The Complete Guide To Optimising Windows XP
Improve Memory Usage With Cacheman
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings. Once Installed:
- Go to Show Wizard and select All
- Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing
- Exit and Save Cacheman
- Restart Windows
Optimise your internet connection
There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer
- Download and install
- Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
- Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
- Check Optimal Settings then Apply
- Reboot
Optimise Your Pagefile
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties
- Select the Advanced tab
- Under Performance choose the Settings button
- Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
- Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Run BootVis - Improve Boot Times
BootVis will significantly improve boot times:
- Download and Run
- Select Trace
- Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
- A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
- Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system’s boot process. When it’s done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
- Reboot
- When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete
Remove Fonts for Speed
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
- Open Control Panel
- Open Fonts folder
- Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
INTERMEDIATE
Turn Off System Restore
System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:
- Open Control Panel
- Click on Performance and Maintenance
- Click on System
- Click on the System Restore tab
- Tick ‘Turn off System Restore on All Drives’
- Click ‘Ok’
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:
- Download and Run PageDefrag
- Tick “Defrag at next Rebootâ€,
- Click “Okâ€
- Reboot
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Comment by Anime Sub on 12 June 2008:
Nice guide for optimising windows XP.
Comment by Mike on 17 February 2008:
Just Tested Jack’s link, seems to have changed.
Now contains 26 speed tweaks, each labelled with low, medium and high risk. Very useful for me so I don’t mess anything up. A slow pc is better than a broke pc.
Comment by killkenny on 17 February 2008:
Good work, helped me improve my PC speed. For all the haters- give author prop for spending time to come up with this- good/bad it depends on your level of understanding of tech subject. For a novice like me it was helpful; super techie nerds can point out loop holes in the post without being a NERD-thy know all attitude.
Peace
Comment by PCWizKid on 14 February 2008:
Great XP tips. If you r looking for Windows Vista Tips,Tweaks visit http://PCWizKid.blogspot.com
Cheers
Comment by Cesar on 14 February 2008:
Nice guide for optimising windows XP. I never used windows XP because I had an old laptop that won’t work with XP and my new laptop is preinstalled with Vista. Thanks anyway.