Slow computer

[karan4]

Hi everyone
I know there are many threads for improving computer's speed but i don't find any of them too useful
So i want to completely resolve this problem mainly in vista
Please participate

[ThinkFree]

Problem in Vista? Downgrade to XP
Mention config

[dheeraj_kumar]

Sheesh... this is such a general problem. Try everything in the threads, and go to AskVG.com and try his tweaks. Get TweakVI and use it. And most importantly, google for "Vista Tweaks".

[gary4gar]

With vista
clean install & Downgrading to Xp works nicely.

rest all stuff it not that usefull.

I my notebook, vista takes 5minutes to boot up, but i can't remove it as it would void warranty

I feel using original version is more painfully and using pirated ones

[karan4]

Thanks for reply
asnvin i know xp is better but in many dell computers downgrading to xp from vista makes it more slow....
and dheeraj this is... a general topic but there is no one who completely resolve this problem

If anyone is connected to internet there are 100% chances for it to be infected by virus/malware, which later waste a lot of time
I believe that windows integerated firewall is useless so the first step is to limit network assess (some virus are automatically downloaded when you are online)
Install Zone alarm then use any antivirus or spyware

Useful site for windows xp users
http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html

[dheeraj_kumar]

What problem do you have first of all? your comp runs slow, thats it right? Okay... here is a tutorial for all windows versions to speed up:

1. Start with a CLEAN install of windows. Clean, meaning you format the drive first and then install.
2. Install all required software, either slipstream them or install them manually.
3. If you have Vista, get TweakVI. For XP, get TweakUI. For anything else, get XP or Vista.
4. Tone down your graphical settings in the Desktop Control panel. Nobody cares if your right click menu and your mouse cursor display a shadow. But they drop down their jaws when Photoshop loads faster in your rig than theirs. Also, dont disable them completely. You dont want people thinking you are still running Win98.
5. Get Startup Control Panel for XP, use the provided one in Vista to tune down the startup list.
6. Get good screensaver, replace the old wallpaper, and put a new theme. Having the default ones make you feel like your comp is dragging along.
7. NOD32. Spybot. HJT. ZoneAlarm. Nuff said.
8. For XP, get the EVID4226 patcher from www.lvllord.de and change it. For Vista SP1, http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/0...s-60600117052/
9. I'm hungry...

More to come later, if I aint feeling bored.

[Amir.php]

Windows Vista has some great new security and functionality features, as well as cool eye candy, such as Aero
transparency, Flip 3D, and other graphical tricks. But all this comes with overhead that may lead to a performance
hit on anything less than a top-of-the-line supercomputer.
If you find Vista's performance lagging, the good news is that you can make it run faster. Here are some of the
steps you can take.
Add more RAM
There's no denying it: Vista is a RAM-hungry operating system. Whereas XP usually runs great on 512MB, you
really need a minimum of a gigabyte to run Vista acceptably. Two gigs is even better, and if you turn on all the
graphical features and keep a lot of programs open, especially those that use a lot of memory, four gigs isn't
overkill.
Luckily, RAM is still relatively inexpensive -- but it's rumored to be on the rise, so get as much of it as you can,
while you can. You won't regret it.
Use ReadyBoost
Can't add physical RAM? Maybe you have a laptop that already has the maximum amount of memory installed. In
that case, Vista provides you with a way to fool your computer into thinking it has more RAM than it does. You
can use a flash memory card or USB key to boost the system memory; Vista can access the flash memory more
quickly than data stored on the hard disk.
It's best to use a high performance flash card or USB drive for ReadyBoost. When you insert it, Windows will ask
if you want to use it to speed up system performance, and then you can allocate how much of the card's/drive's
memory you want to use for that purpose. The rest can be used for storing data. For more info about ReadyBoost,

Get a good video card
If you have enough RAM, the most likely hardware culprit on a slow-moving Vista machine is the video card. You
need a fairly high end card to run Aero at all, but some computer vendors are selling computers with graphics
cards that run it badly. You can find out whether your video card is the bottleneck by checking your Windows
Experience Index (WEI) score from the Performance Information and Tools applet in Control Panel.
The onboard video adapters in most systems aren't powerful enough to run Vista properly. If you want to run Aero
and be happy doing it, get a card that's Vista Premium Certified. As with system RAM, the more video RAM the
better, and if you want to play Vista games, be sure your card supports Direct X 10.

