23 Ways To Speed Up Windows Xp
Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here
are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability
of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance
use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in
Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an
Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory.
This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve
system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system.
If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer
icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the
File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next,
click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type
CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while;
it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file
system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly
recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with
larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing.
The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the
hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this
process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a
document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the
file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality
can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just
takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help
find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a
large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at
least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients
are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this
search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the
C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this
disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and
files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is
denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers.
Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure
your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so.
Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used
frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the
user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded
with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens,
Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading
them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to
delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup.
Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive
and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right
of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager,
double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is
enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary
controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the
Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available"
for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE
Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling.
As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these
performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133
cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the
matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end
of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon
cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these
signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum
potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the
location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable
is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer.
Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once
these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates
before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely
removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function
once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the
program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more
information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine
using the MSCONFIG utility.
Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click
the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows
starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It
contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references
and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using
Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs
section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop.
In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers
many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the
System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the
Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the
options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of
the computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their
registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit mcft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates
labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis .
Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing
anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and
reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their
computer.
The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP
handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows,
too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive.
Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The
data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to
reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using
partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all
your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve
the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without
the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited
by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the
entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever.
That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly.
I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a
bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the
PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all
tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the
program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick
of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember,
bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web
site for updated firmware.
In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of
all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services.
Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not
need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the
Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then
taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip:
open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View
tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable
this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust
and debris.
While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also
inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks.
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