Tips for maximum XP Performance

XP is much better at utilizing the hardware resources available to it, than
Win98, ME or in several areas Win2000. That doesn't mean that your default installation
is the best across the board, in fact if you got your computer with XP already
installed it is probably much slower than it needs to be. When I got my new
laptop, I was astounded that it was much slower than my old laptop when I first
go it home. There were so many adware packages and horrible little demos installed
on the drive that it took 5 full minutes to boot up. I'm not joking there, I
timed it; 5 full minutes. Three hours later, it was trimmed down and dialed
so that it became the fast little machine I knew it could be at the store.

Some of the tips I'm going to give you here are items I've picked up over the
years, some are well known, some I'm going to get arguments from. Try them if
you like, they work for me and all of the people I've set them up for. If they
don't work for you, then reset the system back to where it was.

The first thing you want to do is back up your system. Seriously, every system
is a little different and I have no idea what is on yours, so back up. Second
thing you want to keep in mind is to try these one at a time. Don't do everything
I list and then restart your computer. Try one, test it out for a while, then
move on to the next. Making several major changes at the same time to a computer
is just asking for trouble.

Okay, let's get started here. The first place we are going to start is with
the visual effects. There are visual animations attached to just about every
XP component in the operating system. They look cool, for a while, but they
are rarely worth the resources they take up. If you play some of the heavier
games, such as World of Warcraft, or use your computer for graphic design, then
you are definitely going to want every bit of your computer working for you,
instead of against you.

First tip then is to turn off all of the graphical animations for the OS. The
settings affecting performance are scattered throughout the interface, but right
now we are interested in the display effects. Double-click the System icon in
Control Panel, choose the Advanced tab, and click Settings in the Performance
section. The Visual Effects tab contains sixteen settings. Above these you have
a radio choice area of 4 questions.

Interestingly enough, the first two are exactly the same, and just between
you and me, it is rarely a good idea for us to "Let Windows choose what's
best" for our computer. Choose the Adjust for best performance, or Custom
and turn off all of the check boxes in the choice area. Test the computer for
a while with all of the settings turned off. You will probably not miss any
of the flash and really enjoy some of the speed your system displays.

Did you know that the more fonts you have loaded on your system, the slower
the start-up time will be? Most people don't, but I often get calls about extended
start-up times after one of my clients buys a library of 1000 fonts.

Sometimes having too many files in your \Windows\Temp folder can not only slow
Windows startup, but in extreme cases, can prevent Windows from loading at all.
Windows and your applications use this folder to temporarily store data while
you're working with documents. When those applications and documents are closed
(or when the applications just crash), they often leave the temporary files
behind, and they accumulate. So be sure to check that area and clean it out
on a regular basis. Certain situations can corrupt this directory as well, or
even change the permissions so that it can not be opened. This is one of the
things on the list to check if you are having problems during startup.

In the next part we will explore other areas that can tune your system and
keep you running hassle free. Until that time happy computing, and don't forget
to check our forum area if you have
specific questions.