Here are some quick steps you can take to speed up the performance of Windows 7 on your PC or laptop.

1. Disable unnecessary start-up programs
By default, some programs are set to start during system start-up which can cause longer load time and slower performance. To avoid this, you could disable some of the non-essential programs by following the steps below:

• Click Start
• In the search field type msconfig and press
• In the System Configuration window, go to Startup tab
• Uncheck the box next to those programs that are not essential for you during start-up. This will only disable them from auto-running during start-up but you could still use these programs whenever necessary.
• Once you’ve unchecked the selected ones, click and

2. Clean up the hard drive
You could use Windows built-in Disk Cleanup tool to remove unwanted data, temporary files and download program files to free up space and improve performance.

• Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
• At first, the system will estimate how much space can be freed up.
• In the Disk Cleanup window that appears, select the files that need to be deleted
• Then click

3. Perform Disk Defragmentation
Defragmenting is one of those essential features you should consider using every 6 months or so. It is another built-in Windows tool that enables the operating system to perform more efficiently.

• Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
• In the window that appears, select the drive you want to defragment and click disk
• This will determine a time estimate for the process, following which you can click disk
• Once complete, you can either or click

4. Minimize Sound Effects
To disable certain sound effects, do the following:

• Click Start
• In the search field type mmsys.cpl and press
• In the new window that appears click on tab
• Set the sounds scheme to
• You could set the essential sounds if needed in Program Events; by selecting the specific event and then choosing the sound from the Sounds drop-down menu
• In addition to that you could also disable the option
• After the settings are applied, click and

5. Minimize Visual Effects
If you don’t mind a less visually appealing interface, then proceed with the following steps:

• Go to your desktop
• Press on your keyboard and while holding, press key
• In the new window, click system settings
• In the Advanced tab under Performance Section, click
• In the Performance Settings window, under Visual Effects tab, disable the features that you do not need
• Or you could simply select which will auto-disable all non-essential options
• Then, click and

We’d like to hear from you. Feel free to share some of your own personal tips on improving Windows performance.