Processor boost. How to speed up a slow Windows computer

There is probably not a single PC owner who would not like to increase the performance of his computer, especially if it is already old. Some people want to get the most out of their hardware, some don’t have enough available resources, and some don’t have enough money to upgrade and buy a new PC. This article will tell our readers how to increase computer performance in different ways.

How can you increase your computer's performance?

To begin with, it’s worth saying that there are two ways to increase computer performance: hardware and technical. In turn, the hardware method is an increase in computer performance using the so-called, when old weak computer components are replaced with new, more powerful ones. Systematic way to increase productivity operating system consists of optimizing the operating system installed on the computer.

The hardware method of increasing computer performance is the simplest, since there is nothing simpler than going out and buying new components, replacing the old ones, but most of you are probably interested in how to increase computer performance in a systemic way. However, we will tell you how to increase productivity using these two methods.

Increasing computer performance in a systematic way

For those who want to get the most out of their hardware, the following recommendations will be given:

Choose the correct operating system.

old Windows

Windows versions

Disable visual effects.

You can disable visual effects in Windows by opening “Computer” by calling context menu and selecting “Properties”. On the side select " Additional options System" and go to the "Advanced" tab, where in the "Performance" category you need to click on the "Options" button. In the window that appears, in the “Visual Effects” tab, select “Ensure the best performance.” Then we apply all this and close it.

It’s probably worth mentioning that you need to get rid of various kinds of visualizer programs that change the visual design of windows, icons and install their own visual innovations. Install the default classic theme.

As a result, you will end up with an unattractive appearance operating system, with “oak” windows and a taskbar, but the computer’s performance will increase significantly.

Clear your desktop.

Remove unnecessary programs.

installed applications

In turn, we recommend installing only those programs that you really need, without analogues. For example, many people install several browsers, players, instant messengers, etc., choose one program at a time: it will be more convenient for you and the system will be “easier.”

Use “light” analogues of programs.

Mozilla Firefox

Google browser

Clear autostart.

quick start

In order to increase the loading speed of the operating system, try to reduce the number of startup programs as much as possible, since a large number of them significantly reduces the loading speed, especially on a weak computer. Some programs can simply be launched independently, since their launch after full load– a matter of seconds, and when they all start at the same time, it freezes the computer.

Clean your operating system.

Clean the system unit.

Increasing computer performance using hardware

Now let's look at the second way to maximize computer performance - using hardware. A hardware way to increase computer performance is, in fact, a regular upgrade, but let’s just look at it from a more budgetary point of view.

So, when increasing the performance of a computer with hardware, you can rely both on the components themselves and on an assessment of the performance of the operating system (although it is better to take note of this assessment, but not as a basis). It is best to watch the computer load; if the processor load is at its peak during operation, you can increase the computer’s performance by replacing it; if this happens with the RAM, then increase it. Hardware improvement needs to start with weak points, most often it is RAM. In addition, if you have an integrated video card, we recommend installing a discrete one, but so that it is no weaker in parameters than the integrated one, otherwise there will be no point in it as such. occurs when a video or game is very slow during playback. Try to update so that you don't have to change the entire architecture.

How to increase your computer performance score? It's very simple! To do this, in the test results, the operating system itself will tell you what needs to be updated, but you should not think that by updating the specified component, the score is guaranteed to be calculated based on the smallest next component. This happens because the assessment is carried out according to its own system, the logic of which is very difficult to understand. In addition, all components in the evaluation are interconnected and if, for example, you replace a video card, then it is not a fact that the RAM will not pull the rating down.

Over time, the computer operating system undergoes wear and tear, which affects both the performance of the device and our nerves. This is especially noticeable when working on weak computers. However, this is far from a reason for premature Windows reinstallation, and you shouldn’t rush to create an installation flash drive and remember which key starts the transition to the BIOS. Taking advantage of several in simple ways, we will not only return crystalline virginity to our system, but also speed it up, in some places making it run faster than the new one.

Why does my computer slow down?

