Update: If you are using Windows Vista then check out 10 Simple Ways To SpeedUp Windows Vista.

Athough I’ve just got a new PC that is scarily fast (well, compared to my old machine) I’ve still spent quite a bit of time trying to make it even faster, and I’ve discovered some handy tweaks that I haven’t used before along the way.

These aren’t covered in my 10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows XP or 10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows XP which together account for around 20% of my daily traffic. Once again, I’ve tried to focus on changes that any user can replicate and that won’t damage a system.

Speed Up Boot Times I

This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn’t waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It’s quite simple to implement:

1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:

• RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings”UserName without quotes”\Local Settings\History”
• RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History”
• RD /S /q “D:\Temp” <–”Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp folder”

2. Save the new as anything you like but it has to be a ‘.bat’ file e.g. fastboot.bat or deltemp.bat

3. Click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’

4. Type in ‘gpedit.msc’ and hit ‘ok’

5. Click on ‘Computer Configuration’ then ‘Windows Settings’

6. Double-click on ‘Scripts’ and then on ‘Shutdown’

7. Click ‘Add’ and find the batch file that you created and then press ‘Ok’

Speed Up Boot Times II

When your PC starts it usually looks for any bootable media in any floppy or cd-rom drives you have installed before it gets around to loading the Operating System from the HDD. This can waste valuable time. To fix this we need to make some changes to the Bios.

1. To enter the bios you usually press ‘F2′ or ‘delete’ when your PC starts
2. Navigate to the ‘Boot’ menu
3. Select ‘Boot Sequence’
4. Then either move your Hard drive to the top position or set it as the ‘First Device’
5. Press the ‘Escape’ key to leave the bios. Don’t forget to save your settings before exiting

Note: Once this change has been made, you won’t be able to boot from a floppy disc or a CD-rom. If for some strange reason you need to do this in the future, just go back into your bios, repeat the steps above and put your floppy or CD-rom back as the ‘First Device’

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