Optimize Windows XP
October 16th 2006 07:34
As you update and run newer programs, you use up more resources. For fairly up to date PCs/laptops, this is not much of an issue. However, if you have a slightly older PC and think that performance is a bit laggy, don’t throw away your old PC/laptop for a new one yet, as there may be some life in them if you optimize it for performance.
First thing you need to do is probably a low level format. Most hard disk manufacturers have a tool which you can use to do this, so look up your hard disk manufacturers website. If your manufacturer does not have a tool, try this. However, if this is not an option for you, the next best thing is to clear out your junk and defragment your PC. Once you do this, maybe reselect some of your programs such as IMs and antivirus applications that use less resources. After this is all said and done, we can get down to the real optimization of Windows XP.
First off, right click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop or start menu and select “Properties”. Then click on the “advanced” tab. In the “Performance” panel, click on the “Settings” button. Now begin by selecting visual effect features that you want to turn off (I suggest turn off anything that has “animate”, “fade” and “slide”). Turning off the “visual styles” (the last item in the list) is also a very good option, as the Windows XP UI engine can run up quite a lot of resources if your PC/laptop’s graphics card is fairly outdated.
Once you’re done with this, click on the Advanced” tab and in the “Virtual Memory” panel, click on “Change”. Now you will see a list of disk drives. Make sure the Windows XP drive (usually “C:”) is highlighted and click on the “Custom Size” radio button. Now depending on your RAM size, calculate about 175% (for ram sizes under 512) and 150% (for sizes 512-1024) and input those numbers into the initial and maximum size text boxes. Once you’re done, click on the “Set” button and “OK” to the “Virtual Memory” window. Also click on “OK” to the “Performance Options” window.
This will lead you back to the “System Properties” window which you have to click on the “System Restore” tab. Frankly, I think that system restore is a useless technology and I choose to turn it off by ticking the “Turn of system restore on all drives” check box. If you use system restore, then skip this step.
The next step is to turn off Windows XP services. To do this, go to your “Control Panel” and double click on “Administrative Tools” and then “Services”. You will now see a list of services that you can disable by right clicking on one and selecting “Properties” and in the “Startup Type” drop down list, select “Disabled”. Remember to read the description before disabling them, as some of them are critical Windows services. Desktop users with a Ethernet connection can safely disable “Wireless Zero Configuration”. If you have your own firewall and don’t use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing”, disable “Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)”. Don’t like that nagging automatic updates and prefer to download them yourself, disable “Automatic Updates” then. Disabling 1 or more services can greatly free up some resources, and you will notice a performance boost once you follow these steps.
First thing you need to do is probably a low level format. Most hard disk manufacturers have a tool which you can use to do this, so look up your hard disk manufacturers website. If your manufacturer does not have a tool, try this. However, if this is not an option for you, the next best thing is to clear out your junk and defragment your PC. Once you do this, maybe reselect some of your programs such as IMs and antivirus applications that use less resources. After this is all said and done, we can get down to the real optimization of Windows XP.
First off, right click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop or start menu and select “Properties”. Then click on the “advanced” tab. In the “Performance” panel, click on the “Settings” button. Now begin by selecting visual effect features that you want to turn off (I suggest turn off anything that has “animate”, “fade” and “slide”). Turning off the “visual styles” (the last item in the list) is also a very good option, as the Windows XP UI engine can run up quite a lot of resources if your PC/laptop’s graphics card is fairly outdated.
Once you’re done with this, click on the Advanced” tab and in the “Virtual Memory” panel, click on “Change”. Now you will see a list of disk drives. Make sure the Windows XP drive (usually “C:”) is highlighted and click on the “Custom Size” radio button. Now depending on your RAM size, calculate about 175% (for ram sizes under 512) and 150% (for sizes 512-1024) and input those numbers into the initial and maximum size text boxes. Once you’re done, click on the “Set” button and “OK” to the “Virtual Memory” window. Also click on “OK” to the “Performance Options” window.
This will lead you back to the “System Properties” window which you have to click on the “System Restore” tab. Frankly, I think that system restore is a useless technology and I choose to turn it off by ticking the “Turn of system restore on all drives” check box. If you use system restore, then skip this step.
The next step is to turn off Windows XP services. To do this, go to your “Control Panel” and double click on “Administrative Tools” and then “Services”. You will now see a list of services that you can disable by right clicking on one and selecting “Properties” and in the “Startup Type” drop down list, select “Disabled”. Remember to read the description before disabling them, as some of them are critical Windows services. Desktop users with a Ethernet connection can safely disable “Wireless Zero Configuration”. If you have your own firewall and don’t use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing”, disable “Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)”. Don’t like that nagging automatic updates and prefer to download them yourself, disable “Automatic Updates” then. Disabling 1 or more services can greatly free up some resources, and you will notice a performance boost once you follow these steps.
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