While this blog will soon be dedicated to Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI), I need some initial content while I finalize my WordPress and theme settings. We’ll talk more about the site soon. This particular post is all about how I keep my and others’ Windows PCs performing well.

Background

The PC on my desk at the office is a common business desktop, a Dell OptiPlex 3060, that shipped on November 8th, 2018, or 5 years, 4 months ago. At home, I have a slightly more expensive HP Z2 Mini G3 that I purchased on March 31st, 2017, which is coming up on 7 years old at the end of this month. The performance of both remains great for the day-to-day use of an IT Director. I have little reason to replace either of them before the hardware fails. But I’m also busy, I don’t have an excess amount of patience, and I wouldn’t bear using a PC that couldn’t respond as fast as I could type, scroll, or think. Aside from a little luck with the hardware, what have I done to have a 5+ and a 7-year-old PC that are still top performers? We’ll focus on the Dell OptiPlex in the conversation that follows, but I’ve done all the same things to the HP with similar costs and results.

Enough RAM

In the early days, I upgraded the RAM in my Dell at work from the 8GB that it shipped with to the 32GB that I’ve used since. I’d describe 16GB as the floor for a Windows PC that you’ll be able to use productively in a business setting, but I’d recommend 32GB if your system supports it. More if you’re doing demanding professional tasks such as engineering, medical imaging, or video production. If you don’t know, RAM is highly system-specific, and what works in my PC is almost assuredly not the same as you’ll need in yours. When upgrading RAM, I always begin at Kingston and look up my PC’s make and model there. They’ll often specify the memory slot layouts, expansion options, and give you links to purchase the RAM. Were I buying 32GB of RAM for a Dell OptiPlex 3060 today, it would cost $87.98 plus tax and shipping. Well worth it to extend the useful life of a PC.

Modern M.2 NVMe SSD (if supported)

If you’ve had your PC for a number of years, it may have shipped with a SATA hard drive or SSD. Not all SSDs are created equal, and the performance of SSDs has stepped up several times in recent years. If your computer has an M.2 slot on the motherboard, a recent M.2 NVMe SSD from Samsung can very well be 300% faster than what shipped in it just a few years ago. Last year I upgraded my desktop’s drive to a Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 with 1TB capaticity. Because I suddenly had capacity to spare, I set aside 10% of the drive as ‘Over Provisioning / Unallocated’ space using Samsung Magician. (The 10% set-aside is used for wear leveling, garbage collection, reallocating any bad blocks, and can extend the life of the drive.) The system reads/writes as fast as I could ask for despite running BitLocker Full Disk Encryption and other security measures. The same Samsung 970 1TB drive might cost me $94.04 at the time that I write this. Again, well worth it for the performance alone, and easy to justify if you also need the capacity.

Use the Fastest Power Plan

Choose the highest Windows Power Plan available. On a desktop PC, this is typically labeled Ultimate Performance. Not only does this power plan give you the most out of your hardware, it also prevents your system from hibernating or being put to sleep when not in use. And that’s important for one reason. I’ve seen users who thought they were starting their PC fresh regularly when they were actually just hibernating due to inactivity and then starting it back up from the saved state the next day. In one example, Windows thought it hadn’t been restarted in six weeks while the user thought they were restarting daily. This user’s performance improved noticeably when they told Windows to ‘Restart’ rather than continue their usual process. Had they been running the Ultimate Performance Power Plan, this situation never would have come up.

Replace the CMOS Battery Periodically

If your PC is older than 3 years, it’s not a bad idea to replace the CMOS battery. If you ever turn your computer on and it forgets the date or settings, this is a prime indicator that you need a new battery now. It’s most often a CR2032 coin cell, the same style that I’ve seen in most vehicle key fobs. Even before your PC begins losing time or settings, a low CMOS battery has been tied to slow performance issues with some PC brands. This is an easy maintenance item that costs less than $5 per battery.

