This comprehensive kit includes a demonstration board that uses the MC9S12NE64 on chip EMAC and EPHY to demonstrate typical MC9S12NE64 applications ...
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — About 51,000 K-12 public school students in Detroit will receive computer tablets and high-speed internet to help transition from classroom to virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic in one of the nation's poorest big cities.
Schools across Michigan closed in March as part of the state's stay home order to slow the spread of the virus. And while many suburban districts quickly moved teaching online, Detroit lagged because nine out of 10 students don't have access to tablets, computers or the internet.
"When our executive team began prioritizing COVID-19 relief efforts, the issue of digital inequity for Detroit students rose to the top," said Jerry Norcia, president and chief executive of DTE Energy.
The Detroit-based utility's foundation is one of the groups contributing a total of $23 million to the initiative. Each student in the Detroit Public Schools Community District is expected to receive a laptop by the end of the academic year in June.
"We recognized that we needed to take action urgently to close the digital divide for these students and provide them with the tools necessary to thrive in the 21st century," Norcia said.
The first six months of internet connectivity will be fully subsidized. Students then will be transitioned to a low-cost, hard-wired connection.
Nationwide, nearly 3 million students make do without home internet because of the high costs of service and gaps in its availability. The disadvantaged students are more likely to be students of color, from low-income families or in households with lower parental education levels.
The nation's largest school districts, including Los Angeles and New York, are spending millions of dollars to provide devices and internet connections for students. Smaller districts are finding ways to boost wireless internet in school parking lots and distribute hot spots. Still, others are sticking with paper assignments and books because the digital equity issues are too much to overcome.
In April, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an order closing K-12 school buildings for the rest of the academic year and that the state's 1.5 million-plus students would learn remotely.
Districts were given flexibility on how to create distance learning programs with phone lessons, online classes and mailing materials to homes as options.
The Detroit district printed lesson packets. Online learning tools also were made available to students with internet access.
"The ability for our students to access the educational platforms that they use during the school day from home will elevate their learning year-round, not just during this crisis," Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said. "We know that our children perform exponentially better during the school year, but when they return in September, they've lost much of their progress from the prior school year."
About a third of Detroit's 640,000 residents are believed to be living in poverty. In 2018, the median household income in the city was about $29,500, according to the U.S. Census. Michigan's poverty rate is about 15% and the state's median household income in 2018 was about $54,900.
"When we look back to this time in 10 years, we will see that this moment changed the trajectory of education in our city," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said of the effort to bring laptops and the internet to Detroit students. "We have risen to the challenge of this pandemic and found a way to forge something positive for our children."
Other partners in the Connected Futures program include the Kellogg Foundation, Quicken Loans, General Motors and the Skillman Foundation.
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There's a fine line between genius and madness, and I'm not entirely sure which side this falls on, but web designer ArleyM recently shared details about a DIY ergonomic E Ink laptop project… and it's kind of beautiful and horrific at the same time.
Basically, the kit combines an ergonomic keyboard from Kinesis, a Kensington Orbit trackball mouse, and an Onyx BOOX Max3 eReader and writing slate plus… a duct-taped kitchen drying rack that acts as a tablet stand.
It's clearly not for everyone — you need to be a fan of E Ink displays and ergonomic products to look fondly on this thing. And we're looking at about $1250 in parts. But there's still something a little fascinating about the project.
Here's a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
Ergonomic writing setup [ArleyM]This DIY E Ink laptop combines an ergonomic keyboard, a trackball, and an eReader.
Wave Computing and MIPS Wave Goodbye [SemiWiki]Wave Computing is allegedly filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shutting down, potentially taking MIPS Technologies along with it (about half a year after shuttering the MIPS Open Initiative less than a year after launching it).
Magic Leap reportedly slashes 1,000 jobs [TechCrunch]Augmented reality company Magic Leap announced it's shifting focus from consumer to enterprise… and the company may have also just laid off half its workforce (1,000 people). Related: apparently Magic Leap had 2,000 employees.