Most often, the slowdown of the operating system is associated with its inept use: incorrect removal of programs, clutter hard drive and the lack of timely measures to clean it up. At the very same Windows installation 7, few people change the standard system configurations, which are far from optimal.

Hardware acceleration: unloading the processor

Hardware acceleration is the redistribution of some system functions from the main processor to hardware to increase overall computer performance.

In other words, this is shifting part of the CPU work to the video card, if it is able to handle it faster.

The hardware acceleration feature is enabled in all builds of Windows 7 by default. You can check this using the following path:

Right-click on the desktop and select “Screen Resolution”.
Select “Screen Resolution”
Now go to “Advanced options”.
In the window that opens, select “Advanced settings” On the “Diagnostics” tab, select “Change settings”

If this button is inactive, there is no need to panic: you have hardware acceleration enabled, and the caring developers of the video adapter foresaw what could get you here, and removed changing the settings away from the wrong hands.

The required button is “Change settings”. If it is inactive, acceleration is already enabled

Visual Effects: Maximum System Performance

Nice graphic Windows interface 7 puts a very noticeable load on the computer hardware, which cannot but affect its performance. Visual design, of course, serves as a good addition to the operating system, but when it begins to noticeably affect its performance, it is better to sacrifice beauty for the sake of optimization.

Right-click on the “Computer” icon and go to “Properties”.
Click on “Advanced system settings”

Now we need to get to “Advanced system settings”. Select the “Advanced” tab and in the first “Performance” section open “Settings”.

Select “Options” in the “Performance” section

In the “Visual Effects” tab, check the “Ensure the best performance” value and click “Apply”.
Our choice - "Best performance"
These settings disable all visual effects and provide maximum performance, but the system begins to look rather unsightly. If the resulting style makes you disgusted and sad and gives you nightmares about Windows 95, return the checkboxes to some menu items:
- “Enable desktop composition”;
- “Using display styles for windows and buttons”;
- "Show thumbnails instead of icons";
- “Smooth out jagged screen fonts.”
We agree by clicking the “OK” button.

Hard drive: memory cleaning and defragmentation

All files that are written to hard drive, are divided into many sequential fragments in order to reduce the space used. As a result, in order to read the file, the computer is forced to put them back together. And the presence of various debris in its path increases the reading time, which slows down the system and causes delays of varying lengths when opening or changing files. At the same time, the speed of work, of course, drops.

The simplest solution to this problem is regular cleaning of the hard drive from junk and equally regular defragmentation. By systematically removing unnecessary files and programs from your PC, you can greatly increase its speed.

First, you should clean up the space you use: remove unnecessary music, watched movies, installation files, hundreds of new documents Microsoft Word and other delights of human presence.

It is worth getting rid of unused programs. Let's start with this.

How to increase performance: cleaning the hard drive

To begin, select “Control Panel” from the Start menu.
Select “Control Panel”
Go to “Uninstall a program”.
We carefully study the list, find an outdated or unnecessary program, right-click on it and delete it.
Right-click on the unnecessary program and select “Uninstall”
Now let's get rid of system garbage. Combination Windows keys(flag on the keyboard) + R call the “Run” command, enter %temp% and click “OK”. This way we will quickly move to the storage location of “junk” temporary files, and we will not have to spend a long and tedious time trying to find them in the system.
Go to the "Temp" folder
Everything that is in the called folder is temporary files. In combination, it is system garbage that must be removed. Using the key combination Ctrl + A, select everything and delete it.
Select all files in the folder and delete them
If some files stubbornly refuse to be deleted, there is nothing wrong with that. Most likely, they are being used by some active programs right now and can be skipped.
If some files do not want to be deleted, skip them
Now you can move on to the next step of cleaning your hard drive from system debris. Going to “Computer”, right-click on “ Local disk(C:)" and click "Properties".
The item we need is “Properties”
Going to the “General” tab, select “Disk Cleanup”.
Select the “Disk Cleanup” button
When the system analyzes the estimated amount of garbage that can be removed, the disk cleanup menu will open. In this menu, in the list of files available for deletion, check all the boxes, click “OK” and confirm deleting the files.
Select the files that the system will delete
After cleaning, uncheck the box “Allow the contents of files on this disk to be indexed in addition to file properties” and click “OK”. In the window that opens, do not change anything and click “OK” again. If the “Access Denied” window pops up, click “Continue”, and “Error changing attributes” - click “Skip all”.

