There’s a cause that unboxing movies and the phrase “new car smell” are firmly ensconced within the public groupmind. New stuff is thrilling! New stuff is (theoretically) higher! New stuff is simply plain cool.

But new stuff additionally prices an arm and a leg—at the least in the event you’re speaking about a new PC, particularly in these turbulent, inflationary days stuffed with ludicrously priced components. And you may not even really want a brand new PC to perform what you’re trying to do, as a result of most on a regular basis duties don’t require a lot processing energy, particularly now that so many providers have moved onto the net.

Fortunately, there are a slew of how to breathe new life into an older PC that’s beginning to really feel just a little pokey. Even higher: Most are outright free, a few (nonetheless comparatively low-cost) {hardware} upgrades apart. Sure, these tweaks and ideas aren’t as thrilling as booting up a model new PC for the primary time—however they’ll allow you to proceed to get the job completed with the gear you have already got. Try them earlier than you put money into some shockingly cheap PC upgrades and even a whole new laptop.

Streamline your startup

Let’s begin with the easier issues first. If your pc is chugging, an excessive amount of software program booting at system begin could be in charge. Before you are taking extra drastic measures, clear up your startup by opening the Startup tab of Windows 10 or 11’s Task Manager, or typing “msconfig”—minus the citation marks—in Windows 7 and opening its Startup tab.

While you don’t wish to disable Windows processes, or processes associated to your {hardware}, ruthlessly remove anything you can establish if in any respect attainable. You wouldn’t wish to forestall your antivirus from launching at startup, however there’s no cause for Steam or Adobe Reader to hog your system assets aside from while you explicitly want them. Windows helpfully tells you the way a lot of an influence every program has in your startup time. Take out any High-impact, non-essential packages first, then transfer down the listing from there. Our information to speeding up your PC in 60 seconds goes deeper into the types of packages you would possibly wish to allow and disable at startup.

Spring cleansing pt. 1

If slicing again your boot packages doesn’t do the trick, it’s time to strive some deeper cleansing. Eradicate any packages you don’t really use—PC makers stuff computers full of bloatware. Search for “Add or remove programs” within the Windows search field and work by means of the listing of put in packages.

Run a safety sweep when you’re at it, in case malware is slowing down your system. PCWorld’s information to the best antivirus suites will help, however the Windows Security tool constructed proper into Windows 10 and 11 does a surprisingly good job at eradicating threats. Don’t hassle defragmenting your storage. You shouldn’t even defrag SSDs, and if in case you have a standard spinning onerous drive, most trendy working programs carry out the duty robotically.

Spring cleansing pt 2

Scrub your {hardware} when you’re busy scrubbing all that undesirable software program, too. Ideally, you wish to clear out the inside of your PC as soon as per 12 months, however let’s be sincere—most individuals by no means pry open their case and blow out the mud bunny horde. Over time, the accrued gunk can wreak havoc with temperatures inside your PC, which in flip makes your PC parts both throttle again efficiency to compensate for the elevated temperatures, or simply plain battle.

No joke: Once a member of the family referred to as me over as a result of his PC was sluggish and unresponsive. Merely cleansing out the inches of mud inside his machine made the system run like new. Check out PCWorld’s guide to PC cleaning earlier than cracking open your case. And clean out your mechanical keyboard when you’re at it, too. It can get gnarly below these buttons.

Reinstall Windows

Still working sluggish? We’re working out of pure software program optimization tips now. Windows is infamous for slowing down over time. If you’ve by no means refreshed your PC with a recent Windows set up, now’s the time to do it.

Back up all of your crucial system information, both by cobbling together native Windows tools or investing in a comprehensive Windows backup program like our present favourite, the excellent R-Drive Image 7. Using a cloud backup service would additionally work. Make positive you’ve your Windows product key in hand—Belarc Advisor will help if want be—and follow this guide to slap a recent, factory-new copy of Windows in your pc. (The article’s a couple of years previous, however the information’s nonetheless good.) Be warned: If you’re utilizing a manufacturer-supplied restoration disk, you’ll want to scrub all of the preinstalled bloatware off your machine after reinstalling Windows.

Overclock! (Or undervolt)

Don’t have cash for brand spanking new gear? Overclocking—utilizing software program to manually velocity up the clock speeds of your {hardware}—helps you to get extra out of what you have already got, although most laptops lock down the aptitude. Assuming your desktop PC has correct cooling and a CPU that’s able to overclocking (Intel limits it to chips with a “K” designator on the finish, whereas AMD solely locks down its most advanced Ryzen X3D chips), boosting your processor and graphics card’s clock speeds can have a noticeable impact in your PC’s efficiency.

Boosting your pc processor is a handbook endeavor, and our information to overclocking your CPU can stroll you thru every step. It’s simpler on trendy GeForce and Radeon graphics playing cards. You can select to use an automatic overclock to your GPU within the Wattman part of AMD’s Radeon Settings device, and Nvidia’s GeForce Experience software program provides an auto-overclocking feature of its own. If your software program doesn’t, or if you wish to push your overclocks to the furthest attainable limits (as auto-OC instruments are usually conservative), our information to overclocking your graphics card manually will help.

