Windows 11 has higher minimum hardware requirements than Windows 10, which has led many people to believe it necessarily runs slowly on older machines. In practice, though, the out-of-the-box Windows 11 experience includes a significant amount of visual and background overhead that you can safely strip away — and doing so can make a genuinely dramatic difference on older or mid-range hardware.
If you have picked up a refurbished laptop and installed Windows 11 Pro (available from GetRenewedTech for €21.99), this guide will help you squeeze every bit of performance from your machine without spending anything on hardware upgrades.
1. Adjust Performance Settings to Prioritise Speed Over Appearance
Windows 11 applies many visual effects by default — animations, shadows, transparency effects, and smooth transitions. These look attractive but consume CPU and RAM resources that older hardware cannot spare.
To disable them: right-click the Start button and select System, then scroll down to Advanced System Settings (or search for it directly). In the System Properties window, click Advanced > Settings under Performance. Select Adjust for Best Performance, which disables all visual effects at once. Alternatively, manually keep a few effects you prefer (like smooth scrolling) and disable the rest.
On older hardware with integrated graphics, this single change can make Windows feel noticeably snappier — windows open faster, menus appear instantly, and general navigation feels more responsive.
2. Clean Up Startup Programmes
Every programme added to your startup list consumes time and resources during boot and often continues running in the background. On older hardware, having ten or fifteen apps loading at startup can extend boot time from seconds to minutes and leave limited resources for actual work.
Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc and go to the Startup Apps tab. You will see each programme along with its startup impact (Low, Medium, High, or Very High). Right-click and disable everything that is not essential. Keep security software and your primary tools; disable cloud storage clients (they can be opened manually), update utilities, manufacturer helper apps, and any software you do not regularly use.
3. Change Your Power Plan
By default, Windows 11 often uses the Balanced power plan, which throttles processor speed when on battery or at low load. On older hardware, this throttling can make the machine feel sluggish even for basic tasks.
Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep > Power Mode (or search for Choose a Power Plan in the Control Panel for more options). Select High Performance or, if available, Ultimate Performance. Note that this will reduce battery life on a laptop, so consider switching back to Balanced when running on battery and only using High Performance when plugged in.
4. Disable Transparency Effects
The frosted glass transparency effect on the Start menu, taskbar, and windows is one of the more resource-intensive visual features in Windows 11. On machines with limited VRAM or older integrated graphics, it creates unnecessary load.
Disable it at Settings > Personalisation > Colours and toggle off Transparency Effects. The UI loses its translucent appearance but becomes more responsive, particularly on machines with older Intel HD or AMD integrated graphics.
5. Manage and Reduce Background Apps
Many apps configure themselves to run in the background even when you are not using them, consuming RAM and occasionally spinning up the processor. Check and control this at Settings > Apps > Installed Apps — click each app, go to Advanced Options, and set its background activity to Never unless you specifically need it running in the background.
Also visit Settings > Privacy & Security > Background Apps to see a consolidated view and manage which apps can run in the background at a system level.
6. Enable Storage Sense and Keep the Drive Clean
A drive that is more than 80% full will begin to affect performance, particularly with traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) where the operating system needs space for virtual memory and temporary files. Even on SSDs, maintaining free space is good practice.
Enable Storage Sense at Settings > System > Storage by toggling it on and clicking Configure Storage Sense. Set it to run automatically (every week is a good interval), automatically delete temporary files, and empty the Recycle Bin after 30 days. This runs silently and keeps your drive tidy without manual intervention.
7. Optimise Your Drive
If your older machine uses a traditional hard disk drive rather than an SSD, regular defragmentation helps maintain read/write performance. Windows 11 should handle this automatically, but it is worth verifying. Search for Defragment and Optimise Drives in the Start menu, select your HDD, and click Optimise.
If you have an SSD, Windows automatically runs TRIM operations instead of defragmenting — never manually defragment an SSD as it causes unnecessary write cycles without performance benefit. You can confirm your drive type in the Optimise Drives tool, which shows either Hard Disk Drive or Solid State Drive next to each volume.
8. Adjust Virtual Memory (Page File)
Virtual memory uses drive space as an extension of RAM when physical memory is exhausted. By default, Windows manages the page file automatically, but on machines with limited RAM (4GB or 8GB), manually setting a larger page file can prevent severe slowdowns when RAM fills up.
Access it via System Properties > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced > Virtual Memory > Change. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size and set a custom size. A common recommendation is 1.5x your RAM for the initial size and 3x your RAM for the maximum (e.g., for 8GB RAM: 12288MB initial, 24576MB maximum). Click Set, then OK, and restart.
9. Disable SysMain (Superfetch) on HDD Systems
SysMain (formerly Superfetch) preloads frequently used apps into RAM to speed up launching. On machines with SSDs, this is largely redundant and can cause unnecessary disk activity. On machines with slow HDDs and limited RAM, it can actually cause more slowdown than it prevents.
To disable it: press Windows + R, type services.msc, and find SysMain. Right-click and select Properties. Set the Startup Type to Disabled and click Stop, then OK. Monitor your performance over the following day — if the machine feels better, leave it disabled. If not, re-enable it.
10. Keep Drivers Up to Date
Outdated drivers, particularly for graphics and chipset components, often cause performance degradation. Visit your laptop manufacturer’s website and check for driver updates specific to your model and Windows 11.
In particular, look for updated graphics drivers — Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA all release ongoing updates that include performance improvements and optimisations. An outdated graphics driver on an older machine can be the single biggest cause of UI sluggishness.
The Easiest Hardware Upgrade: Add More RAM or an SSD
While this guide focuses on software optimisation, it is worth noting that the two most impactful hardware upgrades for older machines are both affordable: adding more RAM (moving from 4GB to 8GB or 8GB to 16GB makes an enormous difference) and replacing a spinning hard disk with an SSD. These changes transform the experience more than any software tweak. Check whether your laptop’s RAM and storage are user-upgradeable before investing time in software tweaks alone.
Combined with a well-optimised Windows 11 Pro installation from GetRenewedTech at €21.99, an older refurbished laptop can serve you reliably for years to come.
