[7 Ways] How to Increase Hard Drive Speed on Windows 10/11

Why is my hard drive running so slowly?

Computer systems rely heavily on hard drives to provide ample storage space. In today's era, every modern computer system incorporates a large capacity and fast hard drive that helps in retrieving files and programs quickly.

Despite their inherent speed and size advantages, even the most powerful hard drives can experience sluggishness for no clear reason. So, what are the factors that cause Windows 11/10 hard drives to slow down?

♣ File fragmentation

♣ Insufficient free space 

♣ Bad sectors

♣ Hard drive aging process

♣ Malware or viruses

♣ Outdated or incompatible device drivers

♣ Corrupted file systems

♣ Operating system failures

♣ Physical damage

Apart from this, various other factors can also cause hard drives to slow down. However, there is no need to worry, the remedy lies in implementing proper maintenance to easily increase hard drive speed Windows 10/11.

How to increase hard drive speed on Windows 10/11

Although the above factors pose a threat to hard drive speed, it is completely feasible to protect our hard drives and fix how to speed up an HDD/SSD in daily use. This section outlines 7 effective ways on how to make hard drive faster, including tasks such as file cleaning and disk upgrades. Let's dive into each solution individually.

Way 1. Scan and fix bad sectors

You can increase your hard drive speed by scanning for potential bad sectors, a process you can easily perform using the Check Disk tool. Please follow these simple steps to scan your hard drive:

Step 1. In Windows 10, double-click This PC (or Computer in Windows 7) to open File Explorer.

Step 2. Identify the partition that requires attention, right-click it, and select Properties.

Step 3. In the small window that appears, click Check under Tools tab and then click OK to continue.

Step 4. Enable Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery for bad sectors.

Step 5. Subsequently, click on the Start button to start the disk check.

Way 2. Delete Temporary Files

Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge tend to accumulate large amounts of temporary files that can take up valuable space and slow down your hard drive. To resolve this issue, it is recommended to delete these files manually to clean up the hard drive and free up disk space:

Step 1. Double-click This PC/Computer and navigate to the C drive.

Step 2. Temporary files usually reside in two locations:

1. C:\Windows\Temp

2. C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp

Step 3. Once you find these folders, delete them directly to free up space and optimize hard drive performance.

Way 3. Clean up hard drives

If deleting temporary files proves not enough, you can reclaim storage on the entire partition using the built-in drive cleaning tool Disk Cleanup to increase hard drive speed Windows 10/11. In this order:

Step 1. Type disk cleanup in the search bar and select Disk Cleanup from the top results.

Step 2. Choose the hard drive you want to clean and click OK to confirm.

Step 3. In the Files to deleted section, mark the files you want to delete and click OK to continue.

Way 4. Add more RAM

When your Windows 10 computer experiences slow performance, it may be due to insufficient RAM (Random Access Memory). To solve this problem, increasing the amount of RAM is a viable solution. Please follow the steps below for a seamless upgrade:

Step 1. Open Task Manager, and click Performance to view the current memory type and number of used slots.

Step 2. Pay attention to the information provided by the system about memory type and slot usage.

Step 3. Purchase compatible RAM based on determined specifications.

Step 4. Install the new RAM chip into an available slot on your computer.

Way 5. Enable Write Caching

Increasing hard drive speed can be achieved by enabling write caching as it involves storing data in the NAND chips on the hard drive before recording it. In this order:

Step 1. Press Windows + R to open the Run window. Enter devmgmt.msc and click OK to access Device Manager.

Step 2. Select your hard drive from the Disk drives option on the left menu.

Step 3. Right-click the hard drive and select Properties.

Step 4. In the Properties menu, navigate to the Policies tab.

Step 5. Check the Better performance (default) option and click OK.

Way 6. Defrag the hard drive

When the data on the hard drive becomes fragmented, the performance of your Windows 10 system may decrease. In this case, defragmenting the hard drive proves beneficial. This process collects fragments of data scattered on the hard drive and organizes them systematically. As a result, the drive can locate information faster and identify open portions of new data at a faster rate.

To effectively defragment your hard drive and speed up HDD Windows 11/10, make use of the disk defragmentation utility provided by AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. In this order:

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition. Right-click on the disk and select Disk Defrag.

Step 2. In the window that appears, select the drive you want to defragment on a schedule and click Schedule.

Step 3. Select scheduling options such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, At startup, At logon and set a specific time to start automatic defragmentation.

Step 4. Click Conditions to define additional conditions that trigger automatic defragmentation. Once you are satisfied with the settings, click OK.

By following these steps, you can effectively defragment your hard drive and optimize its performance to improve system responsiveness.

Way 7. Upgrade the hard drive

Solid-state drives (SSDs) outperform traditional HDDs in terms of read and write speeds. When your Windows 10 system is running slower on an HDD and defragmentation doesn't produce significant improvements, consider upgrading to an SSD. This shift improves boot times, file access speeds, and overall system responsiveness.

To upgrade HDD to SSD without reinstalling, use AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro, which provides two cloning methods: "Clone Disk Quickly" and "Sector-by-Sector Clone". Simply put, make sure whether you want to reinstall or troubleshoot Windows 10 before picking recovery tool, and check which device you have that can be used as recovery media. Thus you should have a conclusion.

Please follow the steps below for a seamless upgrade:

Step 1. Start AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Right-click the system disk and choose Clone Disk.

Step 2. Select your preferred cloning method and click Next to continue. Here we select Clone Disk Quickly.

Step 3. Select the target disk, enable the Optimize the performance of SSD option, and click Next.

Step 4. Resize the partition on the SSD drive as needed and click Next to continue.

Step 5. Review the instructions for booting from the target disk, and then click Finish.

Step 6. In the main interface, click Apply and Proceed to start the HDD to SSD cloning process.

★Notices:

To clone an MBR disk to a GPT disk, make sure to change the boot mode from BIOS Legacy to UEFI for successful booting from the target disk and vice versa.

For Windows Server systems, you can consider using AOMEI Partition Assistant Server Edition.

Final verdict

This article discusses 7 ways to increase hard drive speed Windows 10/11. Among these methods, we highly recommend using AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This comprehensive tool offers multiple options to resolve slow hard drive issues on Windows 11/10/8/7, including upgrading HDD to SSD, performing defragmentation, and cleaning up the computer.

The versatility of PA Pro includes features such as MBR2GPT conversion without data loss, free space allocation, and installed program relocation. Don't hesitate to explore its features and give it a try!