Win10 for Slow PCs | https://git.io/boost-win10 | by https://git.io/ilyaigpetrov

Tuning Windows 10 for Slow Machines.md

Tuning Windows 10 for Slow Machines

This guide is for those who dares to install Windows 10 on slow netbooks (1GB of RAM).
Though Windows update program is over, you still may use old Windows product keys from license stickers to install Windows 10 on old machines.

UPD Jan 2019
This article is quite old, some instructions may be obsolete.

Explanations

• Win ⊞ + R -- Press and hold "Windows" key, then press key R, then relese both keys.
• Search "FooBar" -- Click searching glass icon in taskbar or click Windows Start icon and start typing FooBar. You don't need to type all the phrase, only the beginning.

No Warranty

I'm not responsible for any data loss or damage to your device caused by following instructions in this article.

Table of Contents

Windows 10 Performance Checklist:

0. Reset Windows (Advanced)
1. Remove Unnecessary Apps/Crapware/Bloatware
2. Clean System from Viruses/Malware/Adware, etc.
3. Remove Some Apps from Autorun
4. Leave Enough Free Space on Your Drives for Windows 10
5. Tweak Visual Effects
6. Turn Off System Protection on Disks
7. Opt Out from Privacy Options/Telemetry
8. Turn Off Store Updates
9. Turn Off Windows Components
10. Tweak Windows Services (Advanced)
11. Tweak Your Browser
12. Defragment Your HDDs
13. Unplug or Turn Off Unnecessary Devices
14. Tweak Power Options (Doubtful)
15. Tweak BIOS/UEFI (Advanced)
16. Optionally

If Nothing Helps:

1. Check HDD, FileSystem and Windows Files for Errors (Advanced)
2. Install Other OS. Upgrade Hardware

Windows 10 Performance Checklist

0. Reset Windows (Advanced)

If you don't mind uninstalling all your programs, move all your precious data to other partition than C:.
Then you may restore Windows into the "just installed" state with Search "Recovery options" > Reset this PC > Remove Everything > Only the drive where windows is installed.
After install you will have to reconfigure Windows and install all necessary programs like file archivator.
Read more:

• techrepublic
• laptopmag

1. Remove Unnecessary Apps/Crapware/Bloatware

• New way: Search "Apps & features" or Settings > System > Apps & features > Click an app > Uninstall
• Old way: Win + R > appwiz.cpl
• Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (advanced)

2. Clean System from Viruses/Malware/Adware, etc.

You may use these programs:

1. Free Anti-adware (Not Antiviurses):

• AdwCleaner
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
• Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

2. Free Antiviruses:

• Avira
• Avast
• Weak but fast Windows Defender + Settings > Devices > AutoPlay > OFF "Use AutoPlay..."
• Others: https://www.av-comparatives.org

3. Remove Some Apps from Autorun

• Ctrl + Shift + Esc > More details > Startup > Right click > Disable
• Additionaly you may use Autoruns tool by SysInternals

4. Leave Enough Free Space on Your Drives for Windows 10

Subjectivly I think 10GB is enough for Winfows 10 to function properly. PC Advisor recommends to keep 10% of each volume free.
You may free up disk space by running these tools:

• Search "Disk Cleanup" > Right Click > Run as administrator or Win + R > cleanmgr

5. Tweak Visual Effects

• Search "advanced system settings" > Performance Settings > Adjust for best performance
• Settings > Personalization > Colors > OFF "Make Start, taskbar... transparent" and OFF others of your choice
• Settings > Ease of Access > Other options > OFF "Play animation" and OFF "Show background"
• Settings > Personalization > Start > Show more tiles OFF, Occasionaly show suggestions OFF
• Unpin all tiles from Start Menu and shrink it.

Turn Off Lock Screen

• Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Show lock screen background pictrue... > OFF
• Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Background = Picture
• Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Get fun facts, tips, tricks > OFF (after previous point)

Extreme Measures

• Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Get tips, tricks, and suggestions OFF, Get notifications from apps OFF

6. Turn Off System Protection on Disks

System protection feature tells Windows to record changes made during software installations for purpose of rolling back when system fails to operate. If you feel brave, you may turn it off:
Search "advanced system settings" > Choose disk > Configure > Disable

7. Opt Out from Privacy Options/Telemetry

Settings > Privacy >:

• General > OFF "Send Microsoft info about how I write..." and OFF others of your choice
• Speech, inking and typing > Stop getting to know me
• Location > Change > OFF if you don't need location tracking
• Background apps > OFF all except "Settings"

Telemetry

• Feedback and diagnostics > Windows should ask for my feedback: NEVER, Send your device data to MS: BASIC
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection\ AllowTelemetry: 0
• In PowerShell:

stop-service diagtrack
set-service diagtrack -startuptype disabled

8. Turn Off Store Updates

• Open Store > user icon > Settings > Update apps automatically > OFF
• Store > user icon > Settings > Show products on tile > OFF
• Win + R > regedit:
  1. By easeus

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsStore Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named AutoDownload and set it to 2;

  2. By winaero

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures and set it to 1

  3. Restart Windows 10.

9. Turn Off Windows Components

• Disable OneDrive
• Disable Cortana
• Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Show me tips about Windows > OFF
• Win + R > appwiz.cpl > Turn Windows feartures on or off (advanced)
• Settings > System > Offline maps > Automatically update maps > OFF

10. Tweak Windows Services (Advanced)

Open services by Win + R > services.msc. There you may change some services from automatic startup to manual (when needed) or turn off services completely. If you turn off some important services your system may become unfunctional. You may get some insight from Black Viper manual.

