Question Is Windows 7 allegedly faster than Windows 10?
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Darkbreeze
Retired Mod
- Jun 24, 2014
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Don't downgrade. Bad idea. Windows 7 support stops ENTIRELY next January, so there will be zero updates of any kind after that except possibly for some corporate channels. Windows 7 does not have nearly as good of driver support or memory management.
There are tons of reasons to not downgrade, and really, none in favor of doing so. It is not in any-wise faster, that's for certain. The only way I'd recommend that is if the system was originally a Windows 7 system and there were driver problems after an upgrade to Windows 10.
It's a lot MORE likely that you have a system that has been bogged down by either years of cruft building up in the OS, an infection or malware of some type or a drive that has become too full.
Doing a clean install is probably a very good idea if you've had that OS in service for a long period of time without doing a clean install, OR if you've either updated from an older operating system and didn't do a clean install afterwards or have been through several spring and fall major windows updates without doing a clean install. If any of those things is true, a clean install would be a good idea.
Keep in mind as well that most prebuild systems and laptops come pre-loaded with so much useless "optimization" software and bloatware, that it's almost like having malware installed from the factory. That's why a clean install is still an important consideration even if the unit is brand new or fairly new. It was probably bogged down with garbage since day one. Using the factory restore partition will just put the same garbage back on, so that's a terrible option. Only a clean install is recommended IF the problem is related to the cleanliness of the operating system.
If none of those things applies to your system, and you've done a clean install some time recently or in the not too distant past, then I'd look to either a problem with a lack of storage space, a failing drive or other hardware issues.
There are tons of reasons to not downgrade, and really, none in favor of doing so. It is not in any-wise faster, that's for certain. The only way I'd recommend that is if the system was originally a Windows 7 system and there were driver problems after an upgrade to Windows 10.
It's a lot MORE likely that you have a system that has been bogged down by either years of cruft building up in the OS, an infection or malware of some type or a drive that has become too full.
Doing a clean install is probably a very good idea if you've had that OS in service for a long period of time without doing a clean install, OR if you've either updated from an older operating system and didn't do a clean install afterwards or have been through several spring and fall major windows updates without doing a clean install. If any of those things is true, a clean install would be a good idea.
Keep in mind as well that most prebuild systems and laptops come pre-loaded with so much useless "optimization" software and bloatware, that it's almost like having malware installed from the factory. That's why a clean install is still an important consideration even if the unit is brand new or fairly new. It was probably bogged down with garbage since day one. Using the factory restore partition will just put the same garbage back on, so that's a terrible option. Only a clean install is recommended IF the problem is related to the cleanliness of the operating system.
If none of those things applies to your system, and you've done a clean install some time recently or in the not too distant past, then I'd look to either a problem with a lack of storage space, a failing drive or other hardware issues.
- Jun 12, 2015
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depends on age of hardware. On older systems, where the driver support isn't there for win 10, then 7 is likely faster... but for any system made in last 8 years, win 10 is a better choice. It also depends on what is in the system. Is it hdd vs ssd?
Fresh install is a good idea, but knowing what model laptop it is helps too as if its really old, win 10 may not have the drivers in it boot the PC.
Another reason why you may not want 10 is, Does your Acer actually have win 7 drivers? Many released in last few years don't and it isn't going to be fun running hardware which the operating system doesn't know exists.
Fresh install is a good idea, but knowing what model laptop it is helps too as if its really old, win 10 may not have the drivers in it boot the PC.
Another reason why you may not want 10 is, Does your Acer actually have win 7 drivers? Many released in last few years don't and it isn't going to be fun running hardware which the operating system doesn't know exists.
Darkbreeze
Retired Mod
- Jun 24, 2014
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So what are the exact specs for your laptop including CPU, memory, type of storage drive and capacity, some general idea of what programs you have installed, do you have ALL of the latest drivers installed based not on what Windows update provides but what's available from the product page for your laptop model and have do you have a full featured malware and virus scanner installed? If you do, have you run a full system scan?
Have you run a second opinion scanner like Rogue killer, TDSS killer or Hitman Pro?
I'd also check to see that you have system restore disabled (Uses a lot of system resources, and usually doesn't work when you need it to) as well as disabling automatic defragmentation. Cleaning house by running disk cleanup followed by running the optimize disks feature for either defragmentation or trim, manually, is also a good idea.
Did you actually do a CLEAN install, or did you just reinstall using the factory restore partition?
Have you run a second opinion scanner like Rogue killer, TDSS killer or Hitman Pro?
I'd also check to see that you have system restore disabled (Uses a lot of system resources, and usually doesn't work when you need it to) as well as disabling automatic defragmentation. Cleaning house by running disk cleanup followed by running the optimize disks feature for either defragmentation or trim, manually, is also a good idea.
