Top tools to enhance Windows 10 performance
Top tools to enhance Windows 10 performance
Cleaner free is available but mostly just a distraction. It’s not essential anymore, particularly with SSDs. Extra registry entries don’t matter much—they rarely affect performance and usually add only a few bytes. Stick with Windows built-in Disk Clean-up. It may run slowly, but it won’t remove vital files. These tools can sometimes create more issues than help, such as interfering with updates or blocking necessary changes, especially in Windows 10 where feature updates fail to install.
These kinds of software are almost worthless. The most effective method for setting up your system, especially storage devices, is to enable regular OS reinstallations. For instance, on my machine the main drive (Samsung 970 EVO) holds only the operating system, applications, and games, while personal files like documents, videos, photos, and academic work reside elsewhere—either on other drives or via cloud services. This setup lets me reinstall my OS whenever I choose without the hassle of manually backing up everything. If you're concerned about data loss, you might want to avoid this approach, especially with limited internet access.
Occasionally, I've noticed Windows retaining temporary files beyond what's needed, filling up the main storage area up to 25 GB. Cleaning tools like CCleaner removed them quickly. There were a handful of rare situations where this occurred more frequently than I should have acknowledged.
Windows Disk Cleanup offers additional features beyond its standard functions. It doesn’t perform these tasks independently, but running the program can help remove temporary files as well.
This was indeed done on hard disk drives previously, and scanning them can take a very long time—hours instead of minutes. It’s just much less practical now.
Storage options are now very affordable, allowing you to install a 500GB SSD without worrying about additional hardware. I had to switch to Windows 10 in January since Adobe LR stopped supporting it on Windows 8.1. It’s been interesting how little space Windows actually consumes—even with all my program files installed, I’m around 50 GB used (Windows is about 26 GB, while Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop take up most of the remainder). As others suggested, consider letting Windows manage things and keep your main drive separate for system images and backups. I also use a dedicated drive for system images and regular data backups. The system image runs weekly, making it easy to restore if any problems arise with the primary drive.
I use CCleaner mainly when things don’t run smoothly. I usually keep the portable edition handy for quick fixes. There have been times when software or drivers—especially from AMD—failed to uninstall completely and blocked upgrades. CCleaner handled those issues for me. Before installing newer versions, I often clear out large programs like Office or VMware Workstation. For optimization, those applications aren’t essential. Windows 10 is designed to adjust itself according to your habits. Make sure your drivers and OS stay current, and you should be good.