Still Running Windows XP? Try these quick tips to make your PC super fast

I have the same problem with my comp (running XP) but I am dreading reinstalling the windows or touching my registry coz I've heard if you don't know what you're doing (and I don't) you could lose some data. So your tip came quite handy, and it looks like it works. Yuppie.
I surely want to hear your other tips!
Thanks.

Jana

keep going lots of people need help in this area.

Jim

Thanks for the tip, just changed my settings so hope my xp speeds up some.
thanks again

These are some good tips. My Daughter's computer uses XP and right now it's at a crawl.
Also something is wrong with her netgear not operating to connect online.

Thanks teleam and wkathome.

Yeah, the tips are very helpful, in fact I 'resurrected' 2 old laptops that were supposedly 'passed it'.

We're talking 850mhz processors and 512kb ram, and even these are back working at lighting speed These old things are still ideal for browsing the web.

Okay - back to the tips.

Instant speed boost step 3:

Click on Start, then 'Run' and in the run line type in: msconfig

and click on OK.

Now click the startup tab. Scroll through the programs. Any there that you don't think need to be booted at startup?

If so, uncheck the box and then click 'apply'

Warning! Don't uncheck any program you don't know. Google the name of it first to see if it is or isn't part of the system.

There are some oddly named ones in there that need to stay activated, like SkyTel.exe, or 'bonjour' if you have itunes installed.

Other more obvious ones, like Open Office can safely be unchecked. It only means that it will take a little longer to load the program when you want it, instead of Windows loading it automatically in startup (making the computer start up really slow).

But hey, you're in charge right? You load programs when you want them loaded...


Instant speed boost step 4:

Remove the background on the desktop. Sure, it may be your favorite background, but it's eating up precious resources.

Just right click on the background with all other windows closed.

Then click 'Properties', then when the box is opened, click the 'Desktop' tab.

In the background box, select 'none' which is at the top, then click apply.


Instant speed boost step 5:

Don't close that box from step 4 yet. Time to get rid of that 'cool' screensaver. If your computer is really slow, it seems to grind to a halt when a screensaver tries to load.

Select none, or blank. Don't worry, it's far better to rely on power settings than a screensaver anyway. You could turn the screensaver off, and simply adjust the power settings to turn off the monitor after however many minutes being idle.


Instant speed boost step 6:

Right, now we've gotten rid of all the junk, we've optimized. Now it's time to clean up.

Go to Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> 'Disk Cleanup'

Make sure there's nothing you want salvaging from your recycle bin.

The disc cleanup will now scan for files. It may take a while if your computer is really slow, or if you've never even used this utility. By a while, I mean up to half an hour.

Scanned? Ok, keep it on the 'Disk Cleanup' tab, select everything, check all the boxes. Then hit 'OK'.

Again, this can take a while if you don't do it regularly, especially low-spec machines.

I've had it take over 3 hours on the old laptop. But this step is essential, and soo worth it.

You need to do this every day, but don't worry, once you've done it once, it will only take 5 minutes the next time.


Instant speed boost step 7:

So you removed all the junk completely. Now to sort things out. That cleanup left some large gaps in the hard drive, but they are here and there - they need to be sorted out into one big lump of free space.

Also known as Defrag

Go to Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> Disk Defragmenter

Select your main drive, hit 'Defragment'.

All done

Notice any difference? Is XP flying? Great! Glad I could help.

You should really do step 6 and 7 every day. To make it quicker,

Go to Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >>

and right click 'Disk Defragmenter', then hover over 'send to', then click Desktop (create shortcut).

Do this with 'Disk Cleanup' too.

Now they will always be on your desktop, reminding you to do them before you power off each day.

Also, you can do all this with an app called 'C Cleaner', another free program from download.com. It willl make things easier, although you don't really need it now you know how to do it manually.

Extra tip:

Still running a little slow? This may be your antivirus. If you've downloaded any free ones like Avira, they can be a little system intensive, especially on old PC's/laptops.

Even Norton/Mcafee/Trend can cause the same problem if you're not up to spec.

The solution?

Download windows security essentials (google it). This is Microsoft's own antivirus. It is free, and doesn't 'bog down' windows.

Try disabling your current antivirus/firewall, and using windows essentials. If it works to speed up your system, consider uninstalling your old antivirus.

Phew! This is one long post

Hope you like it, and I hope the advice is effective.

If you thought it useful, could you please hit the 'thank-you' button?

Thanks! lol

Good point Chris.

