How to Improve Performance of Windows 8

Windows 8 was introduced with a lot of tweaks and features than its predecessor. It was a whole new experience for Windows users. Though Windows 8 is more efficient in many terms still it is not immune to basic system performance issues. Let’s discuss few simple yet effective steps to improve performance of Windows 8 system.

Manage Startup Items:

Lack of streamlined startup programs on your system causes sluggish boot process. Your startup programs include lot of unnecessary items which run at boot time to make it slow. This unnecessary lot may include Bloatware programs which come pre-installed on your system. Bloatware programs may include apps & programs from third-party vendors or manufacturer based items. Many of these items include apps & programs which you rarely use or going to use in future. Thus you can consider removing all such items to speed up your boot process.

• To do this, select Task Manager by right-clicking on the Task bar. Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open Task Manager.
• Click on “More details” option in bottom left side.
• Here, choose Startup tab. It will display all startup items which run at boot time.
• Select item which you want to disable, right-click on it and select “Disable” or click “Disable” button at the lower-right corner.

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Disk Cleanup:

Similar to all Windows versions, Windows 8 is also equipped with Disk Cleanup utility. It allows you to clean all unnecessary files from your system including temporary files, recycle bin files, thumbnails, setup log files, downloaded program files and much more. To use Disk Cleanup utility of your Windows 8 system, follow these steps.

• Open Start menu > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools and choose Disk Cleanup. Alternatively, you can directly search and select Disk Cleanup in search bar.
• Select the drive you want to clean.
• Under Disk Cleanup window, select files & folders to delete and press OK.

Note: Here, you can click on “View files” button to view files before you delete them and press “Clean up system files” button to remove old & obsolete system files to recover precious storage space.
Apart from Disk Cleanup utility, you can also use certain software tools to clean unnecessary files. These software tools may include PC cleaner software, duplicate image remover apps, registry cleaners, system optimizers and much more. These tools work on efficient techniques to clean precious disk space and improve system performance.

Keep administrative tools accessible:

Administrative tools on different Windows versions help you perform numerous tasks seamlessly. The issue with these administrative tools is that you can find them dispersed to some extent in different places. You can access administrative tools on your Windows 8 system by right-clicking in the lower left corner of the window to access it but here you may not find all tools at one place. To deal with this issue, you can bring all administrative tools at one place by enabling God Mode on your system. It works on all Windows versions to help you access all administrative tools at one place for better management. To enable God Mode, follow these steps.

• Click on empty space on Desktop to create “New folder”.
• Name the folder

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.

• Here, you will find all administrative tools and other utilities at one place for easy access.

Note: Remember God Mode only will not help you improve system performance but it will only help you access all administrative tools at one place for easy access to manage them.

Turn off Visual Effects:

Microsoft has offered numerous beautiful visual effects on Windows 8. These visual effects are useful to increase aesthetic value of your system. But most of these effects cause serious drain of system resources including RAM, CPU and other resources. It also affects system speed & performance negatively. Thus, you can consider managing these visual effects to improve system performance. To do this, follow these steps.

• Press Windows key + Q and search “Advanced system settings”.
• Select “View advanced system settings” option.
• Under System Properties window select Advanced tab.
• Click on Settings under Performance section.
• Under Performance Options window select Visual Effects.
• Here, select “Adjust for best performance” option or click on “Custom” option to manage settings as per your choice.

Stop Indexing:

Indexing on Windows system usually helps you to access files quickly. Indexing feature is available on all Windows versions to speed up file searching time but this feature has its own drawbacks. This useful feature may cause slow speed of your system as it consumes lot of system resources including CPU and RAM. You can turn off this feature to release some system resources and further look for alternate search tool. To disable Indexing Options and Windows Search feature, follow these steps.

• Press Windows key + Q and search “services.msc”.
• Under “Services” window, right-click on “Windows Search” option and select Properties.
• On Windows Search Properties window, select General tab.
• Click on “Startup type” drop-down and select “Disabled”.
• Press Apply and then OK to make the changes.

Alternatively, you can limit the indexing to a particular folder. To limit indexing to a particular folder, press Windows key + Q and search and select “Indexing Options”. Under Indexing Options window select the folder or location and modify it.
Conclusion: Microsoft has offered bunch of new features and impressive utilities with each new version and Windows 8 was whole new platform and experience for Windows users. It is equipped with various built-in features to help you improve performance of your Windows 8 system. You can follow above-mentioned steps to boost Windows 8 performance significantly.