Advanced Windows 10
Make Windows faster
April 2020 | |^51
youmightneedtorelocateit withintheDeviceManager
inordertoupdatethedriversandensureeverythingis
workingproperly.
07
LOGINFASTER
TheWindows 10 lockscreenisa pointless
innovation.Havingtoswipeuporhitthe
spacebarbeforelogginginslowsthings
down a bit, and using a conventional
passwordis slower,too.
Firstup,assigna PINratherthana passwordforlogging
in;fourdigitsandnoneedtohitEnter,either.If yoursystem
supportsit,WindowsHelloisprettyspeedy,too.Youcan
evenremovethelockscreenaltogether,goingstraightto
theloginscreenuponboot.
Annoyingly,howyoudothisis differentforWindows 10
HomeandWindows 10 Pro.ForWindows 10 Homeedition,
youneedtotype“regedit”attheRunprompt([Win]+ [R]),
makeyourwaytoHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE>
Policies> Microsoftandright-clickWindows,selectNew>
Keyandcallit “Personalization”.Oncecreated,right-click
thiskeyandadda newDWORD(32-bit)Value,witha name
of“NoLockScreen”.Doubleclickthis,andsettheValueto
1.ForWin 10 Pro,hit[Win]+ [R],type“gpedit”andhitEnter.
Double-clickAdministrativeTemplates,double-clickControl
Panel,clickPersonalization,thendouble-clickDonotdisplay
thelockscreen,andclickEnabled.ClickApply,andthenOK.
Jobdone.
11
CREATEARESTOREPOINTAND
RESTOREYOURSYSTEM
Ifallhopeislost,returningtoanearlier
savepointis thebestcourseofaction.This
adviceholdstrueforbothvideogamesand
Windows10,althoughhopefullyyou’llneverhavetouse
it.IntheControlPanel,gothroughSecurityandSystem
System> SystemProtection,andyou’llopenupthe
windowforSystemRestoreoptions.
You can hit the big System Restore button to
revert your version of Windows to a saved restore
point;yourPCshouldregularlycreatethesebydefault,
butitsavesoverthepreviousonewhenitdoesso.Hit
Configure,andyoucantweakyourrestoresettings,or
createnewrestorepoints.Thisisn’tsomethingyouneedto
dotoooften,butit’sworthhavingrestorepointsforeach
ofyourdrives,justincasea newsoftwareorOSupdate
causesproblems.
08
Checkyour
powerplan
It’sworthtakinga peek
atyourpowerplansin
theControlPanelona laptop,found
under“HardwareandSound.”If it’s
a powerhouselaptopthatyou’re
essentiallyusingplugged-inasa
desktopreplacement,slapthat
highperformanceplanonandcall
it a day;otherwise,you’llwantto
takea tripintotheadvancedpower
plansettings.Thedefaultbalanced
planisusuallya goodcall,buteven
thenyoumightwanttomakesome
adjustments;likedisablingcertain
portswhilethemonitorisasleep,
forexample.09
Disabletips
Windows 10 wantsto
behelpful,butlikea
bumblingmanservant,
sometimesthathelpisactuallyless
thanhelpful.Bydefault,Windows
10 scansyoursystemperiodicallyto
giveyou(usuallyunwanted)advice,
andthiscanhavea smallimpact
onmobileprocessorperformance,
particularlyincheaperlaptops.You
canturnit offinSystemSettings,
underNotificationsandactions.JusttoggleofftheslidermarkedGet
tips,tricks,andsuggestionsasyou
useWindows.10
Manageyour
temperaturesbetter
Aswesaidearlier,
it’sa goodideato
usethird-partysoftware,suchas
HardwareMonitor,tokeepaneye
onyoursystemtemperatures.This
isevenmorecriticalwithlaptops,
wherekeepingyourCPUcoolisan
evenmoredifficultendeavour.If
you’reregularlyusingdemanding
softwareonyourlaptop– 3D
renderingtools,forexample– then
heatspikesareinevitable,but
therearea fewthingsyoucando
toalleviatethetemperatureload
onyourpoorlaptop.Thegeneral
optimisationtipselsewhereinthis
articlearea goodstart,butmaking
sureyou’repositioningyourlaptop
rightisimportant,too.Don’tactually
putit onyourlap,forstarters.Ensure
thatalltheairventsareclear,and
onlyuseit onhard,flatsurfaces.If
youhaveproblemswithtemperature,
considerusingsomethingtoprop
yourlaptopup,creatingmoreempty
spacebeneathit forbetterairflow.SwitchingtoPowerSaverplancanbeusefulforprolongingbatterylife.12
TRACK CPU USAGE AT ALL TIMES
There’s a handy function Task Manager has
hidden in its box of tricks. When the Task
Manager window is open, you should see
a tiny square icon with a grid pattern in
the bottom-right corner of your screen, in the notification
area. It may be hidden in the expanded menu; just click the
arrow and drag it on to the taskbar if needed. That icon
is a microcosm of your CPU usage, showing a tiny graph
that indicates how much of your CPU is being utilised, and
placing your mouse over it shows exact percentages. ToIf something isn’t working, check all of your drivers are up
to date in the Device Manager.
LAPTOP TIPS