[DarkMuse]

Regular defrags are a must, as @Skullmeat mentioned. Obviously, make sure your CPU is adequately cooled, your RAM is in the right memory channels (otherwise it might not be getting used optimally, if at all), and your case has good, low-pressure airflow (also prevents dust from building up, so you need to clean less).

I remember reading something on the Arch or XFCE wiki that went along the lines of "disabling any integrated graphics in the system's BIOS can boost performance by forcing the window manager to use only dedicated cards."
Given that it's a firmware/hardware optimization method, I would assume it works on Windows, but I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to fuck that up, too.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS thanks m9

lol, this is what I do for a living. My standard regiment is:

Run MalwareBytes

Pretty simple, I usually just Google "mwb download" and download the latest version. I also carry it on a USB because sometimes people's internet is too slow to download.

Run CCleaner

Just the disk cleanup part, not the registry cleaner. Never run registry cleaners, tisk tisk.

Remove Startup Items

The Windows 8/10 task manager has a tab for this which makes it a bit easier, but if you need to do it manually:

1. Check the "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" folder.
   
2. Check the registry:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
     
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
     
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
     
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
     
3. Check Scheduled Tasks
   

Check Browser Links for Adware Command-line Args

This is common for things like Conduit.

• Right click on shortcut -> Properties -> Make sure "Target" is just to the browser exe and doesn't have a bunch of other shit on it.
  
• Remove browser shortcuts from taskbar and re-add them to make sure they are clean.
  

Run SFC

Just run "sfc /scannow"

Defrag (if HDD)

Run Windows disk defrag.

Unfortunately this is almost exactly what google gives me consistently lol. Also malwarebytes is almost as bad as chrome when it comes to ram whoring
]

[mothered]

Every PC needs a format every so often.

Depending on your day-to-day tasks, It can get cluttered, files fragmented, application memory leaks and so forth. There's only so much a given tool(s) can do to "try" and optimize your system. Provided you delete all partitions during the Installation process and Install the OS on the unallocated disk space, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a clean Installation of Windows or whatever OS you're running.

Personally, I'd rather spend an hour or so Installing Windows (drivers Inclusive), than bloating my system with optimizing tools and running them for hours on end trying to gain back the functionality, performance and stability I once had when the OS was first Installed.

[DarkMuse]

Every PC needs a format every so often.

Depending on your day-to-day tasks, It can get cluttered, files fragmented, application memory leaks and so forth. There's only so much a given tool(s) can do to "try" and optimize your system. Provided you delete all partitions during the Installation process and Install the OS on the unallocated disk space, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a clean Installation of Windows or whatever OS you're running.

Personally, I'd rather spend an hour or so Installing Windows (drivers Inclusive), than bloating my system with optimizing tools and running them for hours on end trying to gain back the functionality, performance and stability I once had when the OS was first Installed.

That's very true. I wish there was a program to find installed programs and put download urls into a batch file so I could run it, back up docs, and reinstall with ease.

[mothered]

That's very true. I wish there was a program to find installed programs and put download urls into a batch file so I could run it, back up docs, and reinstall with ease.

I definitely agree with you here.

Over the last 15 years or so, I've tried countless tools and applications and whilst some served their purpose well to a certain degree, the majority were simply a marketing ploy to benefit the developer's financial state. I've given up (over a decade ago) on tools/utilities such as System Mechanic, TuneUp Utilities, Wise Registry Cleaner, CCleaner, MBAM and countless others.

Due to the nature of my tools (hack tools, keygens, patches etc) and the fact that they get detected as false positives, on some systems, I don't even run an AV. I'm not going to sit there and add exceptions via the AV, I'd rather not have It Installed.