These simple 23 steps will help your computer and operating system increase in speed. 1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance,use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — thebuilt-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip thecomputer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cachebuffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is arelatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improvesystem performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’renot sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computericon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next,examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up anyimportant data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then clickOK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key.This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer beuninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootabledrive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for itssuperior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts informationfrom documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a“searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can bequite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or propertyinside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documentsand not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’sbuilt-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searcheswithout the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to openeach file at the time of the request to help find what the user islooking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do aretypically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documentsare located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical systembuilder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And ifyour clients have no need for this search feature, I recommenddisabling it.
Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-clickon the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow IndexingService to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, applychanges to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning orerror message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the IgnoreAll button.
5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, updateand configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure yourBIOS properly, see this article on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. WindowsXP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are usedfrequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called uponby the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may becomeoverloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use.When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing systemperformance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder,and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the MyComputer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties.Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacitypie graph — and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPIControllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive youhave connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this bydouble-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the AdvancedSettings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” forboth Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the SecondaryIDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cablingrequirements to achieve these performance boosts have become morestringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDEdevices with the connectors properly assigned to the matchingMaster/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end ofthe cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on aribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives,these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at itsmaximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cableselect,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. Forthese reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitlyclear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such asAdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programsare installed, be sure to check for and download any updates beforestarting your search. Anything either program finds can be safelyremoved. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longerfunction once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customerreally wants the program even though it contains spyware, simplyreinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this WebPro News page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startuproutine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start,click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, thenuncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsurewhat some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It containsknown system processes, applications, as well as spyware references andexplanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenamesusing Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable activedesktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations.Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how todo it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, clickon the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located underPerformance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, asnothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer —only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editingtheir registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered atTweak XP.
15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download allupdates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at yourdiscretion.
16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily,basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software packageinstalled. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disasterfor performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed ontheir computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system willbecome. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than didthe previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anythingover 500 — will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file systemruns more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on aseparate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall anoperating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitionsapply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting allyour data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’llachieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partitionoffers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, yourfree space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, itwill be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means youwon’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can betime-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. Irecommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will makea bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensivetests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk youcreated. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off andunplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have morethan one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot berepaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’sWeb site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgradethe recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of servicesthat your customer most likely does not need. To determine whichservices you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper sitefor Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing andthen taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip:open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on theView tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,”and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for thisoption to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out allthe dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans areturning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulgingor leaks.