Eliminate extra startup programs
You may find that you have a lot of programs loading automatically when you boot Windows, especially if you
bought your Vista system from a hardware vendor who added lots of software. Some of these you may want,
such as antivirus or anti-spyware programs, but many of them you probably don't even use or use only
occasionally and don't want to run all the time. Yet they're all loading into memory and consuming your system
resources -- and thus slowing down your computer as they run in the background.
Some programs can be prevented from starting automatically by removing them from the Startup folder. Others
are configured in the registry to run at startup. Many can be managed through the Windows Defender Software
Explorer, which you can access from the Manage Startup Programs link in the left pane of the Performance
Information And Tools applet.
Turn off visual enhancements
There are a lot of visual enhancements that make Vista look like Vista, such as the animations when minimizing
and maximizing windows, fading or sliding menus, shadows under the menus and mouse pointer, and thumbnails
of graphics files instead of dull icons. However, all this bling uses resources, and if performance is your priority,
the operating system will run faster without them.
The Performance Options dialog box can be accessed through the Adjust Visual Effects link in the left pane of the
Performance Information And Tools applet. On the Visual Effects tab, you can customize these settings
individually, turning off the ones you don't want, to help speed performance. Or you can disable all of the visual
effects by clicking the Adjust For Best Performance option.

Adjust indexing options
Vista has a much-improved search function, but it's dependent on indexing the files and programs on your hard
disk so they can be found quickly. When the indexing process is running, however, it can slightly slow down other
programs you're trying to run at the same time.
You can select the locations you want to index; fewer locations will result in less indexing and thus better overall
performance. On the other hand, you'll get better search performance by indexing all locations. You can't turn the
indexing feature off completely, but you can adjust locations indexed by selecting Adjust Indexing Options in the
left pane of the Performance Information And Tools applet.
Clean up and defrag the disk
Fragmented files or a lot of unneeded extra files on the disk can slow down performance. Vista provides a disk
cleanup tool, which you can access from Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools. Specify a drive you
want to clean up, and the tool will estimate the amount of space you can recover by running the cleanup process.
Defragmenting the disk rearranges data on it so that all the parts of a file are together; this allows Vista to access
those files more quickly. The built-in disk defragmenter is also accessed from the System Tools menu. The
defragmentation process itself can slow down your computer, so you may want to schedule it to run at a time
when you aren't using the computer. Third-party defrag utilities are also available.

Adjust your power settings
If you don't mind using more power, you can boost performance by setting your power settings to the High
Performance option. Click the Power Options applet in Control Panel and select that choice. By default, this
configuration is set to Balanced, which limits the CPU to 50% power during normal operation.
Turn off the sidebar
The sidebar is a cool feature of Vista, but if you don't use its applets, you can save some resources by disabling it.
First, right-click it and select Properties. Next, deselect the check box to start the sidebar when Windows starts.
Then, close the sidebar by right-clicking it and selecting Close.

If all else fails, turn off Aero
This is a last-resort option for most Vista users; after all, Aero is what makes Vista look like Vista. But if you don't
care for all the eye candy and/or have a low powered machine, and you still want the functionality advantages of
the new OS (search, security, Explorer enhancements, etc.), you can definitely speed things up by going back to
the non-transparent look.
To do so, right-click the desktop and select Personalize, then click Windows Color And Appearance. Now, click
Open Classic Appearance Properties For More Color Options. From the drop-down list box on the Appearance
tab, select any theme except Aero (Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, or Windows Classic).

[dheeraj_kumar]

^^ good article, source please?

[escape7]

Or get an extra 512 MB of ram, it'll speed things up.

[Vishal Gupta]

You can check following thread:

MASTER TUTORIAL: Make Your Windows VISTA Super Fast

[atish]

Rip the Windows media player and siderbar off.

[ax3]

use Tuneup Utlities 2008 ...... its on digit cd\dvd ......

[amrawtanshx]

Go for the 'Best Performance' tab instead of Best Appearance.
This will eliminate Desktop Window Manager.

Tweak your startup.(Type msconfig in RUN) and select only CORE programs.

This should help.

[dhanusaud]

Originally Posted by ax3

use Tuneup Utlities 2008 ...... its on digit cd\dvd ......

+1 for advising tuneup utilities.
it does all the jobs to boost your system speed. speed may differ according to system config.

[chandal_keta]

Originally Posted by Amir.php

Windows Vista has some great new security and functionality features, as well as cool eye candy, such as Aero
transparency, Flip 3D, and other graphical tricks. But all this comes with overhead that may lead to a performance
hit on anything less than a top-of-the-line supercomputer.
If you find Vista's performance lagging, the good news is that you can make it run faster. Here are some of the
steps you can take.
Add more RAM
There's no denying it: Vista is a RAM-hungry operating system. Whereas XP usually runs great on 512MB, you
really need a minimum of a gigabyte to run Vista acceptably. Two gigs is even better, and if you turn on all the
graphical features and keep a lot of programs open, especially those that use a lot of memory, four gigs isn't
overkill.
Luckily, RAM is still relatively inexpensive -- but it's rumored to be on the rise, so get as much of it as you can,
while you can. You won't regret it.
Use ReadyBoost
Can't add physical RAM? Maybe you have a laptop that already has the maximum amount of memory installed. In
that case, Vista provides you with a way to fool your computer into thinking it has more RAM than it does. You
can use a flash memory card or USB key to boost the system memory; Vista can access the flash memory more
quickly than data stored on the hard disk.
It's best to use a high performance flash card or USB drive for ReadyBoost. When you insert it, Windows will ask
if you want to use it to speed up system performance, and then you can allocate how much of the card's/drive's
memory you want to use for that purpose. The rest can be used for storing data. For more info about ReadyBoost,

Get a good video card
If you have enough RAM, the most likely hardware culprit on a slow-moving Vista machine is the video card. You
need a fairly high end card to run Aero at all, but some computer vendors are selling computers with graphics
cards that run it badly. You can find out whether your video card is the bottleneck by checking your Windows
Experience Index (WEI) score from the Performance Information and Tools applet in Control Panel.
The onboard video adapters in most systems aren't powerful enough to run Vista properly. If you want to run Aero
and be happy doing it, get a card that's Vista Premium Certified. As with system RAM, the more video RAM the
better, and if you want to play Vista games, be sure your card supports Direct X 10.

Eliminate extra startup programs
You may find that you have a lot of programs loading automatically when you boot Windows, especially if you
bought your Vista system from a hardware vendor who added lots of software. Some of these you may want,
such as antivirus or anti-spyware programs, but many of them you probably don't even use or use only
occasionally and don't want to run all the time. Yet they're all loading into memory and consuming your system
resources -- and thus slowing down your computer as they run in the background.
Some programs can be prevented from starting automatically by removing them from the Startup folder. Others
are configured in the registry to run at startup. Many can be managed through the Windows Defender Software
Explorer, which you can access from the Manage Startup Programs link in the left pane of the Performance
Information And Tools applet.
Turn off visual enhancements
There are a lot of visual enhancements that make Vista look like Vista, such as the animations when minimizing
and maximizing windows, fading or sliding menus, shadows under the menus and mouse pointer, and thumbnails
of graphics files instead of dull icons. However, all this bling uses resources, and if performance is your priority,
the operating system will run faster without them.
The Performance Options dialog box can be accessed through the Adjust Visual Effects link in the left pane of the
Performance Information And Tools applet. On the Visual Effects tab, you can customize these settings
individually, turning off the ones you don't want, to help speed performance. Or you can disable all of the visual
effects by clicking the Adjust For Best Performance option.

Adjust indexing options
Vista has a much-improved search function, but it's dependent on indexing the files and programs on your hard
disk so they can be found quickly. When the indexing process is running, however, it can slightly slow down other
programs you're trying to run at the same time.
You can select the locations you want to index; fewer locations will result in less indexing and thus better overall
performance. On the other hand, you'll get better search performance by indexing all locations. You can't turn the
indexing feature off completely, but you can adjust locations indexed by selecting Adjust Indexing Options in the
left pane of the Performance Information And Tools applet.
Clean up and defrag the disk
Fragmented files or a lot of unneeded extra files on the disk can slow down performance. Vista provides a disk
cleanup tool, which you can access from Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools. Specify a drive you
want to clean up, and the tool will estimate the amount of space you can recover by running the cleanup process.
Defragmenting the disk rearranges data on it so that all the parts of a file are together; this allows Vista to access
those files more quickly. The built-in disk defragmenter is also accessed from the System Tools menu. The
defragmentation process itself can slow down your computer, so you may want to schedule it to run at a time
when you aren't using the computer. Third-party defrag utilities are also available.

Adjust your power settings
If you don't mind using more power, you can boost performance by setting your power settings to the High
Performance option. Click the Power Options applet in Control Panel and select that choice. By default, this
configuration is set to Balanced, which limits the CPU to 50% power during normal operation.
Turn off the sidebar
The sidebar is a cool feature of Vista, but if you don't use its applets, you can save some resources by disabling it.
First, right-click it and select Properties. Next, deselect the check box to start the sidebar when Windows starts.
Then, close the sidebar by right-clicking it and selecting Close.

If all else fails, turn off Aero
This is a last-resort option for most Vista users; after all, Aero is what makes Vista look like Vista. But if you don't
care for all the eye candy and/or have a low powered machine, and you still want the functionality advantages of
the new OS (search, security, Explorer enhancements, etc.), you can definitely speed things up by going back to
the non-transparent look.
To do so, right-click the desktop and select Personalize, then click Windows Color And Appearance. Now, click
Open Classic Appearance Properties For More Color Options. From the drop-down list box on the Appearance
tab, select any theme except Aero (Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, or Windows Classic).

good article thanks......

chandal

[QwertyManiac]

In the end, I just put in XP SP2 back. And then removed that too.

[Quiz_Master]

^^ lol...

In the end If anyone want a fast OS (i.e. fast, not secure..), Downgrade to Windows2k or Windows98. (You might have problems finding drivers).
Or can give linux a try..

[karan4]

Vishal gupta's thread is very useful

Dtweak is a very useful tool for improving vista's performance
download - free version(3.7)http://www.freedownloadsplace.com/Do...eak-Free-18608

[debasis.samantaray@gmail.]

hey everybody I have tried MS Config, Cleaning up .temp files my system was working fine before 4/5 months, not even virus affected, I need speed now as before, no unnecessary softwares installed its for data entry purpose only give me solution.... its Xp sp-2, 512 RAM, 1.60 dualcore

[karan4]

refer to this thread -

MASTER TUTORIAL: Make Your Windows XP Super Fast !!!

if possible format both drives and reinstall win xp then run a boot antivirus

[ax3]

yes 2 remove all those illegal entries ...... format is the best option ..... & install & use norton ghost 2 create an image file of this freashly installed os & save on dvd ...

& whenever u exp this problem just recurrect ur os image ....... no need 2 format & install again ...... a quick way ......

[gary4gar]

I have Downgraded to Windows Xp for now, maybe i would come back after a year or so