These five tips to speed up your computer

As your computer ages and your programs and applications grow, at some point you'll encounter a slowdown in setup performance. When this happens, follow the tips we share with you.

A computer that begins to "cough" in operation is an indication that you may need to upgrade it with some refreshed hardware components or replace it completely, but this does not always have to be the case.

Below are five things you can do to help your computer breathe again.
1. Limit unwanted programs at startup
Some applications or programs you install on your computer are added to startup processes and start automatically when you log into Windows. Feel free to disable the ones you don't use by following the instructions.

Click the Windows button on the taskbar and select Settings.

Select the Apps option and go to the Start option in the menu on the left.

On the right, you will find all installed applications, set to launch when the computer is turned on. Go through the list and disable the ones you don't use. After that, you should notice an improvement in system performance.
2. Adjust the layout for best performance
Although visual effects add to the look of Windows, they can slow down your computer. The slowdown is more significant if the computer has a smaller amount of RAM.

What you can do is adjust the display settings for best performance.

Right-click on Windows and select Settings. Click on Advanced System Settings (or enter the term in Search if it is not listed) to go to the System Properties window. Go to the "Advanced" tab and press the "Settings" button in the "Performance" section.

Enable the Adjust for best performance option in the Visual Effects tab.

If you really can't live without a certain effect, such as shadows, you can enable (or disable) the effects individually.
3. Check if the system manages most of the page files
In short and simplified, the page file is an extension of the RAM memory, that is, the system itself will check if some resources should depend on the RAM memory or if it is possible to transfer them to a system reserved page file. Windows is configured to automatically check page files to improve computer performance, but if this feature is not enabled, performance difficulties may occur. To activate it, do the following:

Right-click on Windows and select System. Click Advanced System Settings to go to the System Properties window. Go to the "Advanced" tab and press the "Settings" button in the "Performance" section.

In the options, select the Advanced tab. Click the Change button under the “Virtual Memory” heading.

Make sure the "Automatically manage most files for all drives" box is checked. If not, enable it and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
4. Stop syncing with OneDrive
Syncing with OneDrive is a convenient way to keep files accessible from any device, but the process can slow down your computer. So, as a temporary measure and if you don't use Microsoft OneDrive to back up your data, you can decide to stop syncing with OneDrive and see if that helps improve your computer's performance.

Look for the OneDrive icon in the Settings section of Windows 11. Click on it and select the Help & Settings icon.

In the list of options that appear, click on the “Stop syncing” drop-down option and select that option.

Restart your computer to check for improvements with sync paused.
5. Uninstall unnecessary applications
Software or applications that come with your desktop or laptop are often pre-installed by vendors, manufacturers or carriers. They are called bloatware and if you don't find them useful, uninstall them using the control panel.

In the search box, type Control Panel and select it to open it. Go to the Programs section and click on Uninstall program. Look for the program that uses a lot of resources. If you rarely use it or if it's bloatware and you want to remove it, right-click on the program and select the Uninstall option.