Windows 8 has been a robust and optimized operating system than windows 7, so there aren’t much tweaks that you could apply to really speed up windows 8.
Note : The guide has been organized into three levels. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3.
Level 1 – Users who like to keep on their visual effects and settings but would like to tweak their system.
Level 2 - Users who wish to tweak their system but doesn’t want to fully strip windows 8 visuals.
Level 3 - Targets users who prefer to tweak their windows 8 system to the maximum possible extend by compromising the visual effects. (For Systems which have much less Powerful Configuration.)
Before Proceeding, make sure you create a system restore point in windows 8 and if you find yourself messed up with windows 8 settings, follow this guide to reset windows 8 settings to factory defaults
With Windows 8, its now far more easy to get your computer to previous state. You now no longer need to reinstall windows from the beginning to get the settings to factory default. Reset Your PC option in windows 8 will help you restore the settings to the default.
- Insert the Windows 8 DVD into the drive.
- Open up “Control Panel” from the main Window.
- Click on ” General ” and you could see the ” Reset Your PC & Start Over ” option on the right pane.
- After Clicking on the ” Get started ” button you will see the following screen.
- Click on ” Next ” and windows will bring up another screen asking whether you want to remove all the files from all the drives or you just want to remove the files in the drive windows 8 is installed. Clicking on the ” Show me the list of driver that will be affected ” option will show you the drives that would be affected during windows reset process (Applicable only when you choose ” all drives ” option).
- Clicking on ” Only the drive where Windows is installed ” is preferable if you are concerned with the files stored in other drives.
- Now click ” Reset ” option in the window displayed. The Windows 8 reset process would start off and reboot your PC.
- The process would take a while and once this process is finished, you’ll be asked to enter the Windows 8 product key. If you are using the developer version of windows 8, you can progress by clicking the ” Skip ” button.
- Now Accept the Windows 8 License Agreement and Windows will ask you to enter the Computer Name.
- Thats it. Your Windows 8 PC will be back to new again.
If you don’t want your files to be removed and only need to have a fresh copy of windows 8 installed its better not reset windows 8. Instead go for the Refresh your PC option which will preserve all your documents while doing a reinstall of the operating system.
Services in Windows 8 that can Safely be set to Manual (Level 2 & Level 3)
When compared to windows 7, windows 8 takes care of most of the unneeded services automatically. There are still some of the windows 8 services which you could safely set to manual. This would free up system resources and helps in reducing the boot time in windows 8.
To Disable a service in windows 8, Press WIN + R to bring up the run command box and type services.msc and press enter to bring the Services Window. Double clicking a particular service would bring up its properties and you may read its description to know more about it and set its Startup Type to Manual.
- Diagnostic Policy Service
- Distributed Link Tracking Client
- IP Helper (Set it to Automatic Delayed Start)
- Offline Files
- Performance Logs & Alerts
- Program Compatibility Assistant Service
- Print Spooler (If you do not plan to use any Printer now or in the near future.) If you plan to use a printer in the near future, make sure you leave the service as it is, because it’s likely that you’d forget that you’ve disabled this service while installing a printer. The device won’t get properly installed unless you start the service again. This had happened to me once and i’ve spend a lot of time to find this was the root cause for not getting my printer’s driver installed on my pc.
- Remote Registry (Most users rarely make use of this service, so you may disable it.)
- Secondary Logon
- Security Center (Do Not Disable the Service)
- Server (If your computer do not connect with any network)
- TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper (Not Recommended if you’re on a network and use file and printer sharing over it.)
- Themes ( Recommended For LEVEL 3 Users)
- Windows Error Reporting Service
- Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
- Windows Search (If you rarely use Windows Search feature )
- Windows Time (If you do not want to synchronize system time with internet time automatically)
After disabling most of these services, you’d notice a slight bump in boot time and speed. Don’t mix this step with others, when following these steps make sure you does this in a stretch because, if any thing goes wrong you might need to come back to re enable a particular service.
Tweaking Windows 8 Performance Options (L: 2 & 3)
To adjust the Visual Effects in Windows 8, Press Win + X > System > Advanced System Settings (Left Sidebar) > Advanced (Tab) > Settings (Under Performance).
The performance options window would list out the options to turn off / on windows animations, eye candies and other visual effects. The following screenshot shows you the settings that i’ve used on my windows 8 laptop. You might notice that i have turned on the ‘show window contents‘ option, but that’s just my personal preference. You may un-check the option if you wish.
Level 3 Users may un-tick other options as well. Un-ticking the ‘Use drop shadows for icons labels on desktop’ option would remove the icon shadow and you might need to use a black wallpaper as background too see the text properly.
Registry Tweaks To Speed Up Windows 8 (L 1, 2 & 3)
Some of the Registry tweaks for windows 7, works for windows 8 too.
Download, Extract and Execute the registry file to install the tweaks and finally restart the system for the registry tweaks to fully take effect.
Changes that the registry tweaks make to your system.
Adds “Copy To” and “Move To” options to right click context menu in windows 8, Reduces the Menu Show delay time, Speed Up waiting time for hung applications.
Speed Up Logging into Windows 8 (L: 1, 2 & 3)
Windows 8 brings up a lock screen followed by a start screen which would prevent you from directly getting into the desktop easily. If you’re not an avid user of any of those, you may essentially turn them off which could save you 3 – 4 seconds while getting into the windows 8 desktop.
