How to Optimize Your Windows XP Computer to Make it Faster for
Free
We all hate when our computers takes forever to boot up or load a program. In this article I will describe some very useful tricks to tweak the Windows XP OS so it runs faster. First, make sure your computer does not have unnecessary programs running. For example, every time you install new software (ex. Skype, iTunes, etc), by default it places itself in the start-up menu. Every time you boot into system you will see the program running (An icon sitting on the Taskbar, next to time); that means, even though you are not using the program, the program is running and taking up your computer resources. We have to configure the start up menu so only the necessary programs run. To do this, you click Start/Run/ and type”msconfig”. This will bring up a new window (System Co nfiguration Utility) with 6 Tabs on the top.
Click on the “Startup” tab to display the start-up programs. Uncheck all the unnecessary programs so they stop running when the computer starts. Remember this does not mean we are deleting/blocking the program, we are just disabling so Windows XP does not have load it. If you want to open the program just click the Program’s Icon. Personally, I always disable every program but the Antivirus.
Once we have disabled the unnecessary programs, I will proceed with what a call illusion trick. If you have not noticed Windows XP loads several visual effects that make interface looks nicer. All this effects (shadows, transitions, previews, thumbnails) take up memory and CPU power from your computers, affecting the performance. In order to optimize the computer/laptop we will disable all this unnecessary visual effects. Click on Start/Control Panel/System/Advanced this will display a list of Visual Effects. Check the option that says “Adjust for best performance” and click apply.
Another cool trick is to change the Start Menu time to display which is called “Menu Show Delay”. To do this you will click on Start/run and then type “Regedit”. This will take you the Windows Registry. Be extremely careful when making changes in the Registry. This is the backbone of Windows, so any change will affect dramatically the windows run. From the Registry Editor, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop. Here you will look for “MenuShowDelay”. By default this setting is set at 400, change this to 200. They change will be automatically saves, just close and restart the PC.
Lastly, there is another setting within the Windows Registry that affects the amount of time that Windows take to load. It is called Windows XP Prefetcher. In the registry go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Control / Session Manager / Memory Management / PrefetchPara meters and change the value from 3.1 to 5 ( Recommended). They change will be automatically saves, just close and restart the PC.
Applying these four tweaks will increase your system performance by at least 50%. I have been in the business of computer repair Broward for more than 10 years and I have always gotten positive results applying this tricks. The great side is that you can achieve a higher performance without investing any money on increasing Memory Ram or upgrading the CPU. It is completely free and very easy to do. The results are instantly! Next time you are buying a new laptop/Desktop PC or Laptop repair Fort Lauderdale at the store; do not pay a Geek to optimize your PC. You can now do it yourself.