Do you have a PC or laptop that’s not running as fast as you think it should? I’ve seen this often on Dell systems, particularly the Optiplex desktop and the Latitude laptops.

Of note is the Latitude D810.  It commonly shipped with a 1.7ghz CPU. If you look at the System Properties (right-click My Computer, click Properties) you’ll see it is probably only running around 750-800mhz. The rest of the CPU power is sitting idle, unused. Here’s how to remedy that and make your PC run much faster.

Some Intel Pentium 4 chips include the ability to have their clock speed controlled by software, meaning your OS can tell the CPU to run slower to save on energy and produce less heat. While this feature can be useful, it can also cripple your productivity and cause you to wait extra minutes while your computer boots up. Intel has several versions of this feature, but they all are named some version of SpeedStep.

You can reclaim these lost clock cycles by disabling this Intel feature. This will cause your system, whether laptop or desktop, to run a little warmer, so be sure you’ve cleaned all the dust out of the vents and don’t block the vents so it can adequately cool.

To disable Speedstep, access your system BIOS prior to the OS boot (on Dells, press F2 during display of the Dell logo). Look for either the Performance or the Power Saving section of BIOS, and turn off Speedstep. You’ll notice an immediate increase in speed at next boot.

On laptops, disabling this will most likely cause you to get less runtime from your batteries, but you can always re-enable the feature if you don’t like the tradeoff. Small form factor desktops will run warmer, so be sure they’re in a well ventilated area.