Zoom Hits Milestone on 90-day Security Plan, Releases Zoom 5.0 [Zoom]Zoom 5.0 is rolling out, addressing some of the security issues that the company has come under fire for in recent weeks. 256-bit encryption is enabled. Waiting rooms and passwords are enabled by default. And hosts have quicker access to security settings.
Windows Terminal Preview v0.11 ReleaseMicrosoft releases Windows Terminal Preview v.0.11 — the final release before version 1.0. New features include support for languages other than English, settings and color scheme updates, copy and paste changes, and bug fixes.
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Top computer gaming company iBUYPOWER introduces former MMA champion Ronda Rousey as brand ambassador and content creator. Ronda Rousey will announce the partnership LIVE on Facebook on 4/22 at 5pm PST here: https://www.facebook.com/RondaRousey/
BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Top computer gaming company iBUYPOWER introduces former MMA champion Ronda Rousey as brand ambassador and content creator. Collaborating on videos, blogs, vlogs, product announcements, and other fun creative content, Ronda will host surprise giveaways through Facebook gaming and other live streaming services. She will be part of the announcement of iBUYPOWER's new products: Revolt GT3, Element CL, Element Dual, and Anthelion during a time when gaming revenue is at an all-time high. The forced boom in livestreaming has caused companies to get creative and the organic partnership with Ronda Rousey and her team is likely to turn heads. The official announcement will be made LIVE on iBUYPOWER's socials and website on April 22.
Ronda Rousey will announce the partnership LIVE on Facebook on 4/22 at 5pm PST here: https://www.facebook.com/RondaRousey/
In an effort to support COVID-19 relief efforts, throughout April iBUYPOWER will be hosting its #WeGotYou Community Charity campaign, which allows registered participants to be entered into a giveaway for a chance to win an iBUYPOWER Signature PC. For every piece of content submitted under the campaign, the company will donate $1 to Direct Relief's COVID-19 Relief Fund, up to $25,000. The relief fund will help health care workers across the country obtain personal protective equipment. Find out more about the #WeGotYou campaign here.
About iBUYPOWER Since 1999, iBUYPOWER has embodied its core beliefs of Perseverance, Unity, Strength, and Ambition, to deliver on its promise to build the best gaming systems for the most discerning gamers. Even in a time when PCs were not as ubiquitous as they are today, we fueled the passion for gaming by giving our customers the highest quality in custom built computers. Our systems have since become the backbone for professional gamers, game developers, LAN centers, major Esports tournaments, and everyday consumers. iBUYPOWER has worked intimately with brands such as Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, Microsoft, WD, ASUS, Bethesda, MLG and many more. Superior performance, reliability, cutting edge technology and timely production make iBUYPOWER the authority in PC gaming.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC) announced today that Yury Magalif, Chief Architect, Managed Services and Cloud Computing, was named to VMware's vExpert EUC 2020 list.
VMware, a leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, and its vExpert global evangelism and advocacy program, recognizes experts who've demonstrated significant contributions to the virtualization community and a willingness to share their expertise with others. The 2020 vExpert's were chosen for their engagement and personal platform of influence in a variety of VMware communities, including blogging, social media, script writing, VMUG leaders, VMTN community moderators and internal champions.
While the vExpert program was launched over a decade ago, this is the first year in which VMware has introduced the End-User Computing (EUC) vExpert sub-program and badge for only 38 professionals worldwide. EUC vExpert's have proven themselves to be industry thought leaders for their knowledge and advocacy of VMware End-User Computing products like Workspace ONE, Horizon, App Volumes, and Dynamic Environment Manager.
The mission of the EUC vExpert sub-program is to bring the professional closer to the VMware EUC business unit, while delivering exclusive information to help individuals further engage with their technical communities. The VMware EUC business unit will spread awareness of the EUC vExpert's articles on VMware blogs and on VMware related social media accounts.
"End-User Computing has always been at the forefront of showing new ways for enterprises to be productive," said Magalif. "The current situation has forced many organizations across the globe to implement remote work policies, and EUC has become even more vitally relevant. Part of EUC, VMware Virtual Desktop technologies are allowing employees at home to access the same applications as if they were sitting in the office, providing security, simple access and performance. I am proud to be leading the work from home revolution in our community."
