10
Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows
XP
By Everton Blair
I've just
finished setting up a new PC for
a friend and I think some of you
will be interested in some of the
tweaks I make to all of my PCs to
make them just a little bit quicker.
I've focused here on the ones which
are simple to do and won't cause
problems if you get it wrong, rather
than listing registry tweaks etc.
1. Disable
Indexing Services
Indexing
Services is a small little program
that uses large amounts of RAM and
can often make a computer endlessly
loud and noisy. This system process
indexes and updates lists of all
the files that are on your computer.
It does this so that when you do
a search for something on your computer,
it will search faster by scanning
the index lists. If you don't search
your computer often, or even if
you do search often, this system
service is completely unnecessary.
To disable do the following:
1. Go to
Start
2. Click
Settings
3. Click
Control Panel
4. Double-click
Add/Remove Programs
5. Click
the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck
the Indexing services
7. Click
Next
2. Optimise
Display Settings
Windows XP
can look sexy but displaying all
the visual items can waste system
resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click
Settings
3. Click
Control Panel
4. Click
System
5. Click
Advanced tab
6. In the
Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave
only the following ticked:
- Show shadows
under menus
- Show shadows
under mouse pointer
- Show translucent
selection rectangle
- Use drop
shadows for icons labels on the
desktop
- Use visual
styles on windows and buttons
3. Disable
Performance Counters
Windows XP
has a performance monitor utility
which monitors several areas of
your PC's performance. These utilities
take up system resources so disabling
is a good idea.
To disable:
1. download
and install the Extensible Performance
Counter List http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/exctrlst-o.asp
2.Then select
each counter in turn in the 'Extensible
performance counters' window and
clear the 'performance counters
enabled' checkbox at the bottom.button
below.
4. Speedup
Folder Browsing
You may have
noticed that everytime you open
my computer to browse folders that
there is a slight delay. This is
because Windows XP automatically
searches for network files and printers
everytime you open Windows Explorer.
To fix this and to increase browsing
significantly:
1. Open My
Computer
2. Click
on Tools menu
3. Click
on Folder Options
4. Click
on the View tab.
5. Uncheck
the Automatically search for network
folders and printers check box
6. Click
Apply
7. Click
Ok
8. Reboot
your computer
5. Improve
Memory Usage
Cacheman
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Cacheman/982371189/1
Improves the performance of your
computer by optimizing the disk
cache, memory and a number of other
settings.
Once Installed:
1. Go to
Show Wizard and select All
2. Run all
the wizards by selecting Next or
Finished until you are back to the
main menu. Use the defaults unless
you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and
Save Cacheman
4.Restart
Windows
6. Optimise
your internet connection
There are
lots of ways to do this but by far
the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.
http://www.speedguide.net/files/TCPOptimizer.exe
1. Download
and install
2. Click
the General Settings tab and select
your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click
Network Adapter and choose the interface
you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check
Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot
7. Optimise
Your Pagefile
If you give
your pagefile a fixed size it saves
the operating system from needing
to resize the page file.
1. Right
click on My Computer and select
Properties
2. Select
the Advanced tab
3. Under
Performance choose the Settings
button
4. Select
the Advanced tab again and under
Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight
the drive containing your page file
and make the initial Size of the
file the same as the Maximum Size
of the file.
Windows XP
sizes the page file to about 1.5X
the amount of actual physical memory
by default. While this is good for
systems with smaller amounts of
memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely
that a typical XP desktop system
will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more
of virtual memory. If you have less
than 512MB of memory, leave the
page file at its default size. If
you have 512MB or more, change the
ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical
memory size.
8. Run BootVis
- Improve Boot Times
BootVis will
significantly improve boot times
1. Download
and Run http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664
2. Select
Trace
3. Select
Next Boot and Driver Trace
4. A Trace
Repetitions screen will appear,
select Ok and Reboot
5. Upon reboot,
BootVis will automatically start,
analyze and log your system's boot
process. When it's done, in the
menu go to Trace and select Optimize
System
6. Reboot.
7. When your
machine has rebooted wait until
you see the Optimizing System box
appear. Be patient and wait for
the process to complete
9. Remove
the Desktop Picture
Your desktop
background consumes a fair amount
of memory and can slow the loading
time of your system. Removing it
will improve performance.
1. Right
click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select
the Desktop tab
3. In the
Background window select None
4. Click
Ok
10. Remove
Fonts for Speed
Fonts, especially
TrueType fonts, use quite a bit
of system resources. For optimal
performance, trim your fonts down
to just those that you need to use
on a daily basis and fonts that
applications may require.
1. Open Control
Panel
2. Open Fonts
folder
3. Move fonts
you don't need to a temporary directory
(e.g. C:FONTBKUP?) just in case
you need or want to bring a few
of them back. The more fonts you
uninstall, the more system resources
you will gain.
Hope you
find these 10 tips useful. Let me
know if you did below, or if you
have any other simple tips you want
to share with other readers.
The author
runs a blog following developments
in the internet and mobile internet
sectors. With over 10 years experience
in strategy consulting and business
development, and has seen and lived
through the highs, and the lows
of the industry.
Based in
London, the author can be contacted
on admin@connectedinternet.co.uk
and his blog can be found at http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk
