Your New Windows Laptop Isn't as Fast as It Could Be

A brand-new laptop feels fast and responsive, so it's easy to assume you're already getting the best performance possible, but that's not true. Out of the box, most laptops are configured to prioritize power efficiency, visual quality, and other factors over raw performance. Here's what's preventing your new laptop from delivering the full performance it's truly capable of.

Your Power Mode Is Limiting Performance

Most new laptops ship with the power mode set to Balanced or Best Power Efficiency by default. This helps extend battery life and keep temperatures low. While that's beneficial, Windows achieves it by limiting CPU performance, which can slow down demanding tasks. To unlock your laptop's full potential, switch the power mode to Best Performance.

To do this, right-click the Start button and open the "Settings" app. Navigate to System > Power & Battery, then select "Best Performance" from the Power Mode dropdown. After making this change, you'll notice faster app launches and a more responsive system overall. The trade-off is increased battery drain and slightly higher heat output.

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Visual Effects Favor Appearance Over Speed

Windows uses animations, transparency, and visual transitions to give the interface a sleek and polished look. While these features make everything feel smooth and visually appealing, they can put a significant strain on your hardware, especially if your laptop has limited RAM and no dedicated graphics card, making it feel slower, particularly during multitasking.

If you want to boost your laptop's performance, you can disable these visual effects so Windows prioritizes performance over appearance. To do this, press Win + R, type SystemPropertiesPerformance, and press Enter. Then, select "Adjust for Best Performance." This can improve performance, though the difference may be negligible on high-end devices.

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Preinstalled Manufacturer Apps Are Draining Resources

Most new Windows laptops come preloaded with apps, commonly called bloatware. These might include third-party antivirus software, torrent clients, or trial programs. Even if you don't actively use them, many are set to run in the background or start automatically, consuming valuable RAM and CPU resources.

To reduce this strain, you can either uninstall these apps or at least prevent them from running in the background or at startup.

To uninstall apps, go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, locate the third-party apps, click the three-dot menu, and select "Uninstall."

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To turn off startup programs, right-click the Start button and open "Task Manager." Go to the "Startup Apps" tab, right-click any unnecessary apps, and choose "Disable."

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To stop background processes, go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, click the three-dot menu for the app, select "Advanced Options," and set "Background Apps Permissions" to "Never."

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Boot Order Is Hurting Boot Speed

If your device has multiple storage drives or connected peripherals, such as USB drives, your system may check them for a bootable operating system before loading your main operating system. These extra seconds can make the startup feel much slower than it actually is. To speed up boot times, you should eliminate these unnecessary checks.

The solution is to set your primary storage drive, the SSD or HDD where Windows is installed, as the first boot device. To do this, restart your computer and press the key(s) required to enter your BIOS/UEFI settings. Locate the boot order option and move the drive containing your operating system to the top of the list.

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You're Not Running the Latest Version

When you first power on a brand-new laptop, you might assume it's running the latest version of Windows, but that's often not the case. Most laptops sit on store shelves for weeks or months, meaning any updates released during that time haven't been installed. Running an outdated version can prevent your system from benefiting from performance optimizations.

To ensure your device runs at its best, you should check for and install any pending Windows updates. To do that, right-click the Start button, open "Settings," then go to the "Windows Update" tab on the left, and click "Check for Updates." If updates are available, click "Download & Install" and allow Windows to update to the latest version.

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Enable the Manufacturer's Performance Profile

By default, your laptop may be set to Balanced mode, which isn't always the optimal way to run it. Most manufacturers include built-in performance profiles that adjust hardware settings for speed, cooling, and power efficiency. These profiles can usually be accessed only through brand-specific utilities such as Lenovo Vantage, Dell Power Manager, and similar apps.

If your laptop supports it, switching to the manufacturer's Performance or High-Performance profile can allow the CPU to run at higher speeds, improve graphics performance, and even adjust fan curves for better cooling during intensive tasks. Using these profiles intelligently can make your new laptop more responsive for gaming or other demanding workloads.

When enjoying the smooth performance of a new laptop, we don't feel the need to tweak anything-until performance starts to decline. By now, you should know how to make your laptop faster than it is today. These steps won't just improve performance right now; they'll also help prevent slowdowns over time. Only then can you truly unlock your laptop's full potential.