Magalif is a professional in Hybrid Cloud, EUC, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Desktop-as-a-Service, storage and data center technologies. He is a VMworld speaker with a session on performance analysis. For six years, Magalif has been a lecturer at the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Discover conference, where his presentations are in the top 10 out of 800 sessions offered. In addition, Magalif holds many industry certifications from Cisco, VMware, Microsoft, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and various other manufacturers.
About Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC):
CDI LLC was founded in 1995, with corporate headquarters in New York City, as well as office locations in Teterboro, N.J., Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta. The firm has been recognized as one of the nation's top 500 IT solution providers offering clients and businesses of all sizes the most up-to-date hybrid IT technology solutions that solve today's most complex business challenges. CDI LLC continually focuses on achieving client satisfaction by developing and implementing comprehensive and innovative technology solutions that enhance day-to-day business workflow processes. As one of the largest solution providers, CDI LLC combines the required experience, exceptional talent, quality assurance and stability that its clients strive to achieve.
For more information, visit cdillc.com or call 1-877-216-0133. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Ignition System Operation & Testing - (No Spark Toyota Celica)-Part 1
The move is part of a push to make remote education accessible for children while schools are closed, and includes a new online academy to offer pupils online lessons.
It comes on what would have been the first day of summer term for most pupils, and after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said no date has been set for re-opening schools in England.
He apologised to pupils for the interruption to their studies and said there are no plans to open schools in England over the summer holidays.
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Mr Williamson said 4G routers will be provided to ensure disadvantaged secondary school pupils and care leavers can access the internet where their families do not already have mobile or broadband internet.
The Oak National Academy will launch on Monday, having been created by 40 teachers from some of the leading schools in England in less than a fortnight.
Its 180 video lessons per week will cover a broad range of subjects including maths, arts and languages for pupils ranging in age from reception to Year 10.
Electronic devices will be ordered for pupils "in the most vital stages of their education for those who receive support from a social worker and care leavers", the Department for Education (DfE) said.
Young people will be eligible for the devices if they do not already have one and either have a social worker or are care leavers, or are disadvantaged children in year 10, ahead of GCSEs next year.
The DfE said schools and colleges will be able to keep the laptops and tablets once they reopen.
The Government said it would also make funding of £1.6 million available immediately for the NSPCC to expand and promote its national helpline for adults.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "The NSPCC Helpline is a crucial cog in the child protection system, last year we responded to almost 73,000 contacts from people with concerns about a child's welfare.
"At a time when there are increased risks of harm to vulnerable children but teachers and social workers' access to them is more limited, we must all play our part in recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and be sure to report any concerns."
Becca Lyon, Save the Children's head of child poverty, said: "Additional online support for all children to continue their learning will help many, but those without access to the internet will still be missing out. Extending router availability to the families of younger children in poverty will ensure children continue to learn at a critical point in their development."
Polling of teachers and parents published by the Sutton Trust found over half of students in independent schools take part in online lessons every day, two and a half times as often as their state school contemporaries.
It said the gap was largely explained by access to resources, as independent schools – as well as state ones in more affluent areas – were more likely to have existing online platforms allowing them to broadcast classes online, or receive work submitted by a class.
Sutton Trust founder and chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, said: "The widening of the attainment gap over these next few months threatens to have negative implications for years to come. It is crucial we do all we can to address inequalities through high quality tuition and access to technology."
Mr Williamson told the daily Downing Street press conference on Sunday that five tests must be met before English schools can re-open,
"People are anxious to know when we're going to relax restrictions, when schools are likely to be fully back and open again," he said.
"Of course, I want nothing more than to see schools back, get them back to normal, make sure the children are sat around, learning, and experiencing the joy of being at school.
"But I can't give you a date. Because before we do, we need to meet five tests."
They include protecting the NHS's ability to cope, seeing daily death rates come down, and having reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels, he said.
Mr Williamson said there also must be confidence that any changes do not risk a second peak of infections.
