Everyone loves to use a fast Windows XP/Vista computer. Yet, I have observed in my experience working with computers of my friends, neighbors and even in offices that around 90 percent of these XP/Vista powered computers are very sluggish and not optimized for speed. Keep reading if you have one of these machines and would like to fix this issue.
Do not get me wrong, but if you use a slow XP/Vista computer, your working performance and productivity will be severely affected. For example, if you have a very slow boot time, or find that your computer is sluggish when performing normal tasks, such as opening MS Office documents, it will make your day slow and unproductive as well.
The real cause of this problem lies in the lack of knowledge in optimizing these Windows XP/Vista computers for speed.
I know there are several useful tutorials to help you deal with this problem, including the very humorous but helpful: http://askbobrankin.com/make_windows_xp_run_faster.html
The tutorial illustrated in this article is more in-depth, with detailed procedures and explanation on the processes involved.
As the tutorial suggests, you will notice that it is only designed for Windows XP, and could well be applied to Windows Vista, too! There are certain features in Windows Vista that are not found in the earlier Windows version, and therefore will not be entirely applicable. However, with the recent Vista release, it can be seen as being similar to Windows XP.
This is critical. No matter how updates are applied or how tweaks are done, no improvements can be substantially felt if you have underpowered hardware running your Windows XP. Windows XP is a memory and CPU intensive OS that supports thousands of great and heavy programs, not to mention games and other resource-intensive stuff like streaming and watching movies online or offline. All of this goes double for Vista. So it makes sense to have a powerful system; do not just settle for the minimum hardware requirements, or else your system will run slow.
Below are the suggested hardware specifications (the higher, the better)
CPU: Pentium 4 or any AMD speed equivalent
Memory: one GB RAM
Hard disk: 80 GB
Video card: Needed (128 MB)
Sound card: Needed
LAN card: Needed
Motherboard: Pentium 4 compatible (can accommodate up to 4GB RAM slot, for future upgrades as well as a reasonable number of PCI slots)
IF you do not meet the above hardware requirements, I suggest that you upgrade first before doing any software- or operating system-related tweaks.
As a fundamental requirement, a video card and a sound card are needed for Windows XP/Vista systems. I am amazed at how many offices (even IT offices!) ignore the need for a video card in their systems. The video card helps video acceleration and reduces the burden on the CPU, thus making the CPU produce less heat as well, as the overall system. This makes it more stable and faster when it comes to rendering the video in games, office software (think PowerPoint and image editors) and streaming.
If these devices are not present in the system, all of the processes will be handled by the CPU, and that will make your computer a bit sluggish.
You should also check for hardware-related issues such as a hot system (caused by dust or an inadequate cooling system) as well as power supply problems, which can cause speed-related issues. Also check to see if your computer is using the correct power supply rating: http://www.schrockinnovations.com/powercalc.php
Enable DMA (Direct Memory Access)
Try to find out if DMA (Direct Memory Access) has been enabled in your Windows XP/Vista system. To check, go to:
Step 1: Control Panel.
Step 2: Right click on "System."
Step 3: Click "open."
Step 4: Go to hardware tab and then click "Device manager."
Step 5: After that, find and click "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers."
Step 6: Under that, find the "Primary IDE" Channel and right click on it.
Step 7: Then, on the advanced settings tab, look for the current transfer mode. It should be Ultra DMA mode, or any DMA versions enabled and NOT PIO.
See related screen shot below (the current transfer mode is in DMA):
If your system is not in the DMA transfer mode, you have to enable it by following the procedure in this Microsoft documentation: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
Enabling direct memory access speeds up the system because it will directly transfer the data between the hard disk and I/O, independent of the central processing unit (CPU). In the PIO (Programmed input/output) mode, all data must be passed to the CPU, making the data transfer a bit slow when compared to direct memory access.
If you need speed, you should sacrifice the images, fanciness and cuteness of your Windows XP/Vista system. Sorry, but you cannot configure both at the same time. You should prioritize only ONE for best results. Since this article is all about optimizing Windows XP/Vista for speed, I recommend tweaking the Windows XP/Vista system for best performance. To do this:
Step 1: Go to the Control Panel.
Step 2: Right click on "System."
Step 3: Click "open."
Step 4: Navigate to the "Advanced" tab.
Step 5: Under "Performance," click "Settings."
Step 6: Click the "Adjust for best performance" check box and click OK to apply.
If you have trouble following these steps, your screen should look the one below:
Uninstall Useless Programs, and Then DEFRAG the System
It is amazing that I encounter so many computers powered with Windows XP/Vista that have lots of programs that are not useful. Note that these programs consume your C drive's disk space. Moreover, the fact is that the smaller your available disk drive space is, the slower your computer will become!
You should consider removing or uninstalling those programs that are not needed. Make sure that the disk drive space occupying your Windows XP is not more than 50 percent full.
Uninstall properly by going to the Control Panel, clicking Add or Remove programs, and then restarting if necessary.
As mentioned on the previous page, drive C space is critical to speed. This means you should be optimizing the remaining disk space. I recommend that all useful programs (system-related only, NOT GAMES) should reside on Drive C. The following data/information will be stored on another drive, such as Drive E (aside from the boot drive C and drive D, which maybe used as an optical drive):
MP3s
Movies (WMV or any movie formats; that includes DVDs).
Documents (PowerPoint/Excel and Word files).
Downloads this means you have to transfer your downloaded files on your desktop to Drive E, for example).
Games (yes I mean it, they are not useful, and they are disk space heavy. I recommend that they be installed in another drive, NOT IN THE SAME DRIVE AS WINDOWS XP IF POSSIBLE).
Think of disk drive C (where your Windows version is installed) as a highway. The more programs (more vehicles) are on it, the more congested it will become, thus making your system run slowly. By transferring or installing not-so-useful programs to other drives (such as drive E), you are optimizing your disk space. Oh, I almost forgot: always clean your desktop and transfer all files there to other drives, except the boot drive C.
Remove Viruses, Malware and/or Spyware from Your System
If you have a valid Windows XP/Vista installation, I highly recommend that you avail yourself of the services of Live One Care: http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/3/default.htm. They offer online scans and corrections of malware/virus and even spyware. Spyware runs in the background and consumes memory resources; it's one of the more common causes of computers running slowly.
In addition, Live One Care offers system tweaks, not only the removal of viruses and spyware, so I'd better include that option too! It will remove problematic or dirty registry configurations.
Delete All Temporary Internet Files and Perform Software Updates (particularly your Windows updates)
Temporary Internet files will clog the C drive and, in time, consume a significant amount of disk space that could slow down your system. So in this case, delete your browsing history at least once a day. This is also useful for security reasons, but use this with caution, as you can no longer go back to frequently visited websites; in this case, you'd better bookmark them.
In addition, software updates such as your BIOS, video card, sound card and even browsers can help keep your system up to date and avoid bugs that will slow it down.
The most important of all updates are for your anti-virus software, which is necessary to protect your computer and help it keep running fast by remaining virus/spyware free.
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