Reload Windows When Needed

I’m currently in my 3rd decade of IT, and for just about all of that time, I’ve found it necessary to reload my primary Windows PC about every six months to keep it running in top condition. Yes, I said every six months. In looking back, it’s actually been just over 7 months since the last time I reloaded my work desktop, and it’s still running fine. I’ll reload it again at the first sign of performance degradation that I can’t rectify with routine troubleshooting. Windows 11 installs so fast from a USB flash drive that reloading a PC is only complicated if your productivity or line-of-business software is unusually complex. The point is, I will quickly go to wipe and reload Windows rather than suffer an unexplained performance hit. To make the next reload easier, keep all of your work files on a company file share, Microsoft OneDrive, or other officially authorized network storage. And of course, unless you’re in IT and authorized and capable of reloading your PC to company specifications, don’t try to reload your work PC yourself; ask the IT department.

Update That BIOS

The mainstream PC manufacturers typically release BIOS updates for your PC more than once a year. These are often security-related and are consequently very important. Sometimes BIOS updates enhance support for new operating systems as well. A PC built prior to the release of Windows 11 may run Windows 11 better with the latest BIOS version offered by the manufacturer. You or your IT team should be updating your PC’s BIOS with some frequency. Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software can help streamline this in a business setting.

Use the Highest Level of Windows That You’re Licensed For

At work, we’re licensed for Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise. If we purchase a system with Windows 11 Pro or Home, the first thing we do is wipe that off and install Windows 11 Enterprise. Or more specifically, Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise x64 23H2. While I can’t say from a scientific standpoint that Windows Enterprise performs the best, it’s worked very well in my office and I wouldn’t run anything else. Frequently I have to make comparisons between Windows versions as in the following story.

Sometimes the Factory Software Load Is Terrible

This week a doctor dropped off a brand new, still in the box, HP Z2 Mini G9 Workstation with a 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900 processor and 64GB of RAM. This is a nice little machine and I’d expect it to perform like a low-end Ferrari relative to some of the other PCs in the office using the clinical applications that this doctor uses in his day-to-day workflow. Well, it definitely did not. This brand-new system with 64GB of RAM running Windows 11 Pro performed like a dog. I’ve seen computers more than a decade old that performed better with the same applications. So, rather than wasting time, we wiped the thing and installed a fresh copy of Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise x64 23H2. And guess what? The system was fine after that. It showed every bit of the performance that I’d expect to see out of a brand-new system with these specs. I don’t know what was going on with HP’s factory load for sure. Perhaps HP’s ‘Wolf Pro Security’ coupled with our own Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agent were taxing every file operation and process. I don’t know. But starting fresh was the answer to performance with this system.

Don’t Skimp on the Things You Touch

My final suggestion may not help your PC’s performance, but it may help yours. The keyboard and mouse that shipped with your desktop PC are so cheap that they’re often considered free. As these are the parts of the computer that you touch throughout the day, I’m a big fan of replacing them when necessary. The keyboard that I’m typing this on is a Logitech K840 purchased several years ago. That model has since been replaced by my all-time favorite keyboard, the Logitech K845 mechanical keyboard with ‘blue’ switches. Blue switches are known for having a tactile bump and an audible click when typing, that I frankly love. The Logitech K845 lists for around $59.99 or $20 more if you want the blue switches from a company called Cherry. Similarly, I have a go-to mouse, the Logitech M500s, which costs $29.99 and possibly less on Amazon. I use this mouse everywhere except for my primary mouse at work, where I use a more expensive Logitech that I paid for myself. The M500s is absolutely fine and exceeds any ‘free’ mouse for all-day use.

Finally

I’ll wrap it up. Like a car, your Windows PC requires routine maintenance throughout the years in order to continue performing like new. Based on what I shared today, perhaps it needs more frequent and more intense maintenance than your car, with more significant upgrades from time to time. Don’t be afraid of that. We’re not talking break-the-bank here. If I add up the cost of all the upgrades I’ve applied to my Dell OptiPlex 3060 during its life cycle, we’re talking $277 in parts over 5 years, 4 months, and counting. And probably 16 hours of my fairly efficient labor, given my lifetime in IT. That’s not too much to ask to get the maximum usefulness and life cycle out of my equipment.