He added: "There are currently no plans to have schools open over the summer period and we haven't been working on plans to have them open over the summer period."
My Favourite Note-Taking App for Students - Notion (2020)
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A science teacher at a Durham charter school is trying to keep her students up-to-date, despite many lacking the technology to work from home.
Elizabeth Sewell, a fifth-grade science teacher at Research Triangle Charter Academy, has been struggling with the new world of education.
"I miss the actual classroom environment itself: the desk, the pencils, actually having one-on-one conversations with them," Sewell said
Sewell's been a part of the charter school for four years. Between three classes, she teaches about 75 students.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic pushing schools to go virtual, Sewell's noticed many of her kids don't have the technology available to keep up, saying around 25 percent lack the proper equipment.
RELATED: As schools switch to online courses amid COVID-19 concerns, students who lack access to internet, computers suffer
"A lot of my kids don't have access to the internet or only have one computer, and there's three or four of them in a household at a time," Sewell said.
It promoted the science teacher to focus on only reviewing the curriculum they covered in person, so these boys and girls aren't left trying to teach themselves.
While the elementary kids without laptops are given physical educational material, Sewell says it's tough to really teach new topics over the phone.
"At the same time, now we're behind. EOGs have already been canceled, so that doesn't matter anyways; but, they're still missing key units that they need when they go to middle school," Sewell said.
The charter school receives help from Durham Public Schools, along with information about how to deal with the pandemic. The school also provides meals to students Mondays through Fridays.
Sewell believes renting out their school laptops to their children could be a viable solution.
She's brought the matter forward to the Dean; however, no one's allowed in the building until a deep cleaning is completed, "So we're unable to get them the resources that they need".
To make ends meet, the teacher also works at Mystic Farm and Distillery in Durham, helping make hand sanitizer for the current pandemic on the weekends.
Sewell hopes they can address the laptop problem in the coming weeks.
This article originally appeared in our sister publication Maximum PC. For nearly 20 years, Maximum PC is considered by enthusiasts to be the absolute source for the latest in guides, reviews, in-depth analysis on cutting edge PC hardware. Subscribe to Maximum PC
Welcome to our guide on how to speed your laptop for free. It's not always possible to buy a brand-new laptop, but you can save a huge amount of money and hassle by following these steps to speed up a laptop and get it running like new – all for free.
The steps we go through here can breathe new life into your existing laptop. They could even help you if you buy a second-hand laptop (or get given one from a friend or relative).
For most people, your laptop will likely be running Windows 10, so we'll be focusing on tips and tricks for speeding up your Windows 10 laptop. We also have guides on how to speed up MacBooks.
General laptop speed up tips1. Keep Windows 10 up to date
Ah, the Windows Update. Truly the modern-day raven, rap-tap-tapping on Edgar Allen Poe's operating system with menacing intent.
Taking control of your updates is objective number one for anyone trying to optimize their laptop, so jump into "Update Settings" and remember to smash that "Check For Updates" button.
You can turn on auto-updates, too, under "Advanced options," but if you have a metered connection, we advise against this, and instead recommend manual updates. You can also pause all updates for up to two weeks; useful if you want to try something in a specific version of Windows 10.
2. Shut Cortana up
For the vast majority of users, Cortana is little more than a frustration baked into the core of Windows 10. Annoying pop-ups, constant data-gathering, and forced Bing search (come on, Microsoft…) make Cortana the least helpful voice assistant in the biz, but fortunately, shutting her down is reasonably straightforward.
Find the Cortana page under "Settings," then toggle all the sliders off. To complete the process, head back out to the main "Settings" menu. Under "Privacy Settings," you'll fi nd "Speech" and "Inking and typing personalization."
Turn both of these off to cut down the amount of data Cortana gathers from your typical PC usage. You can also block all apps from accessing your camera and microphone on the "Privacy" page.
3. Disable startup apps
We've all been there, booting up our laptop to get a quick task completed, only to be waylaid by Spotify, Steam, Uplay, and Discord introducing themselves like the worst barbershop quartet of all time.
