This article will try help you fix speed problems you may be having with windows 7. Whether Your PC is old, or just cheap, following these steps will help speed up windows 7!

Firstly, we need to disable unwanted start-up items.
To do this we need to use msconfig. To open it, go to start and type in msconfig in the search bar.
When the box appears, click the services tab
At the bottom, you should see a tickbox asking if you want to hide all Microsoft services, check it.
Now, you should see some unwanted services that can slow your system down!

Now that we are still on msconfig, it would be a good idea to do a start up tweak.
Go to the boot tab
Click Advanced options
Check Numbers of processors
On the dropdown box, select the highest number, then click OK.
Now, click apply settings and reboot your computer. If were lucky, you should see at least some decrease in start-up time. If now dont worry, there are a lot more ways of speeding windows up!

Secondly, we should disable windows 7 aero effects and wallpaper.
The aero effects include visual styles like transparency, transitions more useless eye candy.
The process of disabling aero is quite simply
Right-click on your desktop and click personalize
You should see windows basic click this to disable the aero theme.
At the bottom of the screen, you should notice a desktop background button, click it
Change the picture location dropdown box to solid colours
Click a colour of your choice, then click save changes
Now you should notice quite a big change to how windows look, and hopefully a speed increase.

Thirdly. If you are using a laptop, this step could give a significant boost in performance.
On your taskbar at the bottom of your screen, click the battery icon
Click more power options
Click show additional plans
Then select high performance and exit the window.
I would not recommend this if you are running on battery power for long periods of time, also this may cause overheating problems if you dont have good cooling.

Fourth, we should get some virus protection!
I would recommend AVG free (Download)
if your looking for free protection, but for paid I would recommend Norton 360! (Download)

Fifthly, If none of this is working, we need to go one step further!
A great tool to keep your computer running at its best is tuneup utilities (Download)
Tuneup utilities will help you get the MAX out of your old computer by freeing more memory, lowering CPU usage and lowering hard drive usage.