Tips on how to speed up a windows computer

I have been trying to modify my laptop to respond more quickly to my input. It wasn't working as well as it did when I first bought it last year. I did a lot of fixes that were recommended just by searching google. Not much helped besides defrag.

Today I discovered "System Properties":"Performance Settings":"Advanced"

I switched processor scheduling from programs to Background services.
I changed Memory usage from programs to System cache.

Apparently windows was taking a back seat to my other programs, and changing those settings to focus on windows has improved the response of the computer.

I don't do any intense computing applications where the settings might be better reversed. For now I'm happy with faster menus and right mouse clicks.

I put the swap file on a second HD, and then defragmented my main HD. Speed up lots of things. I also made the swap file fixed at 1.5 the size of my RAM. Windows was re-sizing it all the time and slowing down the PC, and causing the swap file to be fragmented all over the main disk. Putting it on a 2nd HD allowed me to defrag the main, and the swapfile since the files can't be moved, it was all a solid chunk on the 2nd hd which I will only use for back up files on it. Plus having it on 2 HD's means when it's loading a program from the main HD and accessing the swapfile, it's faster as it's not one HD searching all over the place.

Also removing a lot of the crap that starts in the taskbar icon tray will help with windows loading, as well as keeping icons on the desktop to a minimum.

What ever you do, do not install the latest aol, antivirus and associated protection software. Makes your pc take an additional 5 minutes to crank up.

Windows by default uses 25% of total memory for a virtual swap drive.
You can over-ride this setting in the registry to use less and make more available to programs, etc.


And there are background services that by default gets loaded and does nothing in most systems, wasting resources.
These can be disabled and speed up and make your system more secure too.

Type services.msc in the RUN box to access these services.

Do a google search on windows services, and you'll find many articles on which to disable.

Also install Windows PowerToys TweakUI and disable and speed up the UI.
Don't forget, the more animation and sounds, and fancy wallpapers, and screensaver, loaded, the more memory is used, and slows the operating system down.

the aol stuff is junk. I've serviced many PC's that had that on there and the customer said it was supposed to fix their pc but it hasnt. I un-install the aol stuff and wow, their PC works right again and isn't slow! Wow, how about that!?

All great advice!

Folks often overlook removing dead or bad registry entries and then defragmenting the registry. I've seen dramatic improvements on slow systems after a registry clean and defrag. I've used Vcom's Fit-It Utilities or SystemSuite for these tasks, but I've heard PC Tools does an equally good job and all three help less advanced users remove the bad without messing up their computer. However, as always, be sure to have a good system backup before touching your registry just in case.

Buy a Mac! :nana:

Disable time stamps. Hardware upgrades are the really effective fix.

Valpo Hawkeye said:

Buy a Mac! :nana:

Click to expand...

Uhm, it wont do what I need, it's expensive, trendy, you can't build/upgrade one yourself, and for that reason I wont! :nana:
I'd rather go linux and keep the x86 hardware thank you! :nana:

But let's keep it focused on topic at hand!

IsaacHayes said:

Uhm, it wont do what I need, it's expensive, trendy, you can't build/upgrade one yourself, and for that reason I wont! :nana:
I'd rather go linux and keep the x86 hardware thank you! :nana:

But let's keep it focused on topic at hand!

Click to expand...

Too trendy? I think that statement is a product of the impacts the iPod has had on popular culture - I would say Mac computers are no more or less trendy than they ever have been. And regardless of the possibility of being more trendy, they are certainly not a trend that is going to fade... that, and they are a trend for a reason.

As for building your own... if you really want to build your own, now that they use Intel processors, you can.

But then I read you're a linux fan, and all is OK. :wave:

john

Any tricks to speed up initial boot-up on windows xp? All these programs(quicktime, messenger, aol, etc) open upon booting up which slowwwwws everything down. Any ideas?

THanks,
Flavio

BugOutGear_USA said:

Any tricks to speed up initial boot-up on windows xp? All these programs(quicktime, messenger, aol, etc) open upon booting up which slowwwwws everything down. Any ideas?

THanks,
Flavio

Click to expand...

Open those programs when you actually need them instead of at boot time. You'll end up with fewer processes running, which also will give you a little better response after boot time. You go to Services and change the startup type from automatic for the ones you don't want to start at boot time.

You can disable a lot of them by going into options/settings/etc and unchecking "start with windows/etc"

Here's a great, free tool for configuring which apps and processes run on startup in a Windows environment. I've been using it for about a year with no glitches.

Startup Control Panel 2.8 by Mike Lin

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

Also, if you run a dual-cpu or dual core system, check out his SMP Seesaw (works great with VMware).

(These are personal recommendations. I have no connection to Mr. Lin or his software.)

completely disassemble your rig, clean out all dust found inclusing the power supply, Dust = thermal mass and heat = slower procesing.

I do this about 4 times a year, i've concluded my computer is more efficient in collecting dust than my air conditioner

greenlight, yeah illum is right. Since you have a laptop, it could be throttling back due to overheating. Also, I'd reverse what you did in the first post, as windows might be snappy-er, but you're hurting overall performance.

Installed what program that is necessary, no more and no less. Scan for spyware from time to time. Minimise unused softwares in the startup. Avoid setting antiviral scan to all files.

Also, do not ever use registry cleaning program. I have never come across one that is safe to use. Trust me. DON'T DO IT!

Setting priority to System Cache is well known to cause serious issues with poorly written programs like ATI Catalyst video drivers.

"Optimizing" the swapfile will only have a minor effect if the system is using it at all. If it is, you actually need more RAM, not an optimized swapfile.

To prevent programs from loading with Windows, drag shortcuts out of the startup folders and run msconfig, then simply untick boxes.

That said, I've noticed that most systems running Windows that have radically slowed down are actually infested with spyware.

And there is no difference when running Windows on a Mac via BootCamp since the hardware is now identical except for the BIOS.

2 things that really help improve a laptop computer performance is:

1- Make sure you have at least 1 gig of ram
2- Make sure your hard drive is minimum 5400 rpm and a capacity of 100 gigs, or better 7200 rpm and 100+ gigs of hard drive space. It helps by retrieving the information quicker and not having to go through a cluttered hard drive.