Windows has you covered, though—the "Startup" page under "App Settings" lets you view which apps are set to start up immediately (albeit in the background) when you log into Windows, and also which ones have a higher impact on your boot times.
Toggle off any of these that you want to open manually, such as Spotify or OneDrive, and your system should start up faster.
Speed up laptop myths debunked
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
The tips on this page will show you how to speed up your laptop for free – but watch out for false advice. Here's some 'tips' that often make the rounds, that sadly won't make a difference.
Don't defrag an SSD
Defragmentation software can be helpful, but only for older drives. If you have a SATA SSD or M.2 NVMe drive, you don't want to try defragging it; there are no signiļ¬cant performance beneļ¬ts (because SSDs have no moving parts, there's no risk of mechanical latency building up over time), and the lengthy defragmentation processes can actually wear out the memory cells and ruin the drive's lifespan if you do it too many times. Just don't bother.
RAM Disks aren't that useful
Also known as RAM drives, these nifty data storage solutions use thirdparty software to partition a given amount of your memory to be used as data storage instead of random-access memory.
The advantages jump out immediately; RAM is a lot faster, netting you vastly improved data transfer speeds for your virtual drive. If you're moving ļ¬les around a lot and only have an HDD or SATA SSD, it seems like a no-brainer.
However, RAM disks are volatile memory; if your PC loses power, that data is wiped. It's necessary to have regular automatic backups to your physical drive, and to reload the RAM disk image back into your memory every time you boot up your system, which takes time. Unless you have a staggering amount of memory to spare, it just isn't worth it.
Don't tweak power plans on a desktop
While many of these tips will also apply to desktop PCs as well as laptops, there's no point messing around with a desktop's power plan.
If your PC is connected to mains power, set the power plan to high performance and call it a day. Some people will claim that there are beneļ¬ts to using the other plans; we're not saying those people are wrong, but we are saying that any beneļ¬ts will be practically unnoticeable.
Don't reinstall Windows
A complete fresh install of Windows should only ever be a last resort, when other attempts to salvage your system have failed.
System restore points are a more useful resource, and it's generally a good idea to have both cloud-based and physical backups of your data.
Reinstalling Windows is often like bringing a broadsword to a knife ļ¬ght; effective, but far too much effort and potentially messy.
4. Disable background apps
This one comes down to preference, and isn't so necessary on more powerful systems with plenty of memory and high-speed storage.
Under "Privacy Settings," you can individually select which apps you want to run in the background, and disable the rest.
There's a ton of tools included with Windows 10 that you might use sometimes, but don't ever want running in the background. Windows News? Disabled. Voice Recorder? Deactivated. Xbox Console Companion? Begone!
5. Uninstall unwanted applications
Speaking of stuff included with Windows 10, there's plenty of bloatware you can just get rid of which will help speed up your laptop.
The most obvious contender is of course Candy Crush, but if you take a trip into "App Settings" and scroll through the "Apps & features" list, you may find a surprising amount of software you never use, and never intend to use.
Click on a program to view options, and uninstall it from there. If you're unsure what a piece of software does, always look it up online before removing it.
6. Update device drivers
Updating your drivers is often a handy fi x for something not working with a PC, but it's a good idea to keep your device drivers up to date whenever possible. To check for updates, right-click the "Home" button and select "Device Manager," then right-click the device you want to update the drivers on. You can also scan for new hardware here; if you change something about your physical setup, you might need to relocate it within the Device Manager in order to update the drivers and ensure everything is working properly.
7. Log in faster
The Windows 10 lock screen is a pointless innovation. Having to swipe up or hit the spacebar before logging in slows things down a bit, and using a conventional password is slower, too.
First up, assign a PIN rather than a password for logging in; four digits and no need to hit Enter, either. If your system supports it, Windows Hello is pretty speedy, too.
You can even remove the lock screen altogether, going straight to the login screen upon boot. Annoyingly, how you do this is different for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro. For Windows 10 Home edition, you need to run regedit from the "Run" prompt, make your way to "HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft" and right-click "Windows," select "New > Key" and call it "Personalization."