How To Disable Lock Screen & Start Screen in Windows 8
Windows 8 comes loaded with a lock screen and metro start screen that you’ll need to get past before getting to the desktop. The lock screen displays the date and time along with the network connectivity, battery status etc and start screen shows you the installed apps and settings etc. The two new introductions of the new screens are cool, but it might not be welcomed by all, mainly the desktop users. You’ll need to use the keyboard, drag the mouse or slide (Touch screen) to bypass the lock screen in Windows 8. Some users might prefer getting into their desktop as fast as possible after turning on their pc. So if you are one such user who’s accustomed to the old way of using windows, then here’s how you could directly get to the desktop.
After you’ve disabled the lock screen in windows 8, you won’t be taken to the desktop directly. You still need to bypass the new metro screen to get to your desktop. So it’s a two step process where, we’ll see how you could bypass the lock screen and then how to disable the metro screen in windows 8.
Disabling Lock Screen in Windows 8
This method would remove the lock screen and you’d be directly taken to the login screen in windows 8 afterwards.
- Press Win + R on your keyboard to bring up the RUN window.
- Type gpedit.msc and press enter to bring up the Local Group Policy Editorin windows 8.
- On the Local Group Policy Editor window, Navigate to
Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
- Now, On the Right side on window, you’ll see the Do not display the lock screen option being listed.
- Double Click it to bring up its corresponding options window and you’ll see three options being shown regarding the lock screen.
- Choose Enabled and Press OK.
You’ll no longer see the lock screen window from now on. On starting up windows 8, you’ll be directly taken to the logon screen. So, after entering your password, you’ll be taken to the Windows 8 Start Screen. Next we’ll bypass the metro window in windows 8.
Skipping Windows 8 Metro Start Screen
Skip Metro Suite is a small app that lets you skip the start screen in windows 8 and directly get to the desktop. It provides two other options as well, to Disable the Switcher and Charms Bar in Windows 8.
The tool has been released for windows 8 release preview and it works well on our Windows 8 RTM machine too. The download is a zip file which you need to extract to get the install file and application file. Install the app and press the windows key on your keyboard to see the app in the windows 8 start screen. Launch it and just tick the Skip Start Screen option and proceed by clicking on Save Settings.
Remove Unnecessary Startup Programs To Speed Up Windows 8 (L: 1, 2 & 3)
Some of the applications you install on your Windows 8 system grabs a place in the windows 8 start up pool and would automatically load up while logging into windows. But you must know that these programs would add up to the boot time of windows and later becomes the culprits of slow system start-ups. Some make sure you allow only the most used programs to start up along with windows 8.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc To bring up the task Manager and click on the Start-up tab to see the programs that start along with Windows 8. Right Click a particular service and Choose Disable.
Disabling the unnecessary start up items in windows 8, ensures a faster system boot up and free up memory. These programs would no longer stay in the memory as they won’t start unnecessarily from now.
Tweaking Windows 8 Folder Options (L: 2 & 3)
Setting windows to display icons instead of thumbnails would help in improving the file browsing speed in windows 8, as the system doesn’t require to retrieve and cache the thumbnails.
Open up Windows Explorer by pressing Windows key + E click on View from the menu bar and choose Options. Click on the View tab and tick the first option and click Apply > OK.
Disabling Sounds in Windows 8 (L: 3)
You may disable the sounds in windows 8 if you’re using an outdated pc. This won’t basically speed up windows 8, but would reduce the resource usage.
Press the Windows Key to bring up the windows 8 start screen and type Sounds and click Settings from right sidebar to see the sound settings. Now choose Change system sounds.
From the sound window in Windows 8, choose No Sounds from the drop down box and Click Apply > OK.
Turn OFF UAC in Windows 8 (L: 2 & 3 )
The user account control feature in windows 8 popup up a notification dialogue box, each time you make changes to the OS and while installing any applications. While this is provided as a safety feature in windows 8, this might be a hindrance to some users.
To turn off UAC, Press Windows Key + W and type UAC in the search box to see the link to the UAC settings.
You could move the slider position based on your preference. Moving the slider to Never Notify ensures that you no longer receive such popup while proceeding with an operation in windows.
Essential Keyboard Shortcuts To Speed Up Windows 8 Work Flow (L: 1, 2 & 3)
You could work much faster with windows 8 if you use keyboard shortcuts. It’s just that, you need to get familiar with them. So make sure you use them for a few days and master them.
Windows Key + D : Helps you to get to the windows 8 desktop quickly bypassing all the opened windows.
Windows Key + E : If you frequently open File Explorer in windows 8 (Computer), it might save time if you could use it from now on.
Windows Key + I : Pops up the windows 8 settings on the right side, you could quickly get access to the power settings, sound settings etc.
Windows Key + Number Key (1-9) : If you have multiple applications pinned onto windows 8 taskbar, this would open up the corresponding application from the taskbar.
Windows Key + Tab : Helps you switch back and forth between opened applications.
Windows Key + L : If your work involves taking jiffy intervals, this shortcut helps you to lock your windows 8 PC in a wink.
Windows Key + X : If you want quick access to the admin menu in windows 8, this would pop up the admin settings from the bottom left corner of your screen.
We’ve not included too many shortcuts, but only the most basic ones that you should know as daily windows 8 user. Once you start using them for a few days, these would help you speed up windows 8 work flow.
And that concludes the list of tweaks and steps to make windows 8 faster. If you’ve got any suggestions or queries feel free to comment them down.