It's a common problem among millions of Windows users around the world: after a few months, the computer becomes slower, weighed down by a thousand programs, often useless and all sorts of other stuff like various tool plugins that slow down Windows for no apparent reason.
This happens especially to people who care less about their PC, either out of laziness or because they are inexperienced who ask themselves, at some point: " Why has my computer been going so slowly for a while"> We saw in another article why the PC goes slower over time, with causes ranging from fragmentation and little free space on the disk, to the presence of bulky programs, viruses and updates that make the system and software bigger and bigger.
Without going to the technician, let's see which programs (free) should be used to keep the Windows PC (Windows 7, 8 and 10) fast, in order to have quick loads and immediate responses like when it was new or even better.
READ ALSO: Guide to optimize Windows 10
1) First of all, it takes regular maintenance, possibly automatic.
Each Windows PC has an automatic maintenance procedure that mainly deals with optimizing the disk, both SSD and Hard disk, so that it is not fragmented.
To improve maintenance procedures, it is advisable to have automatic programs to optimize the Windows PC, among which we have reported, in particular, Glary Utilities and Ccleaner.
The latter, in particular, is particularly necessary to clean the PC from unnecessary files that can cause slowdowns (as we will see in point 4)
2) To speed up the startup of the PC at power up, there are several tools, already mentioned in two articles ("programs to manage the automatic startup in Windows and the computer" and "how to speed up Windows boot"), which analyze the process of turning on and loading Windows.
In particular I always recommend using the free program Autorun Organizer, which allows you to control which programs start automatically with Windows and also to delay the loading of some of these programs, if you do not want to deactivate them completely.
3) Always talking about programs in startup but, this time, going deeper, the more experienced can use the powerful HiJackThis software which, however, must be studied before using it because it is not automatic.
Alternatively, it is easier to use Process Explorer to check active processes and remove any programs that take up memory and CPU.
4) Eliminate unnecessary or temporary files and registry keys that clog your computer.
The best and the lightest and most tested program is Ccleaner (already reported in point 1, but there are also other tools of the same type, sometimes even more powerful, reported among the Programs to eliminate obsolete files and clean registry
5) To uninstall programs completely, there are several very light and effective uninstallers including the best one is Geek Uninstaller.
This is always to be used instead of the internal Windows application installation by deleting any residual traces of the programs that are to be removed.
6) Defragment the disk
When using Windows, after a certain period, you must use the disk defragmenter utility.
Although defragmentation is an operation that Windows does automatically, some external programs can be used to defragment the disk on a PC to have a fast hard disk, which have more options and are able to give an additional boost.
7) The antivirus
As for the antivirus, we have seen how it is sufficient to leave Windows Defender in Windows 10 and 8, without installing anything more and removing any pre-installed antivirus.
Alternatively and in Windows 7, AVG is recommended as one of the fastest antivirus.
8) Web browser
To go on the internet and see sites, the most used programs are Chrome and Firefox which are fast enough if you don't install extensions.
Wanting a lighter and faster broser, you can choose one of the lightest and most portable browsers to use on each PC.
9) To listen to music, you can let go of Windows Media Player and it is better to use different programs to listen to music, like my favorite AIMPP.
10) To read the pdfs, useless to use the gigantic Adobe Reder, better Foxit Reader or other lighter and less known pdf readers.
11) To watch movies and videos, the fastest and most option-rich program to use VLC Media Player, free, which includes all the codecs to open any video format.
12) To burn CDs and DVDs, we have seen in another article better programs to burn discs, including some very light ones.
13) To search for files, always a sore point of Windows, it is better to use a faster program like Everything, to search for files in an ultra-fast way.
14) As an image viewer, the fastest and fastest program to use is Irfanview, which then includes all the basic functions for choosing how to browse photos, including editing tools.
To summarize, I leave the links to download the various software and programs mentioned above that allow us to keep the PC fast without giving up any function:
- Glary Utilities
- CCleaner
- Geek Uninstaller
- Defraggler
- Foxit Reader
- VLC
- AIMP
- ImgBurn Download
- Irfanview.