Once created, right-click this key and add a new "DWORD (32-bit) Value," with a name of "NoLockScreen." Double click this and set the "Value" to 1. For Win 10 Pro, hit Win-R, type "gpedit" and hit Enter.
Double-click "Administrative Templates," double-click "Control Panel," click "Personalization," then double-click "Do not display the lock screen," and click "Enabled." Click "Apply," and then "OK." Job done.
8. Check your power plan
It's worth taking a peek at your power plans in the Control Panel on a laptop, found under "Hardware and Sound."
If it's a powerhouse laptop that you're essentially using plugged-in as a desktop replacement, slap that high performance plan on and call it a day; otherwise, you'll want to take a trip into the advanced power plan settings.
The default balanced plan is usually a good call, but even then you might want to make some adjustments; like disabling certain ports while the monitor is asleep, for example.
9. Disable tips
Windows 10 wants to be helpful, but like a bumbling manservant, sometimes that help is actually less than helpful.
By default, Windows 10 scans your system periodically to give you (usually unwanted) advice, and this can have a small impact on mobile processor performance, particularly in cheaper laptops.
You can turn it off in System Settings, under "Notiļ¬cations and action." Just toggle off the slider marked "Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows."
10. Manage your temperatures better
It's a good idea to use third-party software, such as HWMonitor, to keep an eye on your system temperatures.
This is even more critical with laptops, where keeping your CPU cool is an even more difļ¬cult endeavor.
If you're regularly using demanding software on your laptop—3D rendering tools, for example—then heat spikes are inevitable, but there are a few things you can do to alleviate the temperature load on your poor laptop.
The general optimization tips elsewhere in this article are a good start, but making sure you're positioning your laptop right is important, too. Don't actually put it on your lap, for starters.
Ensure that all the air vents are clear, and only use it on hard, ļ¬ at surfaces. If you have problems with temperature, consider using something to prop your laptop up, creating more empty space beneath it for better airļ¬ow.
11. Create a Restore Point and restore your system
In the Control Panel, go through "Security and System > System > System Protection," and you'll open up the window for system restore options.
You can hit the big "System Restore" button to revert your version of Windows to a saved restore point; your PC should regularly create these by default, but it saves over the previous one when it does so.
Hit "Conļ¬gure" and you can tweak your restore settings, or create new restore points. This isn't something you need to do too often, but it's worth having restore points for each of your drives, just in case a new software or OS update causes problems.
12. Track CPU usage
There's a handy function Task Manager has hidden in its box of tricks. When the Task Manager window is open, you should see a tiny square icon with a grid pattern in the bottom-right corner of your screen, in the notiļ¬cation area.
It may be hidden in the expanded menu; just click the arrow and drag it on to the taskbar if needed. That icon is a microcosm of your CPU usage, showing a tiny graph that indicates how much of your CPU is currently being utilized, and placing your mouse over it shows exact percentages.
To keep it present when Task Manager isn't open, select "Hide when minimized" from the Task Manager's "Options" drop-down menu, then minimize the window
13. Check for malware
Of course, ideally you won't have a single bit of malware on your PC, but if you suspect something is amiss (or you watched in slow motion from across the room as your child clicked an extremely dubious link), Windows 10 can scan your system for viruses.
Find the "Windows Security" tab under "Update & Security Settings," and select "Virus & threat protection." From this menu, you can run quick security scans on your system, or set up full scans that take longer.
Windows Defender automatically scans your system for malware periodically; you can tweak that in this menu, too, check for security updates, and manually input exemptions from Defender's scans.
That last point can be particularly helpful for users who deal with a lot of unlicensed software or shareware, but always err on the side of caution when it comes to downloading new programs.
14. Use Task Manager better
Making the best use of Task Manager is key to mastering control over Windows 10. First up, access it faster by right-clicking the "Home" button and selecting it; no need to Ctrl-Alt-Del here.
You're also going to want to get rid of the simpliļ¬ed view by hitting "More details" to expand to the full Task Manager experience. Here, you can monitor component usage, view the full suite of active and background processes, and a whole lot more that you won't need to ļ¬ddle with.
