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Tweak Your Windows XP and Vista PC to Fix Your Slow Computer | How To Fix Slow Computers
How To Fix Slow Computers

Tweak Your Windows XP and Vista PC to Fix Your Slow Computer

Limit startup processes

There are many applications that, once installed will launch automatically when you start up your computer. Whilst this is designed to be convenient by meaning you don’t have to manually open them, more often times than not you don’t need the application straight away and therefore it just becomes a burden on your systems resources.

In Windows XP and Vista it is possible to disable programs from launching at startup. I recommend you remove every application from launching at startup that isn’t a default process. Your PC will be a lot snappier the next time you boot up.

How to disable startup programs in Windows XP

  1. Click on the Start menu
  2. Go to the Run option
  3. Type MSCONFIG into the text box
  4. Hit Enter on your keyboard
  5. Simply uncheck the boxes next to the applications you don’t want to launch at startup
  6. Click OK

How to disable startup programs in Windows Vista

  1. Click on the Start menu
  2. Go to the Control Panel
  3. Under the Programs heading click on Change startup programs
  4. Click on the Show for all users button if you have an administrator account
  5. Select the process you want to disable or remove from startup and click the Disable or Remove button

Revert to the classic theme

Most computer users will opt for the best looking theme for the computer. Whilst that’s all well in good in the short term, it doesn’t help much with performance because the system has to load and process this extra eye candy. The simple (and recommended) solution is to resort to the classic theme which resembles that of Windows 95. Whilst it can take a while to get used to the classic theme it is actually quite streamlined and is far less distracting than more recent offerings. You may as well give it a shot.

How to revert to the classic theme in Windows XP

  1. Go to your desktop and right click on an empty space
  2. Select the Properties option that appears in the contextual menu
  3. In the Themes tab go to the Theme box
  4. Select Windows Classic
  5. Click OK

How to revert to the classic theme in Windows Vista

  1. Go to the Start menu
  2. Open up the Control Panel
  3. Navigate to Appearance and Personalization
  4. Click Personalization
  5. Press Theme
  6. Select the Windows Classic option from the drop down menu
  7. Click OK

Limit amount of files stored on your desktop

Proper file management is a key aspect of fixing your slow computer. Most of the time compuer users will store the majority of their files and tons of icons on their desktop. Not only does this mean it takes longer for your computer to startup, it forces your computer to constantly be showing this extra data.

Begin storing files in appropriate locations and remove desktop icons you don’t use regularly. Put documents in a ‘Documents’ folder and videos in a ‘Videos’ folder. Keep these files and folders off of your desktop and your computer will do less unnecessary processing.  The other advantage is that you’ll be more productive because your files will be in more logical locations instead of scattered around in one big mess.

Another advantage of storing files in more logical locations is your PC will spend less time having to index your computer for its search functionality and your searches will be faster overall. Then again, if you don’t use the search feature that much you may want to disable it…

Disable search indexing

Search indexing is a process that runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista that indexes every file on your computer and makes the search process faster. If you rarely search your computer (you shouldn’t have to search much if your files are stored logically) then it is a good idea to disable search indexing. This takes some load off of your computer and you can still use the search feature, but each individual search will just be a bit slower.

How to disable search indexing in Windows XP

  1. Open up the Control Panel
  2. Click on the Administrator Tools icon
  3. Open Services
  4. Scroll down and double click on Indexing Service
  5. If the service status shows Running click on the Stop button
  6. Under ‘Startup Type’ select the Disabled option
  7. Click OK.

How to disable search indexing in Windows Vista

  1. Open up the Control Panel
  2. Navigate to System and Maintenance » Administrative Tools
  3. Double click on Services
  4. Click Continue if a User Account Control window asks for permission
  5. Right click on the service named Windows Search
  6. Select Properties from the menu that appears after you right click
  7. To stop search indexing click on the Stop button
  8. To disable search indexing select the Disabled option under the ‘Startup Type’ dropdown box
  9. Click the OK button