Compared to Windows XP or Vista, Windows 7 is a faster and upgraded OS. If you want Windows 7 to perform optimally, however, you have to be ready to do some adjusting and tweaking. From doing a virus/malware scan to disabling features that use up lots of memory, there are various ways to speed things up. So let's get into some practical measures for speeding up Windows 7.

An ongoing debate that continues is what changes to make to the Windows 7 operating system to make it more functional and faster in processing. The processing speed of Windows, specifically in regard to boot time, can be altered by the number of cores according to some. Advanced options can actually show you how to change the number of processors that you're using. Experts will say that the number of processors operating is initially at an optimal level so it would not increase boot time at all by doing so. Overall, it is worth a test, even if most people believe that it will not improve the speed of your system.

Sometimes Windows 7 can't run as well as you'd like it to because the computer you have doesn't meet the hardware requirements dictated by the operating system. This is typical in older computers that are upgraded from previous versions of Windows to Windows 7. If you bought your computer with Windows 7 pre-installed, this won't be an issue for you. Your computer must be equipped with at least 16 GB of available disk space, 1 GB of memory and at least a 1 GHZ processor. In the event that your computer lacks the memory to properly run Windows 7, it'll run so much better when you add some more memory to it. In terms of Windows 7, this means that even though it is able to run on 1GB of memory, upgrading to 2GB of memory can help it speed up quite a lot.

You may notice that Windows 7 frequently alerts you to updates. These automatic updates are commonplace, and they can slow down your system and can make internet browsing slower as well. If you want, you can go to your control panel and stop receiving these updates. On the other hand, users who aren't tech savvy may not want to do this, as you might miss an update that's important. If you decide to disable this feature, it's up to you to keep your computer up to date on any important matters, such as those related to security. On the other hand, many updates are not essential and are only slowing down your computer.

To improve the speed of Windows 7, you'll need to explore some different features and settings that you have on your computer. A lot of people use memory and space with files, programs and features that aren't actually necessary. Sometimes serious problems will slow down your computer so a registry cleaner could be just the ticket. The above suggestions for speeding up Windows 7 should get you off to a good start as you search for ways to improve the performance of your PC.