Alternatively, in case your older graphics card is working sizzling in your system, undervolting it could possibly be the important thing to taming it, and maintaining it glad for months to return. Our information to undervolting pros and cons walks by means of why it is best to (or shouldn’t) cut back the juice to your graphics card.

Install an SSD

If your pc’s nonetheless feeling crippled after all of the software program tips, you’ve a few completely different choices: Change out some {hardware}, or fully alter how you employ your PC. Let’s dig into the previous first.

When it involves pure efficiency, upgrading from a standard onerous drive to a solid-state drive is like buying and selling in your horse and buggy for a Ferrari. Seriously: Upgrading to an SSD will completely blow you away, supercharging the whole lot from boot occasions to utility launches to file transfers. This is the only most noticeable PC improve most individuals could make. An SSD could make even a clunky previous laptop computer really feel comparatively snappy, and you will discover all types of drives going for round 10 cents per gig today, so you will get a 500GB drive for $50 to $60 or much less in the event you store round.

Pretty a lot any SSD will smoke even the quickest onerous drives, however our roundup of the best SSDs can information you in the direction of the perfect choices. We have a information to installing an SSD in your laptop, too.

Add extra RAM

Windows has an impressively small footprint, however in the event you’re working a pc with lower than 8GB of RAM, it may possibly negatively have an effect on your efficiency in different methods. Memory-constrained programs are slower at gaming, slower at booting up, and might begin to choke in the event you start to multitask closely (together with having too many browser tabs open without delay). Adding extra RAM will help. You’ll wish to fully exchange the reminiscence in your system in the event you’re upgrading to keep away from potential conflicts, however an 8GB reminiscence module (or an 8GB package of two 4GB modules) can usually been discovered for below $50 at fundamental speeds, until you’re constructing a cutting-edge PC with cutting-edge DDR5 memory inside.

Upgrading your desktop reminiscence is straightforward: Just come out the sticks positioned within the slots subsequent to the CPU in your motherboard, then swap within the new ones. Be positive you’ve chosen the right RAM type first, although. Notebooks might be trickier. Check out our guide to upgrading your laptop’s RAM in the event you need assistance.

Switch to Linux or ChromeOS Flex

Rob Schultz/IDG

Sometimes it’s simply not price placing new {hardware} into an previous PC. But that doesn’t make it ineffective! If you continue to want to make use of your growing older laptop computer or desktop as an day-to-day precise pc, putting in an working system with a lighter footprint than Windows will help you eke extra life out of an growing older PC.

Linux tends to run higher than Windows on much less potent {hardware}. In reality, a number of Linux variants are particularly designed with ultra-minimalist necessities in order that they’re capable of run on previous PCs—Puppy Linux, LXLE, and Lubuntu come to thoughts instantly. The transition from Windows to Linux isn’t as tough because it was, however you’ll nonetheless wish to take a look at our beginner’s guide to Linux, together with the software program suggestions on the final web page. Alternatively, you possibly can turn any PC into a Chromebook for free with Google’s ChromeOS Flex. (ChromeOS additionally runs atop Linux bones.)

Embrace cloud gaming

Linux isn’t the one approach you possibly can repurpose a pc. Rather than utilizing a pokey PC as a standard do-it-all machine, think about giving your system a singular position if in case you have one other PC you need to use as your major rig. Let’s take a look at some methods you may make out of date computer systems purposeful as soon as once more.

If you’re a gamer, the best possibility for an previous laptop computer is just to use it to sport when you’re away out of your most important gaming rig. “But Brad!” I hear you wailing. “You can’t game on an old PC!” Ah, however you possibly can with an honest Internet connection. After years of teasing, the promise of cloud gaming’s lastly coming true, letting even probably the most humble computer systems get in on the motion by streaming your gameplay from far-away servers, Netflix-style. There are a number of providers obtainable now, from Nvidia’s GeForce Now to Xbox Cloud Gaming to Sony’s PlayStation Plus. Our information to the best cloud gaming services will help you select the perfect match on your specific wants, although PC avid gamers with intensive libraries will seemingly get probably the most use out of GeForce Now.

And there’s at all times Steam in-home streaming if you wish to use an older PC as a secondary gaming pc. Steam in-home streaming runs video games in your beefy gaming rig, however beams them over your private home’s Wi-Fi community so you possibly can play them on different units. It’s like cloud gaming, however proper inside your private home.

Fling some recordsdata

Speaking of repurposing your {hardware}, two widespread makes use of are to remodel an previous PC right into a devoted residence theater PC or a file server.

It’s not even that arduous to do, although clearly it means your PC’s e-mail and Office days are over. Some superior free software program obtainable for every use: Snag MediaPortal or Kodi for a would-be HTPC, or FreeNAS to build out a badass home server.

Bite the bullet

Sometimes, although, a system is simply too far gone to be of sensible use. If your previous canine must be introduced behind the shed, we will help you discover a new pc. Our guides to the best laptops normally, the best laptops under $500, and the best Chromebooks will help level you in the best route on your wants in the event you’re on a good finances. We additionally preserve twice-weekly roundups of the best laptop deals and the best desktop PC deals.