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Simple steps that likely will speed up your PC

 

Assuming you already have an SSD hard drive...

1./ Assign GPU power to specific applications

2./ Increase Icon Cache

3./ Remove or disable browser extensions

4./ Tweak IO (drive access) priority and CPU settings with e.g. ProcessLasso

5./ Adjust window animations in Windows 11

6./ Switch off any Power Saving option

 

1./ Assign GPU power to specific applications

In Windows 11, you can specify which GPU to use for individual apps, especially if your system has multiple GPUs (for example, an integrated GPU and a dedicated GPU). This feature is particularly useful for optimizing performance, allowing you to choose a high-performance GPU for demanding applications or a power-saving GPU for less intensive tasks. Here's how you can find and adjust these settings:
 
1. Open Settings: Right-click on the Start button and select "Settings" from the context menu, or press "Windows + I" on your keyboard to open the Settings app.
 
2. Navigate to System: In the Settings window, click on "System" to access system-related settings.
 
3. Display Settings: Within the System settings, click on "Display." This section allows you to adjust various display-related settings.
 
4. Graphics: Scroll down in the Display settings until you find the "Graphics" option. Click on it to access the graphics settings where you can manage GPU preferences.
 
5. Graphics Settings In the Graphics settings, you'll see a list of applications and the option to choose a preferred GPU for each app. You can add applications by clicking on "Browse" or "Add an app" and then select the app for which you want to specify GPU settings.
 
6. Specify GPU: After adding an application, you can choose its preferred GPU. Click on the app, and then click "Options." Here, you'll typically see choices like "Let Windows decide," "Power saving" (usually the integrated GPU), and "High performance" (usually the dedicated GPU). Select the desired option for each app.
 
7. Save Changes: Once you've selected the preferred GPU for an application, make sure to save your changes. The system will use your specified GPU preferences when launching the selected apps.
 
By customizing GPU preferences, you can optimize your system's performance and power usage based on your specific needs and the demands of different applications.

 

Programs to consider assigning High Performance :
* Explorer (the program you use to browse your computer)
* DropBox
* Graphical editing programs
* ...

 

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2./ Increase Icon Cache

The registry tweak involves adjusting the settings to increase the size of the icon cache to improve the responsiveness of Windows Explorer. Here's a general guide on how to make such a change, focusing on the icon cache size, which is a common tweak to enhance performance. Remember, modifying the registry comes with risks, so it's essential to follow the steps carefully and back up the registry before making changes.

 

Steps to Increase Icon Cache Size:

  1. Backup the Registry:

    • Open the Start menu, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
    • Click on "File" > "Export" to save a backup of your registry.

  2. Modify the Icon Cache Size:

    • In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
    • Right-click on the Explorer key, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it Max Cached Icons.
    • Double-click on the new Max Cached Icons value, select the Decimal radio button, and enter a value like4096 or higher, which increases the cache size. For example, entering 10000 would set the cache to 10 MB.
    • Click OK to save the change.

  3. Add a Descriptive Note (Optional):

    • If you want to add a note for clarity, you might need to create a new string value in the same location with a note describing the change. However, this is optional and for your reference only. It does not impact the functionality.
      *Registry Comments*: Although not a direct feature of Windows, some users employ a workaround by creating a new string value (REG_SZ) in the same key where changes were made. This string value, which could be named something like "Comment" or "Note", doesn't affect system performance but serves as a note to anyone viewing the registry. For instance, if you change the Max Cached Icons value, you could create a new string value named "Comment_Max Cached Icons" and put your notes there.

  4. Restart Your Computer:

    • For the changes to take effect, you'll need to restart your computer.

Additional Consideration:

  • The setting should be a DWORD (32-bit) Value even on a 64-bit system because the registry key itself is designed to be 32-bit in this context.

 

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3./ Remove or disable browser extensions

Use the Settings in your browser to achieve this.

 

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4./ Tweak IO (drive access) priority and CPU settings with e.g. ProcessLasso

 

Programs to consider assigning priority drive access and / or CPU access :
* Explorer (the program you use to browse your computer)
* DropBox (increase access priority to the hard drive)
* Graphical editing programs
* ...

