How to Speed Up Windows
Here are some Windows speed tweaks. Some of these tweaks link to other web
sites.
All Versions of Windows:
One common reason Windows will run slow is because there are too many programs
running. Look at your System Tray (next to the clock). Are there several icons
down there? Each one is a program that is taking system resources. You can
use Spybot Search and Destroy to turn off some of the programs that start when
you turn on your computer. If you use Windows 2000 or XP, you can turn off
some unnecessary parts of Windows by reading the Disable Services guides below.
Windows 98:
Enable DMA
A Faster, Better Behaved Windows 98 - Definitely read this one, the tips
start after a few paragraphs about why he created this guide.
Various Tips
Network Server Tweak
Even if you are not using your computer as a server, Windows 98 will
run faster if it thinks it is.
- Right click on "My Computer" icon and click on "Properties"
- Click on the "Performance" tab. Now click on the "File System" button
- On the "File System Properties" window, click the "Typical Role of this
Computer" dropdown box and select "Network Server"
- Reboot
Windows 2000:
Disable Win2k Services -
this makes your computer faster and more secure.
Enable DMA
- Right-click on the "My Computer" icon
- Select "Manage"
- Click on "Device Manager"
- Expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller"
- Right-click on "Primary IDE Channel"
- Click "Properties"
- Click the "Advanced Settings" tab
- For both devices, change "Transfer Mode" to "DMA if available"
- Click the OK button
- Right-click on "Secondary IDE Channel"
- Click "Properties"
- Click the "Advanced Settings" tab
- For both devices, change "Transfer Mode" to "DMA if available"
- Click the OK button
- Reboot
Disable Windows 2000 Visual Effects
This tends to speed up computers that have old graphics cards the most.
- Right-click on the Desktop and click "Properties"
- Click on the "Effects" tab
- Under the "Visual Effects " pane
- Uncheck "Use transitional effects for menus and tooltips"
- Uncheck "Smooth edges of screen fonts"
- Uncheck "Show window contents while dragging"
- Click the OK button
Disable Last Access Timestamp
Every time a folder is accessed under NTFS (the file system for Windows
NT/2000/XP), Windows updates the timestamp for that folder and every folder
inside of it.
- Click "Start->Run..."
- Type "regedit" and press the "Enter" key
- In the tree control on the left, browse to "My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
- Create a new DWord value named "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" and set it
to "1".
Remove Indexing Service
Windows indexes files in order to make the Windows search faster. I highly
recommend you turn remove it as it slows your computer down and most people
never search for files anyway. Even if you do, I recommend you find a different
program that is more efficient.
- Click "Start->Settings->Control Panel"
- Double click on "Add/Remove Programs"
- Click the "Add/Remove Windows Components" button on the left
- Uncheck "Indexing Service"
- Click the Next button
- Wait for a few moments while Windows removes the Indexing Service
- Click the Finish button
Windows XP:
Disable WinXP Services -
this makes your computer faster and more secure.
Enable DMA
- Right-click on the My Computer icon
- Select " Manage"
- Click on "Device Manager"
- Expand " IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller"
- Right-click on "Primary IDE Channel"
- Click "Properties"
- Click the "Advanced Settings" tab
- For both devices, change "Transfer Mode" to "DMA if available"
- Click the OK button
- Right-click on "Secondary IDE Channel"
- Click "Properties"
- Click the "Advanced Settings" tab
- For both devices, change "Transfer Mode" to "DMA if available"
- Click the OK button
- Reboot
Disable Windows XP Visual Effects
This tends to speed up computers that have old graphics cards the most.
- Click "Start->Control Panel"
- Click on "System"
- Click the "Advanced" tab
- Click the Settings button under the "Performance" frame
- Under the "Visual Effects" tab, there are several checkboxes. Most of them
can be unchecked without any noticeable change in how your system looks
Disable Last Access Timestamp
Every time a folder is accessed under NTFS (the file system for Windows
NT/2000/XP), Windows updates the timestamp for that folder and every folder
inside of it.
- Click "Start->Run..."
- Type regedit and press the "Enter" key
- In the tree control on the left, browse to "My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
- Create a new DWord value named "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" and set it
to "1"
Delay When Opening My Computer
Windows XP tries to find folders and printers on the network automatically.
Stopping it from doing so will let My Computer open faster.
- Open "My Computer"
- Click on the "Tools->Folder Options..." menu
- Click on the "View" tab
- Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers"
- Click the OK button
Remove Indexing Service
Windows indexes files in order to make the Windows search faster. I highly
recommend you turn remove it as it slows your computer down and most people
never search for files anyway. Even if you do, I recommend you find a different
program that is more efficient.
- Click "Start->Control Panel"
- Double click on "Add or Remove Programs"
- Click the "Add/Remove Windows Components" button on the left
- Uncheck "Indexing Service"
- Click the Next button
- Wait for a few moments while Windows removes the Indexing Service
- Click the Finish button