- Autorun Organizer
- Process Explorer
READ ALSO: Things to do to optimize Windows and have a fast and stable PC
This happens especially to people who care less about their PC, either out of laziness or because they are inexperienced who ask themselves, at some point: " Why has my computer been going so slowly for a while"> We saw in another article why the PC goes slower over time, with causes ranging from fragmentation and little free space on the disk, to the presence of bulky programs, viruses and updates that make the system and software bigger and bigger.
Without going to the technician, let's see which programs (free) should be used to keep the Windows PC (Windows 7, 8 and 10) fast, in order to have quick loads and immediate responses like when it was new or even better.
READ ALSO: Guide to optimize Windows 10
1) First of all, it takes regular maintenance, possibly automatic.
Each Windows PC has an automatic maintenance procedure that mainly deals with optimizing the disk, both SSD and Hard disk, so that it is not fragmented.
To improve maintenance procedures, it is advisable to have automatic programs to optimize the Windows PC, among which we have reported, in particular, Glary Utilities and Ccleaner.
The latter, in particular, is particularly necessary to clean the PC from unnecessary files that can cause slowdowns (as we will see in point 4)
2) To speed up the startup of the PC at power up, there are several tools, already mentioned in two articles ("programs to manage the automatic startup in Windows and the computer" and "how to speed up Windows boot"), which analyze the process of turning on and loading Windows.
In particular I always recommend using the free program Autorun Organizer, which allows you to control which programs start automatically with Windows and also to delay the loading of some of these programs, if you do not want to deactivate them completely.
3) Always talking about programs in startup but, this time, going deeper, the more experienced can use the powerful HiJackThis software which, however, must be studied before using it because it is not automatic.
Alternatively, it is easier to use Process Explorer to check active processes and remove any programs that take up memory and CPU.
4) Eliminate unnecessary or temporary files and registry keys that clog your computer.
The best and the lightest and most tested program is Ccleaner (already reported in point 1, but there are also other tools of the same type, sometimes even more powerful, reported among the Programs to eliminate obsolete files and clean registry
5) To uninstall programs completely, there are several very light and effective uninstallers including the best one is Geek Uninstaller.
This is always to be used instead of the internal Windows application installation by deleting any residual traces of the programs that are to be removed.
6) Defragment the disk
When using Windows, after a certain period, you must use the disk defragmenter utility.
Although defragmentation is an operation that Windows does automatically, some external programs can be used to defragment the disk on a PC to have a fast hard disk, which have more options and are able to give an additional boost.
7) The antivirus
As for the antivirus, we have seen how it is sufficient to leave Windows Defender in Windows 10 and 8, without installing anything more and removing any pre-installed antivirus.
Alternatively and in Windows 7, AVG is recommended as one of the fastest antivirus.
8) Web browser
To go on the internet and see sites, the most used programs are Chrome and Firefox which are fast enough if you don't install extensions.
Wanting a lighter and faster broser, you can choose one of the lightest and most portable browsers to use on each PC.
9) To listen to music, you can let go of Windows Media Player and it is better to use different programs to listen to music, like my favorite AIMPP.
10) To read the pdfs, useless to use the gigantic Adobe Reder, better Foxit Reader or other lighter and less known pdf readers.
11) To watch movies and videos, the fastest and most option-rich program to use VLC Media Player, free, which includes all the codecs to open any video format.
12) To burn CDs and DVDs, we have seen in another article better programs to burn discs, including some very light ones.
13) To search for files, always a sore point of Windows, it is better to use a faster program like Everything, to search for files in an ultra-fast way.
14) As an image viewer, the fastest and fastest program to use is Irfanview, which then includes all the basic functions for choosing how to browse photos, including editing tools.
To summarize, I leave the links to download the various software and programs mentioned above that allow us to keep the PC fast without giving up any function:
- Glary Utilities
- CCleaner
- Geek Uninstaller
- Defraggler
- Foxit Reader
- VLC
- AIMP
- ImgBurn Download
- Irfanview.
- Autorun Organizer
- Process Explorer
READ ALSO: Things to do to optimize Windows and have a fast and stable PC
