app form the left pane.
- Click on the tab called Update & Security.
- Then, click on Windows Update tab.
- Lastly, select the Check for updatesbutton below the given icon.
After completing the steps, if a newer version of the driver is provided by Microsoft, it will download and install automatically.