10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows


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3. Defragment Your Pagefile

Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn’t get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:

  1. Download and Run PageDefrag
  2. Tick “Defrag at next Reboot”,
  3. Click “Ok”
  4. Reboot

4. Speedup Folder Access – Disable Last Access Update

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

  1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
  2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlFileSystem”
  3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
  4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
  5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
  6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
  7. Click ‘OK’

5.Disable System Sounds

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices
3. Check Place volume icon in taskbar
4. Click Sounds Tab
5. Choose “No Sounds” for the Sound Scheme
6. Click “No”
7. Click “Apply”
8. Click “OK”

6. Improve Boot Times

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

  1. Go to Start Menu and Click Run
  2. Type in “Regedit” then click ok
  3. Find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOpt imizeFunction”
  4. Select “Enable” from the list on the right
  5. Right on it and select “Modify”
  6. Change the value to “Y to enable”
  7. Reboot

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About the Author: Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University.He also writes for Windows 7 News, Windows 8 News and One Tip A Day.

  • Sometimes we tend to Shutdown the computer by pushing the power button directly. We have to avoid this which might affect the services closing down properly which might results in slow boot
  • Thanks for the tips! Much inproved system speed. :)
  • My windows has been lagging for some time im hoping all these tips will kick it back into gear, thanks!
  • TheOneEd
    Good but you should NEVER turn off system restore, especially if you frequent the internet or screw around with windows.
  • any help for windows vista it can't seem to be working with vista
    http://www.hazarawatan.com/
  • I think it's complex for common users, software can help with these tweaks. I recommend to use Boost Windows 2009, the download link is: http://www.windowsfaster.com/dlds/bwsetup.exe
  • joliemar
    I need help! after following all the directions on how to speed up windows xp. My DEEP FREEZE software suddenly cannot start with its BOOT FROZEN menu.. I just cannot seem to know what have I altered. Pls. Help I need my DEEP FREEZE To be started in frozen mode again.
  • It does work but i have to remove the peripherals attached to my pc as some of them use the services on your list, but it works for me as i disable the ones i don't need :)
  • Thanks for the tips.
  • Larry
    Turning off System Restore is not a wise move, I suggest reducing the size of disk space it holds in reserve from 12% to 6%.
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