If you're using FireFox, I recommend 'BetterPrivacy' addon.

This one gets rid of flash cookies too. The ones that last forever...

I think I'll do another post on cookie security later on.

About the cache, disk cleaner does clear cached internet pages. Probably not as good as the paid software, but good enough.

thank you thank you. I like XP and like to run it. One of my computers is running about as fast as a snail in molasses running up hill. Will try this out.

Thanks for the tip. Will try it on one of my slower computers to speed it up.

Dany

Good tips. Here's another really great tool for defragmenting those system files that are locked while the standard Windows defrag tool operates, so they are never defragmented and gradually make your PC slower and slower. My PC got so slow due to the main system page file getting broken into thousands of parts due to not having much spare space on the drive.

So do the drive cleanups and other tips first, then run this page defrag tool to help. Like me, you may find a quantum leap in performance after I gave my system drive more space (by moving data off an adjacent partition and making drive all one, then defragging the system page file.

60 seconds to start Firefix is a good time, it takes more than two minutes to start when I first launch it, then another two minutes or more if I have many saved tabs that need to be restored. I already have tweaked my XP for best performance.

Thanks for your tips, couldn't have come at a better time.
Just commenting last night how slow my laptop had gotten (XP).
So, off to implement and fix!
JL

Great tips here!
All are working very good.
Use Chrome for better browsing.
Waiting for more tips.
Good luck!

Hello =D
Thank you very much for the tips. It is unbelievable how fast my laptop runs now. Although the words and such changed a little to plain. But It is so worth it since I don't have to reboot my laptop and lose everything. It just so much work reboot and reinstall all the programs that I have on my laptop. Plus all my old pictures and documents that cannot get anything again.

good tips mate!! i am thinking of posting them to my blog :p

do you have any tips to reduce the memory usage of firefox?

Excellent tips Maximillion, there is some freeware though that can automate all these processes.

Glary Utilities- This is a freeware suit of programs that clean your registry, clean shortcuts, and a bunch of other things.

Revo Uninstaller Pro- This is the defacto greatest uninstaller around, period. It will not only unistall programs, but scan your registry and computer for leftover files. It's also freeware.

Auslogic- There freeware drive defrag is a lot better then the standard windows defragmenter.

Each of these programs is free, but can really help keep your pc running smooth.

Thank You for these excellent tips. I am going to start working on my daugher's computer later today.

Thanks Again

Tom

Howdy

My XP system has been real slooooooooooow lately, I willgive these ideas a shot

Dinosaurs like you are not running Windows XP, but seventy or eighty percent people in world running this. Are they all dinosaurs? I am running windows seven currently which is excellent operating with new features and some time I run XP also. Thanks for giving these tips, I think that many people will take benefit from these great tips.

Thanks for these tips, very useful stuff,

With regards to the first tip, I selected use visual styles on windows and buttons and clicked apply, but then the icons on my desktop had some weird grey/black color around the description, so I also selected the "use drop shadows for icon labels on desktop" and now its working better I must say

Warrior forum rocks

Thank you so much for these tips!!!!! I should get double the amount of work done now!

Thanks so much for this guide! With my PC just having died, I'm working on a netbook and I did everything you said...works like it's brand new again!

Again, HUGE thanks!

Thanks for the tips---I have my Dell with XP sitting next to me here and I looked at it early this morning and thought what can I do for this machine? I will give these ideas a try---thanks to all in this thread!

Thanks for the tips. The appearance looks ugly but the speed has improved.

How do you access loading a "new tab" while working in the browser?

Thanks

batchos

My preferred software to free up the diskspace is WinDirStat. It's free and there is a stand alone version which you can run without installing it in the disk. Try it and you'll forget all other programs.

WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics
WinDirStat Portable | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

Thanks for all the tips. I reckon to use XP for a while longer. I used someone else's laptop running Vista and was not tha timpressed do will probably try a MAC when I change.

I recommend CCleaner mentioned in step 7. I found this reccomendation when searching another site for information on this topic. I found an improvement after I ran the software so it is worth 1000s % more than the purchase price of $0.00

Having a lively PC even makes me livelier. Whenever, the PC starts running slow, I just want to fall asleep.

Just to update this thread. I dl'd some dodgy programs and thought I had to re-install windows.

However, I thought I'd try the 'repair' option instead, that appears when you boot from the XP disc.

It worked fantastic! And it kept all my files and settings in place. The machine is like lightning again

Only thing that needed doing was the windows updates and service packs.

Recommended. Far better than deleting everything...