You would have noticed that the OS deserves its reputation of affecting PC performance. However, with the most recent Windows 10, slow hard drive performance is not as persistent as in previous Windows versions. But this does not mean the problem does not exist.
Tools that Improve Windows 10 Hard Drive Performance:
1. Windows Device Manager:
Device Manager can be used for increasing the read and write speed of a drive. Enabling write caching on the Device Manager allows your computer to save data in a cache before transfering to your hard drive. Saving data to the cache is much faster for your CPU than saving to a hard drive. As a result, your hard drive performance improves as well.
1. Open “Device Manager.”
2. Look for “Disk Drive,” and click the arrow by the side.
3. Select the drive you want to change and right-click it.
4. Choose “Properties” from the pop-up menu.
5. Select the “Policies” tab at the top of the “Properties” window.
6. Ensure the box for “Enable write caching on the device” is ticked.
2. Windows Disk Management
Instead of caching your data like in Device Manager, Disk Management helps you re-partition your drive. Partitioning your hard drive makes it easier for Windows 10 to locate certain data, thereby reducing the load time on your drive.
1. Open “Disk Management.”
2., Look for “Disk Drive.”
3. Select the drive you want to change, and right-click on it.
4. Choose “Shrink Volume” from the pop-up menu.
5. Right-click again on the free space and select “New Simple Volume.”
6. Select the size for the new volume.
7. Choose the file system for your new volume and close the window.
8. Go to “File Explorer,” and check “This PC” or the name your PC is saved as on your desktop. You will see the new volume.
3. Windows Optimize Drives
this tool basically does is analyze your system for issues such as defragmentation. If the analysis highlights a problem, then the tool fixes it as well.
More often than not, the tool runs automatically on your PC. The only situation where it won’t work is if you tampered with a Windows setting. Here’s how to check:
1. Launch your “Windows Search” tool.
2. Type “Administrative Tools.”
3. Select “Defragment and Optimize Drives.”
4. When the “Optimize Drives” window launches, select the drive you want to “Analyze” or “Optimize.”
5. Check the bottom of the window to verify if the drive is optimized daily, weekly or never.
6. Go to “Change Settings” to adjust the schedule for optimizing your drive.
Other Ways to Boost Windows 10 Hard Drive Performance:
- Disable background apps
- Disable startup apps
- Upgrade drive
- Change power plan
- Restore system to factory condition