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Use your Norton product to optimize and improve computer performance

We know how frustrating it is when your computer slows down and simple tasks take forever. It is the perception of some users that their computer performance degrades after installing your Norton product. But the fact is that your Norton product is streamlined to provide a world-class protection without sacrificing performance.

Your Norton product can also boost your computer speed with performance management and optimization tools that make everyday tasks go more quickly.

Speed up my computer startup time

Many applications are configured to launch when you start your computer. These include programs that you never use, rarely use, or never knew that you had. The more programs that launch when you start your computer, the longer it takes. Norton Startup Manager lets you disable or delay startup programs to get you up and running faster.

Disable or delay startup items

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, double-click Performance, and then click Startup Manager.

  3. In the Startup Manager window, do the following:

    • In the On/Off column, uncheck programs that you don't use to prevent them from launching when your computer starts.

    • In the Delay Start column, select programs that you want to load only after startup completes.

  4. Click Apply, and then click Close.

Improve the time it takes programs and files to load

The Optimize Disk tool rearranges file fragments, which get dispersed over your computer with time. It improves the computer performance so that you work more efficiently.

Run Optimize Disk

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, double-click Performance, and then click Optimize Disk.

  3. When it completes, click Close.

Remove temporary files and folders that make my computer run slow

Every time you browse or download files, your computer stores temporary files. Even though you don't need to keep them, they collect over time and can slow you down. The File Cleanup tool removes the clutter to make your computer run faster.

Remove temporary files and folders

  1. Open your Norton device security product..

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, double-click Performance, and then click File Cleanup.

  3. When it completes, click Close.

Optimize your boot volume

Optimization of your boot volume maximizes the usable free space by rearranging file fragments into adjacent and contiguous clusters. When the drive head of your hard disk accesses all of the file data in one location, the file is read into the memory faster.

Optimize your boot volume

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, double-click Performance, and then click Graphs.

  3. In the Graphs window, at the top of the security status graph, click Optimize.

Improve performance when I play games or watch movies

Ever played a game or watched a movie when your security software started running and your screen froze at the worst moment? You can set the Full Screen Detection tool to sense when you're running a program that shouldn't be interrupted. Norton then waits until you're done with the app before running background tasks that keep you protected.

Make sure that Full Screen Detection is on

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, click Settings.

  3. In the Settings window, click Administrative Settings.

  4. Under Silent Mode Settings, in the Full Screen Detection row, move the switch to On.

  5. Click Apply, and then click Close.

Stop interruptions when I use my favorite apps

If you think that your Norton product is slowing down your favorite programs, you can add those programs to the Quiet Mode settings. Your Norton product waits until you're done using these programs before starting background tasks that keep you protected.

Run my favorite programs in Quiet Mode

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, click Settings.

  3. In the Settings window, click Administrative Settings.

  4. Under Silent Mode Settings, in the User-Specified Programs row, click Configure.

  5. In the Quiet Mode Programs window, click Add.

  6. In the Add Program dialog box, navigate to your program.

  7. Select the file, click Open, and then click OK.

Show me programs that consume resources and slow me down

Your Norton product monitors your computer and can alert you if a program or process seems to use an unusual amount of resources. You can shut these programs down to improve performance if you're not using them.

Identify processes that consume resources

  1. Open your Norton device security product.

    If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.

  2. In the Norton product main window, double-click Performance, and then click Graphs.

  3. In the Graphs window, on the left pane, click Usage.

  4. Do one of the following:

    • To view the CPU graph, click the CPU tab.

    • To view the memory graph, click the Memory tab.

  5. Click at any point on the graph to obtain a list of resource-consuming processes.

    Click the name of a process to obtain additional information about the process in the File Insight window.

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DOCID: v120813372
Operating System: Windows
Last modified: 08/08/2024