If there are several system disks on the computer, we clean them all in the same way.

Disk defragmentation: how to speed up your PC

After completion, repeat the procedure with the remaining disks.

How to work with CCleaner: PC cleaning program

For the next step, we will need the CCleaner utility, which allows us to clean up all system garbage that we were unable to remove using Windows tools. The program is free, and you can download it from the official website http://ccleaner.org.ua/. This is not the only one and not even best utility, which helps clean and speed up the system, but CCleaner is simpler and more accessible than anything else.

Having launched the installed program, go to the Applications tab, where we uncheck everything that is still dear to your heart (for example, browser history), and then click Run Cleaner.
The button we need is Run Cleaner
After cleaning, go to the Registry section and click Scan for Issues. After completing the analysis, click Fix selected issues.
We find problems and errors in the registry and fix them: the Scan for issues and Fix selected items buttons, respectively
Now let's go to the Tools section and select the Startup tab. Here are all the programs that start automatically when turning on Windows. Select all unnecessary ones and click Disable. This way we will disable their autorun and reduce the load on RAM.
We remove all unnecessary programs from autorun using the Disable button

Page file: speeding up RAM

The page file, also known as virtual memory, is a separate space on the hard drive that serves as an intermediate link in the exchange of information between the RAM and the hard drive.

Windows 7 by default makes the page file 50% larger than the size RAM, however, sometimes this size is too small. This leads to frequent overwriting of the file or direct access to the main sectors of the hard drive, which negatively affects the performance of the system.

First you need to determine the amount of RAM. To do this, go to the “Start” menu, right-click on “Computer” and go to the “Properties” option.
First, go to computer properties
Here we carefully look at the amount of installed memory (RAM), and if it is more than 4 GB, then nothing should be changed. Otherwise, go to “Advanced system settings”.
If you need to increase the paging file, go to “Advanced system settings”
Here, on the “Advanced” tab, in the “Performance” section, click on the “Options” button.
Change performance parameters by clicking on the corresponding button
Select the “Advanced” tab and click “Change”.
We need a “Change” button in the “Virtual Memory” section
First, uncheck the “Automatically select paging file size” checkbox. After that, mark the “Specify size” marker and set the values larger. The best option- 5120 MB for original size and 7680 MB for maximum. Now click the “Set” button and confirm by clicking the “OK” button in all the windows we have opened.
Enter new values in the marked fields, click “Set” and “OK”

MSconfig: increasing speed

Some of installed programs have a bad habit of working in background, which not only loads precious RAM, but also hides from our sensitive gaze. The volume they occupy individually is, as a rule, not particularly large, but together they take up quite a lot of resources, and by closing the pests, you can significantly relieve the load on RAM.

Using the Windows + R key combination, call the “Run” service, enter the msconfig command in the field and click “OK”.
Using the corresponding request, we find msconfig
In the window that opens, go to the “Services” tab. All processes that are running in the background are marked here. First, in order not to disrupt the system, check the “Do not display Microsoft services” checkbox. After that, with peace of mind, we remove the checkmarks from all remaining items. Confirm the changes by clicking the “OK” button.
Uncheck all services except system ones (and important ones, like antivirus)
Don't forget to uncheck all the boxes in the "Startup" tab. Essentially, this is copying the actions that we have already carried out previously using CCleaner; but, if for some reason you were unable to turn off autoloading then, now is the time.
Overclocking the video adapter: instructions with video
If the performance of the processor is quite satisfactory for you, but you are a gamer and have problems with graphics, we have good news for you: it is not only the CPU that can be overclocked! The video below is dedicated to overclocking a video card. Speeding up an existing video adapter will certainly be cheaper than buying a new one, spending a decent amount. True, here you also need to take care of cooling.