I usually set as manual services (but don't trust me: I have little experience): Themes, IP Helper (I don't use IPv6), TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper (I don't use local network), Fax, Print Spooler (I don't use printers/fax).

11. Tweak Your Browser

• Remove unnecessary browser extensions and apps, disable unused features (in Chrome)
• Install fast adblocker (uBlock Origin for Chrome, Opera and Brave have built in adblcokers [enable in settings])
• Disable autorun for plugins (like Flash) (doesn't work anymore?)
• Tune your adblcoker to rip off large media, socails, etc. (advanced, uBlock Settings > Default behavior)
• Install Empty New Tab Page or my own ABSOLUTELY Blank New Tab Page.
• Disable HTML5 media content (for nerds, e.g. if you feel uBlock is not enough, block requests of type "Other" in uMatrix)

12. Defragment Your HDDs

Search "Defragment and Optimize Drives"
You may read more about defragmentation on the internets.

13. Unplug or Turn Off Unnecessary Devices

Win + R > ncpa.cpl > Right click on unused network interface > Disable

14. Tweak Power Options (Doubtful)

I doubt this option, but some resources mention it:
Search "Power Options" > Show additional plans > High performance

15. Tweak BIOS/UEFI (Advanced)

In BIOS you may:

1. Enable virtualization and other CPU facilities.
2. Turn of power saving.
3. Remove DVD from booting devices.
4. Disable devices that are not used or broken (e.g. NIC, floppy).

16. Optionally

Antivirus may be an excess for a slow PC, better to use standard MS defender.
In this case you'd better turn off AutoPlay on external drives:
Settings > Devices > AutoPlay > Use AutoPlay for all media and devices > OFF

If Nothing Helps

1. Check HDD, FileSystem and Windows Files for Errors (Advanced)

If your HDD is old it may slow down the whole system, however it may be checked and healed.

1. Find HDD diagnosic tool (with SMART feature) and check drive's health, e.g. MHDD is an old tool for advanced users.
2. Remap bad or slow HDD sectors, e.g. Low Level Format Tool remaps slow sectors while deleting all data.
3. Fix filesystem errors, e.g. with Win + R > cmd.exe > CHKDSK C: /F
4. Fix corruped Windows files: Win + R > cmd.exe > sfc /scannow (details)

2. Install Other OS or Upgrade Hardware

You may install Windows 7, lightweight Linux (e.g. Lubuntu, LXLE, Linux Mint: Xfce Edition), CloudReady or Android for PC (not stable yet, RemixOS, PhoenixOS, Android-x86). Or you may add more RAM, switch to SSD, upgrade other hardware or buy a new notebook.

Sources

• PC Advisor: How to speed up Windows 10
• Make Use Of: How to Speed Up Windows 10 From Boot to Shut Down
• CNET: 6 easy ways to speed up Windows 10
• Softpedia: Three Ways to Make the Windows 10 Start Menu a Lot Faster
• IT PRO: How to speed up Windows 10
• PC World: How to make Windows 10 faster: 5 ways to speed up your PC

---

Short URL: https://git.io/boost-win10

Could you make this a github page perhaps? I would like to keep it up to date

@jddcef, you may clone it or fork it. After cloning you may move the files to a github repo.
For some help see: https://docs.github.com/en/github/writing-on-github/forking-and-cloning-gists.

Please correct line 44. The link does not work.
(#2-install-other-os-upgrade-hardware) should be (#2-install-other-os-or-upgrade-hardware).

@SylveonBottle, thanks, fixed.

If you machine supports two disks (or has a cdrom drive), then you can install a convertor that converts the laptop cdrom drive tray into a second sata hard disk. (most laptop optical drives use a sata connector that is smaller than the standard 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch sata connectors). Then you can get a small but fast SSD that is 1.5x to 2x your RAM, and set this second disk as your swap drive.

Hello! I have created amazing tools that can make windows run faster and safer. Please take a look at it, and if you like it maybe mention it in your guide. That would help me a lot! Thanks! (Named: Pus on my profile {https://github.com/PusPC})

Windows 10 is unfortunately a thing of the past. It is really worth investing in the latest version of the system. If you are looking for a license at a good price, I recommend visiting this website: https://royalcdkeys.com/products/windows-11-pro-retail-cd-key

Windows 10 is unfortunately a thing of the past. It is really worth investing in the latest version of the system. If you are looking for a license at a good price, I recommend visiting this website: <removed scam/spam link>

Thanks for the ad. Unfortunately my system isn't fast enough to run windows 11. It can barely run windows 10.
And if you want windows 10/11 for free, there's plenty of projects online for that.
https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

Please keep in mind that github is now purchased by microsoft. And that microsoft owns windows. And therefore, microsoft is allowing these projects. There are plenty of reasons why; my main guess is that it's financially incentive to them to allow free windows 11 users for data collection.

@SylveonBottle, I heard Microsoft makes money on preinstalled Windows on sold PCs. It may give another explanation why win11 supports only modern hardware.

It can barely run windows 10.

Tried Linux? Some tips for tuning Linux for old hardware may be found in this note: https://notes.valdikss.org.ru/linux-for-old-pc-from-2007/en/.

It can barely run windows 10.

Tried Linux? Some tips for tuning Linux for old hardware may be found in this note: https://notes.valdikss.org.ru/linux-for-old-pc-from-2007/en/.

I'd rather have a slow operating system that works than spend 2 weeks trying to make linux run as good as windows does. But that's just personal ranting I could go on about if curious. Otherwise, I have windows-only programs that don't work under wine.