What is useful here is the ability to check exactly how much pressure each program is putting on your CPU, GPU, memory, and drives. If one background app is chewing up CPU power, or you want to compare the RAM impact of two different browsers, this is the place to do it.
You can end any task manually by right-clicking it, but be careful—there are lots of background processes that are vital to your system's operation, so don't shut off anything you don't recognize.
15. Stop apps resuming on startup
Another matter of preference, here we'll explain how to disable apps and browser tabs resuming upon booting up.
If you use your system a lot and have numerous Chrome tabs you want to preserve, skip this step, but otherwise, take a trip into "Accounts Settings." Under "Sign-in options," at the bottom of the page, there's a slider for reopening your apps "after an update or restart."
It tries to resume the active programs you had running when you last shut down your PC, potentially including non-essential background processes, and that slows down your PC's boot time. Toggle it off.
16. Free up drive space
The less stuff on your drive, the better it runs. This is more true of older hardware, but can also affect SATA SSDs to a signiļ¬cant degree. Clearing up your drive on a semi-regular basis is a good idea, as it can also improve the drive's effective lifespan.
There's a few ways to do this, which work best when done in conjunction: First off, empty the recycle bin. It's easy to forget about that little white trash can on your desktop, but emptying it regularly is a good idea.
Windows 10 also has a built-in disk cleanup tool, found under "Windows Administrative Tools" in the "Start" menu. If you've recently upgraded to Windows 10, this is worth doing; it can safely erase old system ļ¬les. If you can, move ļ¬les to a cloud storage solution, such as Google Drive or OneDrive—that can help, too!
17. Check your system health with Performance Monitor
Another handy tool in Windows 10's repertoire is the Performance Monitor. Activate it by typing "perfmon /report" into the search bar (without the quotes) and give it a few minutes to gather system data.
It then spits out a highly detailed interactive report; any major issues with system ļ¬les or processor loads should be highlighted immediately, and you can also check through a series of system checks and a resource overview, which can identify if one part of your system is working overtime when it shouldn't be.
18. Disable syncing
Windows 10 has a bit of a digital hard-on for synching everything; whether that's banal things such as appearance themes, or important stuff, such as passwords, search history, and cloud data.
If you use Windows on numerous devices, this can be helpful; otherwise, it just puts extra strain on your system, and potentially poses a cybersecurity risk.
You can shut off a number of these under "Sync your settings" in "Accounts Settings," but you might also want to disable OneDrive synching, too. To do this, you have to open up OneDrive and head into the settings, then select "Unlink this PC" under the "Account" tab.
19. Disable visual effects
Look, Windows 10 is great, but it's undeniable that some areas are overdesigned. This step does come down to personal preference regarding aesthetics, but it can also be useful if you're running a system with integrated graphics that needs to keep things as simple as possible.
Under the "System Properties" menu, there's a tab entitled "Advanced." Hit the "Performance settings" button on this page to open up full customization of all the visual effects baked into Windows 10.
Hit "Custom" and you can tweak to your heart's content; you probably won't want to disable everything, but there are some animations here that can safely be turned off.
Speed up older laptops20. Use ReadyBoost
ReadyBoost is a handy feature for laptops with older or limited hardware, and uses removable storage (typically a USB ļ¬ash drive or SD card with at least 12GB of storage) to temporarily cache data and speed up your system.
You can activate it by plugging in an empty ļ¬ash drive, right-clicking the drive in File Explorer, and selecting the "ReadyBoost" tab under "Properties." Select "Dedicate this drive to ReadyBoost" and reserve all available space for caching.
We advise against using ļ¬ash drives with data stored on them for this; while it shouldn't be a problem, it reduces the available storage space for ReadyBoost to use, and constantly caching ļ¬les can reduce the drive's lifespan.
21. Run Defrag on hard drives
If you're still rocking an HDD in your laptop or PC in 2020 (hey, we don't judge), it's important to remember to defrag that drive now and then, lest long-term fragmentation ruins your data.
Fortunately, Windows 10 has a defrag tool built-in, although it's been shufļ¬ ed around a few times between version updates. Punch "defrag" into the search bar, open "Defragment and Optimize Drives," select your hard drive, and hit "Optimize."
