Pc slow? With these tips your laptop will be fast again

If you are dissatisfied with the performance of your notebook or laptop, you don’t have to buy a new one right away. Often it is worthwhile to turn one or the other adjusting screw, in order to make the computer faster. Five tips at a glance:

1. Buy SD card

If you reach the capacity limit with a cheap notebook that only offers 64 gigabytes (GB) of mass storage, for example, an SD card can be the solution. The can remain permanently as a memory extension in the card reader slot. For less than 30 euros, an SD card can add about 256 GB of memory. However, you should not expect speed records from the memory cards. If you spend about twice as much for the 256 GB memory card, you’ll get a model of the U3 speed class, which can transfer data much faster.

This is what the curious keys on the keyboard mean

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Using the SD card or even a USB stick, you can check whether you can activate the ReadyBoost function. This uses the space of the removable disk to extend the cache of the hard disk. Especially systems that have little memory will benefit from this. You can only use ReadyBoost if your laptop uses a mechanical hard disk (HDD).

To be able to use ReadyBoost, the removable disk must have at least 500 megabytes of storage capacity. To activate the function, proceed as follows:

1. Insert the USB stick or memory card into the computer.
2. Open the file explorer. To do this, right-click on the Windows icon at the bottom left and select"Explorer".
3. Search for the removable disk in the list on the left, right-click on the icon and select in the menu"Properties".
4. Click on the tab at the topReadyBoost". If you can use the feature, follow the instructions on the screen.

How to activate the automatic memory optimization

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2. Automatically clean up the hard disk

Windows 10 offers the option to automatically free up storage space. This means users no longer have to empty the recycle bin themselves, for example, or delete temporary files by hand. Activate the option" for thisMemory optimization". This can be found in the settings. To access the function, press the Windows key and type"Memory optimization" a. The menu should now appear. Otherwise proceed as follows:

1. Press the Windows key or click on the Windows icon in the taskbar (usually in the lower left corner).
2. Press the cogwheel icon, which opens the Windows settings.
3. Click on"System".
4. Search the menu"Memory". Click on it.
5. Here Windows offers the option"Memory optimization". Activate the setting.

In the menu"Change automatic freeing of memory" you can set which files Windows should delete and when.

Alternatively, you can use ReadyBoost with a click on"Free disk space now", immediately delete certain files. Caution: You may find files from the previous Windows version there. These can occupy several gigabytes of memory. Windows keeps these files for some time so that users can revert to the previous version. Delete these files only if you want to keep the current version of Windows.

3. Defragment hard disk

To reduce file access time, it helps to defragment the hard drive. The system rearranges data blocks. This results in contiguous but fragmented files being ordered together again. This means that the computer will find the files in one place and not spread over several – this reduces the access time.

However, defragmenting a drive is only advisable for HDDs. With so-called SSDs you should avoid it. Read more about SSDs here. To defragment your drive in Windows 10, do the following:

1. Press the Windows key or click on the Windows icon in the taskbar (usually in the lower left corner).
2. Press the cogwheel icon, this opens Windows settings.
3. Type in the search above"Defragment" a. The option:" appearsDefragment and optimize drives". Click on it.
4. The system will now show all connected drives. Even the type (HDD or SSD) is visible. With the" optionOptimize", you can defragment it immediately. In settings you can also determine whether and how often a drive is "optimized" should be.

4. Reduce visual effects

Another option: reduce graphical effects of Windows. This can help if the system reacts slowly – for example when you click something or move a window. This is what heise Online reports. To reduce the visual effects, do the following:

1. Press the"Windows key" and"R".
2. This opens the window"Run". Type here the command"Sysdm.cpl" a.
3. The window" opensSystem properties". Click on the tab" at the topExtended".
4. Under the item"Performance" click on"Settings".

Windows offers here the options to optimize the visual effects for display or performance. You can also turn effects on or off yourself.

5. Quit autostart programs

If the laptop drives its owner crazy with a lame Windows startup, it can make sense to sort out automatically loading programs at system startup. This works via the"Autostart". To manage startup programs, do the following:

1. Press Ctrl-Shift-Escape, to call the task manager. Alternatively you can also Ctrl+Alt+Del and then press "Task Manager choose.
2. Click on the "Autostart" tab at the top of the page.
3. Windows lists programs that start at system startup here. To disable them, select the program you want to disable and click on the bottom right corner"Disable".

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Of course, you should not try to prevent the virus scanner or, in the case of the notebook, the touchpad driver from starting, because these programs must always be active in the background. In case of doubt: It is better not to change the respective entry.

Many applications from the Office package over packing program up to the PDF tool do not have to start however completely surely always directly with Windows. You can confidently defragment with a right mouse click on the corresponding entry on"Disabled" are set.