I've been experiencing performance drops on my system for a while now and I'd like to get a general idea of how to approach this. How can I manage unnecessary background processes effectively? Clearing startup programs, stopping unnecessary services, or disk cleanup are some steps that come to mind, but what should I pay attention to in practice? Are there different methods, or is it better to follow a standard approach?
What are the best ways to optimize Windows 10?
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I also experienced performance issues on my Windows 10 laptop a while back. The system started slowing down, especially when opening multiple tabs in Chrome, almost freezing at times. My first step was checking unnecessary programs running in the background via Task Manager—things like Adobe Reader Updater, Xbox Game Bar, and OneDrive that were constantly running but rarely used. I disabled them from the Startup menu (the "Startup" tab in Task Manager), which helped.
After that, I ran the disk cleanup tool and deleted temp files along with old system restore points, freeing up around 3-4 GB of space.
Next, I looked into services. Stopping unnecessary ones via "services.msc" seemed like the best solution. For example, Windows Search or Superfetch services aren’t always useful and can sometimes slow things down. I tried disabling them, and while it felt risky at first, the performance gain was noticeable without compromising system stability.
Another thing I learned is that manually deleting old system restore points regularly helps prevent unnecessary storage bloat. Finally, switching to an SSD for the system drive and focusing on critical optimizations (rather than deep cleaning) brought my machine back to speed. Now, I make it a habit to check for unnecessary background apps after every fresh install.
In Windows, tools like Task Manager and Resource Monitor take the place of Linux utilities such as systemd-analyze and htop. At the very least, it’s worth getting familiar with them. If you open Task Manager and go to the "Startup" tab to clean up startup programs, you’ll notice some are labeled with a "client service" disguise—like Xbox Game Bar. Where Ubuntu uses `systemctl list-units --type=service`, Windows has `services.msc` for managing services. Just be careful when stopping unnecessary ones, as it can destabilize the system.
For deeper optimization, Windows offers Disk Cleanup instead of Linux’s tmpwatch, but I’d recommend using the `fsutil` command for cleanup or manually running the TRIM command on SSDs. Also, checking out Windows 10’s built-in "Task Scheduler" to remove unnecessary automated tasks can boost performance—it’s similar to Linux’s cron but easier to manage with a GUI. Whether you're on Windows or Linux, the key is to remove unnecessary clutter gradually to maintain system stability.