Depending on the size of the drive and the degree of existing fragmentation, it could take a while, so leave this until last if you're taking some time to clean up your laptop.
22. Disable search indexing
Windows 10's search function is great, but the indexing process can be fairly resource-intensive on older (or super-budget) systems.
Access the indexing menu by searching for "indexing options" in the Control Panel, hit "Modify," then hit "Show all locations." If you want to fully disable indexing, select everything here, and click "OK."
This stops Windows Search from indexing your results, freeing up system resources to speed up your PC.
Speed up gaming laptops23. Disable hardware acceleration on mouse
If you're a serious gamer, you've probably done this already. Hardware acceleration for computer mice smooths out the overall pointer experience by making your cursor move further if you move the physical mouse faster, but this can be ruinous in ļ¬rst-person shooters, where snap movements to aim at a target can overshoot their mark.
Hop into the Control Panel and select "Hardware and Sound," then ļ¬ nd your mouse settings. Under "Pointer Options," you can deselect "Enhance pointer precision"—this is what Windows 10 calls in-OS hardware acceleration. You can tweak baseline mouse sensitivity here, too, although we recommend doing that via the physical DPI controls on a gaming mouse.
24. Block auto-updates in game launchers
This is a must-have, particularly if you're on a metered Internet connection. Steam is easy enough; select "Downloads" under "Steam Settings," and toggle the settings to your heart's content. In particular, we advise unchecking "
Allow downloads during gameplay" if you play online games. Origin and Epic don't have quite the same array of choices, but do still allow for blocking auto-updates; Epic even allows you to tweak update choices on a per-game basis.
25. Revert game version
This is a somewhat niche tip, but it can be a lifesaver if an update tanks one of your games. Steam has a beta feature—not available in every game, but it's easy to check—that allows you to roll back your game version to a previous update.
Right-click the game in your library, select "Properties," and navigate to the "Betas" tab. From here, you can opt in to older versions of the game in the drop-down menu, let the game update, and boom—you're running a previous update.
It doesn't work for most online multiplayer games, of course; you need to be running the same version as everyone else.
26. Disable focus assist
This is the big one: Get rid of Focus Assist. Have you ever been midway through a high-stakes online match, only to be yanked out of it as Windows tabs you back to the desktop to inform you that you've received an email from your co-worker?
Yeah, that's got to stop. Find the "Focus Assist" tab under "System Settings," and slap it to "Alarms only"—there's no option to turn it off completely, but you can also disable it during gameplay or screen sharing. Lastly, you can deactivate the option to show you "what you missed" when you return to the desktop; an unnecessary irritant, for our money.
27. Keep your GPU drivers up to date
Another potentially obvious tip for gamers is to keep your GPU drivers up to date. No, that doesn't mean installing GeForce Experience—the clutter-free way to do this is simply to head to the manufacturer's website and locate the most recent drivers for your GPU.
Both AMD and Nvidia have handy search functions to help you ļ¬nd your exact GPU, and what drivers it needs. Remember to select the "Game Ready" drivers if you're using a newer Nvidia card, rather than the "Studio" version.
28. Enable Game Mode
A simple change to make, although it isn't likely to improve game performance by much on most systems.
Under "Gaming Settings," ļ¬nd "Game Mode." Make sure this is toggled on and your PC will manage temperature and available memory better to (theoretically) improve frame rates in games.
While we're not sure it really boosts frame rates, it does also block Windows Update from doing anything while you're in-game. It's possible that some games see more stable frame rates—perhaps Microsoft's own stuff, as Game Mode is ofļ¬cially listed as an Xbox-branded tool.
29. Install DirectX 12
You might already have DX12 installed, but there's an easy way to check if you do have the latest version of the widely used Microsoft API tool.
Hit the Windows key and R to open the Run function, then type "dxdiag" (again, no quotes), and hit Enter.
This should bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool; on the bottom of the page, it shows you which version of DX you have installed. If DX12 isn't installed, go check your Windows Updates!