But don’t forget: overclocking a computer is one thing, but making sure it doesn’t burn out after that is quite another. So approach such things responsibly and take care of your equipment.
So, we have carried out all possible acceleration procedures Windows operation 7 and our system is now running as fast as possible. Unfortunately, there are no other ways that are guaranteed to increase overall performance: well, perhaps changing components for your PC. Be happy and don't forget to defragment.

Processor frequency and performance may be higher than specified in standard specifications. Also, over time the system is used, the performance of all main PC components (RAM, CPU, etc.) may gradually decrease. To avoid this, you need to regularly “optimize” your computer.

It is necessary to understand that all manipulations with the central processor (especially overclocking) should be carried out only if you are convinced that it will be able to “survive” them. This may require you to perform system testing.

All manipulations to improve the quality of CPU operation can be divided into two groups:

Optimization. The main emphasis is on proper distribution of already available resources cores and system to achieve maximum performance. It is difficult to cause serious damage to the CPU during optimization, but the performance gain is usually not very high.
Overclocking Manipulation directly with the processor itself through special software or BIOS to improve it clock frequency. The performance gain in this case is quite noticeable, but the risk of damaging the processor and other computer components during unsuccessful overclocking also increases.

Finding out if the processor is suitable for overclocking

Before overclocking, be sure to review the characteristics of your processor using a special program (for example AIDA64). The latter is shareware, with its help you can find out detailed information about all computer components, and in the paid version you can even carry out some manipulations with them. Instructions for use:

Method 1: Optimization using CPU Control

To safely optimize your processor, you will need to download CPU Control. This program has a simple interface for ordinary PC users, supports Russian language and is distributed free of charge. The essence this method consists in evenly distributing the load on the processor cores, because on modern multi-core processors, some cores may not participate in the work, which results in a loss of performance.

Instructions for using this program:

Method 2: Overclocking with ClockGen

ClockGen is a free program suitable for accelerating processors of any brand and series (with the exception of some Intel processors, where acceleration is not possible on its own). Before overclocking, make sure that all CPU temperatures are normal. How to use ClockGen:

Method 3: Overclocking the CPU in BIOS

Quite a complex and “dangerous” method, especially for inexperienced users PC. Before overclocking a processor, it is recommended to study its characteristics, first of all, the temperature when operating in normal mode (without heavy loads). To do this, use special utilities or programs (AIDA64 described above is quite suitable for these purposes).

If all parameters are normal, then you can start overclocking. Overclocking for each processor can be different, so below is a universal instruction for performing this operation through the BIOS:

Method 4: OS optimization

This is the safest method to increase CPU performance by cleaning startup from unnecessary applications and disk defragmentation. Autoload is automatic switching on of a particular program/process when loading the operating system. When too many processes and programs accumulate in this section, then when you turn on the OS and continue working in it, CPU the load may be too high, affecting performance.

Cleaning Startup

Applications can be added to startup automatically, or applications/processes can be added themselves. To avoid the second case, it is recommended to carefully read all the items that are ticked during the installation of this or that software. How to remove existing items from Startup:

Carrying out defragmentation

Disk defragmentation not only increases the speed of programs running on this disk, but also slightly optimizes the processor. This happens because the CPU processes less data because... During defragmentation, the logical structure of volumes is updated and optimized, and file processing is accelerated. Instructions for defragmentation:

Optimizing CPU performance is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. However, if the optimization did not produce any noticeable results, then in this case the central processor will need to be overclocked yourself. In some cases, overclocking does not have to be done through the BIOS. Sometimes the processor manufacturer can provide special program to increase the frequency of a particular model.