 

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5./ Adjust window animations in Windows 11

 

Adjusting window animations in Windows 11 can help improve system responsiveness, especially on systems where you want to minimize unnecessary graphical effects to enhance performance. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to access these settings and modify them:

Accessing Animation Settings in Windows 11:

  1. Open Settings: Right-click on the Start button and select "Settings," or press Windows key + I to open the Settings app directly.

  2. System Settings: In the Settings window, click on "System" on the left sidebar.

  3. Accessibility: Scroll down and select "Accessibility" from the list of options.

  4. Visual Effects: Within the Accessibility settings, click on "Visual Effects."

  5. Adjust Animations: Here, you'll find various options to adjust animations and other visual effects. For instance:

    • Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing: Toggle this off to disable the animation effect when you minimize or maximize windows.
    • Show animations in Windows: Disabling this option will turn off various animation effects throughout Windows, making interactions feel snappier but less visually smooth.
    • Transparency effects: Turning this off can also help improve performance by not rendering transparency effects in windows and menus.

Examples of Menu Options to Improve Performance:

  • Animate controls and elements inside windows: Turning this off can reduce the visual effects applied to buttons, boxes, and other interface elements within windows.
  • Animation in the taskbar: Disabling this stops animations in the taskbar, which could slightly improve responsiveness when interacting with the taskbar.

By adjusting these settings, you can tailor the visual experience to your preference, potentially improving the laptop's speed by reducing the workload on your graphical processing unit (GPU) and CPU. This can be particularly noticeable on systems with lower graphical capabilities or when running multiple applications simultaneously.

 

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6./ Switch off any Power Saving option

 

To optimize your Windows 11 laptop's performance by adjusting power settings, you'll want to switch to the High Performance power plan or customize your plan to prioritize performance over energy savings. Here's how you can adjust these settings:

Switching to the High Performance Power Plan:

  1. Open Settings: Right-click the Start button and select "Settings," or press Windows key + I to open the Settings app.

  2. System Settings: In the Settings window, click on "System" on the left sidebar.

  3. Power & Battery: Scroll down and select "Power & battery" from the list of options.

  4. Power Mode: Under the "Power" section, you should see the "Power mode" setting. Click on the dropdown menu next to it.

  5. Choose Your Power Plan: Select "Best performance" to switch to the plan that prioritizes performance over energy saving. This option might be named differently, like "High performance" or similar, but the idea is to choose the plan that maximizes performance.

Adjusting Individual Power Settings for Maximum Performance:

If you want to customize individual settings for even greater control over performance:

  1. Additional Power Settings: In the "Power & battery" settings, click on "Additional power settings" under "Related settings" to open the Power Options control panel.

  2. Choose or Customize a Power Plan: Here, you can select "High performance" or "Ultimate Performance" (if available). If these are not visible, you might need to click on "Create a power plan" on the left and select "High performance" as your base.

  3. Change Plan Settings: Next to your selected plan, click "Change plan settings" to customize it further.

  4. Change Advanced Power Settings: Click on "Change advanced power settings" to open a new window where you can fine-tune various settings like processor power management, sleep settings, display, etc. Set these to favor performance. For instance, you can set "Minimum processor state" and "Maximum processor state" to high percentages to ensure the CPU runs at higher speeds more frequently.

  5. Apply and Save: After making your adjustments, click "Apply" and then "OK" to save your changes.

Disabling Power Saving Features:

  • Wi-Fi: In the advanced power settings, you can adjust the "Wireless Adapter Settings" to "Maximum Performance" to prevent the Wi-Fi adapter from entering power-saving mode.

  • USB Settings: Similarly, you can adjust the "USB settings" to disable USB selective suspend, ensuring connected USB devices don't enter power-saving mode.

  • Graphics Settings: If you have a dedicated graphics card, ensure its power settings are configured for maximum performance, usually through the manufacturer's control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Settings).

By customizing these settings, you're telling your laptop to prioritize performance, potentially at the cost of higher energy consumption and reduced battery life. However, this can be beneficial when you need maximum performance for tasks like gaming, video editing, or other intensive applications.

 

Also: use ParkControl and ProcessLasso to tweak features that affect PC performance.

 

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