Did you actually do a CLEAN install, or did you just reinstall using the factory restore partition?
These are my laptop specifications, I also have an NVIDIA GeForce 820m.
No, I haven't run a second opinion scanner.
Not sure if I have system restore disabled, but if I don't, I'll do it soon.
I did a clean install, I didn't use the factory reset.
Darkbreeze
Retired Mod
- Jun 24, 2014
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Could also be a driver issue, on top of these other considerations. I'd check all of the following, disregarding anything that isn't applicable due to it being a laptop.
Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.
If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.
First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.
Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.
IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.
The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.
If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.
Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.
Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU
Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.
If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.
First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.
Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.
IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.
The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.
If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.
Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.
Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU
- Oct 15, 2014
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win 10 itself is full of bloatware. so even a clean install is still full of junk. windows runs a ton of stuff in the background that takes over resources anytime it wants to. this makes it feel slow even though it should not be. when your hdd is maxed out from windows indexing and data mining, then nothing can get done. spend some time uninstalling the bloat from win 10 as well as disabling unneeded stuff from start-up. it will feel like a whole new system.
i use autoruns to disable a lot of start-up items you don't see listed anywhere else. there are plenty of guides out there to uninstall all the bloat MS won't let you uninstall normally. all those apps should go as they waste space and call services at will to slow things down.
i use autoruns to disable a lot of start-up items you don't see listed anywhere else. there are plenty of guides out there to uninstall all the bloat MS won't let you uninstall normally. all those apps should go as they waste space and call services at will to slow things down.
Darkbreeze
Retired Mod
- Jun 24, 2014
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Turn off system restore. Turn off automatic defragmentation (Just manually defrag or trim periodically). Turn off indexing. Use Firefox or Chrome, not Edge.
Do all of these things:
Click the start menu and open "Settings". OR right click the start menu and select Settings.
Open the Updates and security settings.
Click on Advanced options.
Turn on the setting for "Give me updates for other microsoft products when I update windows IF it is not already enabled.
Click the back arrow in the top left corner to return to the Windows update main page.
Click on check for updates and then let it run until no more updates are available or until it asks you to restart the system. If it asks to restart the system, then click ok or restart manually.
After restart, run Windows update again to make sure no further updates are available.
Next, open Windows explorer, navigate to the Windows folder and locate the Temp folder inside the Windows folder. Delete the contents of the Temp folder.
Open Windows explorer.
Right click on the C: drive and select properties.
Click the box that says Disk cleanup.
Check all of the boxes in the window that pops up. Click ok. In the popup box that says Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files, click Delete files.
Wait until the operation completes. You might need to move your mouse over the top of the Disk cleanup box if it seems like it's not doing anything for more than five minutes.
Now, click on Disk cleanup again. This time click on the box that says Clean up system files. Check ALL of the boxes and then click ok. Click delete files in the next box that pops up.
Next, click on the Tools tab on the Local Disk (C
properties window.
Cllck the Optimize button.
Select the C: drive and then click Optimize. Wait until the operation completes.
Repeat this procedure for all connected drives one at a time.
Adding more memory is probably imperative. 4GB is not enough memory for Windows 10 if you do anything more demanding than using notepad or a browser. If you game or run office apps other than Word processors, or use any professional applications at all, you need at least 8GB.
SSD would definitely help, a lot.
Do all of these things:
Click the start menu and open "Settings". OR right click the start menu and select Settings.
Open the Updates and security settings.
Click on Advanced options.
Turn on the setting for "Give me updates for other microsoft products when I update windows IF it is not already enabled.
Click the back arrow in the top left corner to return to the Windows update main page.
Click on check for updates and then let it run until no more updates are available or until it asks you to restart the system. If it asks to restart the system, then click ok or restart manually.
After restart, run Windows update again to make sure no further updates are available.
Next, open Windows explorer, navigate to the Windows folder and locate the Temp folder inside the Windows folder. Delete the contents of the Temp folder.
Open Windows explorer.
Right click on the C: drive and select properties.
Click the box that says Disk cleanup.
Check all of the boxes in the window that pops up. Click ok. In the popup box that says Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files, click Delete files.
Wait until the operation completes. You might need to move your mouse over the top of the Disk cleanup box if it seems like it's not doing anything for more than five minutes.
Now, click on Disk cleanup again. This time click on the box that says Clean up system files. Check ALL of the boxes and then click ok. Click delete files in the next box that pops up.
Next, click on the Tools tab on the Local Disk (C
properties window.Cllck the Optimize button.
Select the C: drive and then click Optimize. Wait until the operation completes.
Repeat this procedure for all connected drives one at a time.
Adding more memory is probably imperative. 4GB is not enough memory for Windows 10 if you do anything more demanding than using notepad or a browser. If you game or run office apps other than Word processors, or use any professional applications at all, you need at least 8GB.
SSD would definitely help, a lot.
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