Overclocking a processor is an increase in the speed of the chip compared to the performance declared by the manufacturer. The most popular method is magnification. In this case, the processor cycle is slightly reduced in time, but it does the same amount during this clock cycle. This means that the speed of calculations is increasing. The advent of multi-core processors has given rise to another overclocking option - unlocking cores disabled by the manufacturer. But this is the lot of professional overclockers, and we will leave witchcraft with cores outside the scope of this article. Let's look at just a few of the safest options for overclocking a laptop processor.

Why overclock a laptop processor?

Let's start with the question "why". Getting more performance for the same processor price seems like a good deal. In addition, as the chip bus clock speed increases, the memory usually runs faster. As a result, applications begin to work a little faster. To be fair, on modern desktop chipsets you can overclock the CPU and RAM in different ways. But not in laptops.

Where might you need more laptop processor performance? Obviously, in games and heavy applications like Adobe Photoshop, very demanding on the CPU. Modern browsers They also actively use the processor on “heavy” pages on the Internet. Website developers today are actively using the multimedia capabilities of HTML 5 and Flash. That is, greater performance is required in almost all daily tasks of a laptop user.

Overclocking a laptop processor: step by step

Attention! When overclocking a processor yourself using our tips, you need to remember the following things:

Overclocking the processor increases performance, but at the same time energy consumption also increases. This means your laptop’s battery will last less time and the chip will heat up more. It is necessary to ensure good ventilation inside the case. At a minimum, do not cover the special slots located on the bottom and back of the laptop.
In the long term, overclocking can reduce the lifespan of the processor.

Easy overclocking using Windows

The safest thing for laptops is “overclocking” by changing the power supply mode.

1. Open the Power Options program in Windows 7 or 8.1.

2. Install “High Performance” - a special power supply scheme that requires maximum performance from the processor.

Thus, we overclocked the laptop processor regular means and without any risk.

Software overclocking using special utilities

Here begins a description of overclocking methods that involve a certain risk for the average user. Therefore, do everything carefully and in very small steps.. For example, if the processor frequency is 1 GHz, then demanding that it reach the peak of 1.5 GHz is stupid. The maximum that can be done safely is +10-15%. All other figures are achieved only by special means with changes in the cooling and power supply systems of the chip.

1. Download the CPU-Z program.

It doesn't know how to overclock the processor. But CPU-ID will give us complete information about the chip that is installed in our laptop. Knowing this information, we can understand how many additional gigahertz we can expect.

2. Download the special SetFSB utility. This program is capable of controlling the processor clock speed without using the BIOS.

Carefully study the list of laptop models supported by the utility. You won’t find the latest ones on this list, since the situation with program support is currently unclear. But the utility supports old laptops manufactured approximately before 2014. The sequence of actions is simple. We increase the clock frequency of the processor bus in small steps and look at the result.

3. We test the laptop for stability after overclocking. The fact that after overclocking the laptop works when you launch the Internet browser is already good. But we need to check whether it can withstand a more serious load. The Prime 95 utility will help us. Its advantage is the minimal file size and the absence of the need to waste time on installation.

If you run the CPU-Z program described earlier during the test, you will see that the processor operates at the highest frequency that it is allowed. If something is unstable: the appearance blue screen, freezing, then the frequency should be reduced.

Overclocking a laptop processor through BIOS

Overclocking the processor is also possible through BIOS settings. But this only applies to individual models. And, I must say, quite rare. It should be understood that a laptop is, first of all, mobile device With for a long time battery operation. The processor overclocking options here are not as wide as in personal computers, but something can be done. The general course of action is something like this.

We enter the BIOS. Depending on your laptop model, you should hold down or frequently press the Del, Esc, or F12 key when turning on the power. There may be other key combinations. This varies by manufacturer, so check your laptop online or in the user manual.
The item under which the settings are hidden may have different names. For example, CPU FSB Clock or CPU FSB Frequency. All we can do is slightly increase the bus clock speed.
We increase the clock frequency. Reboot the laptop.

After overclocking, be sure to test the reliability of the laptop using the Prime 95 utility.

Do you need to overclock your laptop?

