Is your laptop running slow? There are many possible reasons why your home computer is running slow. Here are some tips you can use to help get your PC back up to speed.
Change Your Boot Menu's Timeout Values
If you're dual-booting your machine, then your boot menu probably has a "timeout value", meaning the amount of time it waits for you to make a selection before it just boots into the default OS. On Windows, this timeout value is often 30 seconds, which is a long time to wait if you aren't looking directly at your screen. To change this timeout value, head to
Keep Your Antivirus Running and Up to Date
Make sure that you are not loading Trojans or adware when you boot. Not only should you keep your antivirus software like McAfee or Norton up to date, you should load and install an adware fighter like Lavasoft's Ad Aware, which is free for private use and does a good job of removing pop-ups, and tracking cookies and other spyware.
Disable/Delay Startup Apps
Most laptops—particularly those that come loaded with free software—get bogged down during startup when trying to load a ton of programs simultaneously. While removing unnecessary pre-installed applications can shave some seconds off your boot time (see our second-to-last tip), a surefire way to do it is to disable all but the most crucial applications from starting with your notebook.
To do this, open the Start Menu, type and run “msconfig” in the search menu box and navigate to the Startup tab. While there, look at each of the Startup items and uncheck any that don’t look absolutely essential, such as Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager or Google Update. Alternatively, you can search for Services in the Start Menu, then change the Startup type of any nonessential applications from Automatic to Automatic (Delayed Start). Simply right click on the service, select Properties and then change the Startup type in the drop-down menu.
Delete / hide Unused Fonts
You probably don’t think about it, but it can take several seconds for Windows 7 to load one of its most innocuous features—fonts. Windows 7 comes preloaded with more than 200 typefaces, including fonts for many of the world’s languages. Chances are slim that you’ll need to compose text in Mangal, Shonar Bangla and Times New Roman, and disabling fonts that you’re unlikely to use won’t adversely affect your Windows experience. While it’s easy to delete fonts, hiding fonts achieves the same effect to boot time while preserving them for later—just search for Fonts using the Start Menu’s search bar, right click on the fonts you don’t need, and select Hide
Disable Unused Hardware
Your computer loads a lot of drivers when it first starts up, some of which you might not even use. Head into the Device Manager from the Start Menu's search box, and look for anything you aren't using—Bluetooth controllers, modems, and virtual Wi-Fi adapters are common culprits. Right-click on the entry you want to disable and hit "Disable". Remember to only do this with things you don't actually use—if you use Wireless Hosted Networks, you'll need to keep those virtual Wi-Fi adapters enabled. It's also worth mentioning here that keeping all your drivers up to date will help this portion of the startup time, too
Remove Crapware
If you’ve implemented all of the previous tips, chances are you’ve disabled most of the programs causing significant delays in your laptop’s boot time. Still, it never hurts to get rid of all of that pre-installed third-party software that comes loaded on lots of machines, popularly dubbed “crapware,” that tries to start up with Windows.
Go into Control Panel and click on Uninstall A Program to open the list of currently installed applications. We recommend keeping any software from the notebook manufacturer—but feel free to remove anything else you think you’ll never use
Tweak Your BIOS
When you first set up your computer, your BIOS is set up to make things a bit more convenient for you, but once you're all set up, those things can be disabled. If you hold the DEL key when you start up your computer (or whatever key your BIOS tells you to enter setup), you can turn on the "Quick Boot" option and move your hard disk to the top of the boot priority list. The Quick Boot setting will turn off the tests your computer runs when it first turns on, and the boot priority tweak will tell your computer not to look for CDs, thumb drives, or other media when it first starts, which will get you booted into your OS quicker. If you ever need to boot from CD though, you'll have to go back into the BIOS and change this again before you do.