Laptops are not designed to overclock the processor. On the contrary, mobile chip manufacturers have done everything to ensure that the user does not need such overclocking. The frequency automatically decreases when the processor is idle and increases when the system needs the chip. The most reliable way not to break anything is to use switching the laptop power supply circuit. The processor will stop reducing its frequency, which will give you a small performance increase compared to economical operating modes. To be fair, let us remind you that the high-performance mode is automatically turned on if you simply plug the power supply plug into the laptop. For not the newest laptop models, there is an additional alternative to overclocking the processor - the SetFSB utility. And you can check the stability of operation in the new overclocked state with the Prime 95 program.

This publication will discuss another third-party tool for optimizing the operation of multi-core processors - free program CPU Control. “More” – because the author has already touched on this topic, see about ICEAffinity. The brainchild of German developer Matthias Koch ( Matthias Koch), Russified utility CPU Control will be especially interesting for novice computer users due to the presence of a multi-functional auto optimization mode, but first things first.

"Why is this necessary & what will I get from it?"

This issue was raised in the published article, so I’ll defragment what was said into a couple of paragraphs:

Some applications do not support multi-core mode, so for them to work correctly you must manually allocate a separate processor core for them. Another "problematic" option - motherboard initializes kernels asynchronously. In both cases, user intervention is required.

By default, Windows gives all running processes equal priority in the use of processor power. Which is not entirely correct when running resource-intensive applications, for example, when your favorite Call of Duty is hampered by an antivirus along with a dozen other “minor” software. CPU Control will help distribute processes proportionally across cores, which will directly affect the overall system performance.

Important!

The utility supports dual- and quad-core processors, but, according to reviews, it works correctly on 6–8 cores.

We optimize

1. First you need to download the utility, for example, from my Catalog the best software. There are no “tricks” in the installation, so click “ Next" ("Next") until complete installation. By the way, the program does not “litter” the registry, i.e. it is portable and portable on removable drives.

2. After launching, first of all click on " Options" ("Options") and Russify CPU Control through " Languages" ("Languages") → "Russian". Next, in accordance with the following screenshot, check the boxes next to " Autostart with Windows ", "Minimize" And " 4 cores" (for four or more cores). It is clear that if the CPU is dual-core, there is no need to activate “4 cores”.

3. Having closed "Options", in the main application window we see 5 CPU control modes: " Auto", "Manual", "CPU1" (all processes run on the 1st core), " CPU2" (all processes are running on the 2nd core) and " Disabled" (without optimization). The last three modes are not interesting to us, so we will focus on the first two.

For beginners the author recommends simply selecting the " Auto " and, closing the window, check for future Windows downloads, to CPU Control was in the list of startup applications (!). This is easy to do, for example, through any version, look in the menu bar " Tools" → "Startup Manager"(if you need to add an application, click the applet" Add").

4. For those who like to dig around this simple utility gives you a chance to “expand”: in auto mode there is 9 basic profiles-variations in the distribution of processes across cores (screenshot below). If you have time and open on the " tab Performance"Task Manager ("Ctrl + Alt + Del" ), to monitor the results, you can choose the optimal profile for your system.

5. The most advanced users who want to achieve maximum results in increasing system performance using this method, will certainly be interested in the " Manual ". In this mode, you independently distribute processes among cores or groups of cores. It’s simple: select the process(es) and use the right mouse button to “hang” it on the desired core or combination of cores. For example, when selecting " CPU1" the process will hang on the first core when selecting " CPU3+4" – on the third and fourth cores, etc.

Here good option ranking for 4-core PC: system processes leave it to the 1st core, “spread” the most resource-intensive applications (such as Photoshop) between all cores (option as in the last screenshot), and give “middle-class” applications such as an anti-virus scanner to combinations for 2 cores, say, " CPU3+4". Windows Task Manager will help you make the right choice. For ease of monitoring, when the "tab" is open in the Manager Performance", check that the function " According to schedule for each CPU " (see "" → searched " According to schedule for each CPU").

In general, experiment and your efforts will definitely pay off handsomely!