Change Your Boot Menu's Timeout Values
If you're dual-booting your machine, then your boot menu probably has a "timeout value", meaning the amount of time it waits for you to make a selection before it just boots into the default OS. On Windows, this timeout value is often 30 seconds, which is a long time to wait if you aren't looking directly at your screen. To change this timeout value, head to
msconfig and click on the BOOT.INI tab, and change the number in the timeout box to something lower. If you're dual-booting with Linux, you're probably running the GRUB boot menu, and you can change the timeout on that tooKeep Your Antivirus Running and Up to Date
Make sure that you are not loading Trojans or adware when you boot. Not only should you keep your antivirus software like McAfee or Norton up to date, you should load and install an adware fighter like Lavasoft's Ad Aware, which is free for private use and does a good job of removing pop-ups, and tracking cookies and other spyware.
Disable/Delay Startup Apps
Most laptops—particularly those that come loaded with free software—get bogged down during startup when trying to load a ton of programs simultaneously. While removing unnecessary pre-installed applications can shave some seconds off your boot time (see our second-to-last tip), a surefire way to do it is to disable all but the most crucial applications from starting with your notebook.
To do this, open the Start Menu, type and run “msconfig” in the search menu box and navigate to the Startup tab. While there, look at each of the Startup items and uncheck any that don’t look absolutely essential, such as Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager or Google Update. Alternatively, you can search for Services in the Start Menu, then change the Startup type of any nonessential applications from Automatic to Automatic (Delayed Start). Simply right click on the service, select Properties and then change the Startup type in the drop-down menu.
Delete / hide Unused Fonts
You probably don’t think about it, but it can take several seconds for Windows 7 to load one of its most innocuous features—fonts. Windows 7 comes preloaded with more than 200 typefaces, including fonts for many of the world’s languages. Chances are slim that you’ll need to compose text in Mangal, Shonar Bangla and Times New Roman, and disabling fonts that you’re unlikely to use won’t adversely affect your Windows experience. While it’s easy to delete fonts, hiding fonts achieves the same effect to boot time while preserving them for later—just search for Fonts using the Start Menu’s search bar, right click on the fonts you don’t need, and select Hide
Disable Unused Hardware
Your computer loads a lot of drivers when it first starts up, some of which you might not even use. Head into the Device Manager from the Start Menu's search box, and look for anything you aren't using—Bluetooth controllers, modems, and virtual Wi-Fi adapters are common culprits. Right-click on the entry you want to disable and hit "Disable". Remember to only do this with things you don't actually use—if you use Wireless Hosted Networks, you'll need to keep those virtual Wi-Fi adapters enabled. It's also worth mentioning here that keeping all your drivers up to date will help this portion of the startup time, too
Remove Crapware
If you’ve implemented all of the previous tips, chances are you’ve disabled most of the programs causing significant delays in your laptop’s boot time. Still, it never hurts to get rid of all of that pre-installed third-party software that comes loaded on lots of machines, popularly dubbed “crapware,” that tries to start up with Windows.
Go into Control Panel and click on Uninstall A Program to open the list of currently installed applications. We recommend keeping any software from the notebook manufacturer—but feel free to remove anything else you think you’ll never use
Tweak Your BIOS
When you first set up your computer, your BIOS is set up to make things a bit more convenient for you, but once you're all set up, those things can be disabled. If you hold the DEL key when you start up your computer (or whatever key your BIOS tells you to enter setup), you can turn on the "Quick Boot" option and move your hard disk to the top of the boot priority list. The Quick Boot setting will turn off the tests your computer runs when it first turns on, and the boot priority tweak will tell your computer not to look for CDs, thumb drives, or other media when it first starts, which will get you booted into your OS quicker. If you ever need to boot from CD though, you'll have to go back into the BIOS and change this again before you do.
Update your system
Often overlooked as a measure to improve your computer's boot-up time, updating your software and hardware drivers can be an essential step. These are simple to do yourself using Windows Update, and you won't be disappointed by the results. You can even automate your updates, too.
If you're in an office environment, however, be sure to check with your IT department before you update your computer. They might want to do it for you or instruct you to do something in a particular way.
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