How to speedup Windows Vista computer.

Thursday, 24 September 2009 19:34

Windows Vista is a rather heavy operating system with many neat features, but unfortunately they all come at a price. Right out of the box it requires a pretty hefty system to run (arguably).
Before you run out and buy a new computer just so you can run your base operating system, check out these Simple Ways to Speedup Windows Vista, tips to lighten the load. This is just the first in the series, so many of them may be very apparent to those experienced in tweaking.

Improve Startup Times
Whenever Windows starts, it automatically loads a number of programs, many of which you may not need. The System Configuration Utility and Windows Defender can both be used to control what programs auto-start in Vista.

1. Open up run -> type msconfig command
2. Select the Startup tab.
3. Uncheck any items that you do not want to auto-load and click OK.

To disabling auto-start applications with Windows Defender.

1. Open Windows Defender.
2. Click on the Tools in the top menu bar.
3. Click on Software Explorer.
4. Hit Show for All Users.
5. Select an application and then click either Remove or Disable.

Defragment Your Hard Drive
Fragmentation happens when the computer writes files to disk without keeping everything together/intact in one spot. Thus if you just saved a large image you've been working on in Photoshop, part of it might be near the middle of the disk and part of it might be at the end, which means it takes longer for the disk to find it. Bringing those parts together is what's known as defragmenting.
Defragmentation was once the go-to solution for all speed problems in Windows. But Vista actually defragments your drive automatically in the background. In fact, the system is configured to defrag your hard drive once a week by default.
The problem with Vista's defragmentation routine is that unless you frequently install and uninstall programs and constantly move files around, once a week is probably overkill, and when Vista is defragmenting you'll see a performance hit. We suggest turning off the scheduler and doing it by hand. Or, go into the defragmentation settings and change the scheduled time to a part of the day when you're typically not on your computer, like the mid-night.

To manually defragment your boot drive,

1. Open My Computer and right-click the disk you want to defragment.
2. Select Properties and then click the Tools tab where you'll see the Defragment Now option.
3. Just click Defragment and wait for the process to finish.

You'll may notice that Vista did away with many of the nicer features in XP's defragmenting program. If you'd like more advanced feedback try out the free Disk Defrag from Auslogics, which gives you a nice drive map and other advanced features.

Reduce visual Effects
The vista operating system was designed with lots of shiny graphics and security features at the expense of computer resources. Some of the features are not really essential. it works well without sacrificing the look and feel of windows.
To adjust Visual Effects
1. Start button,
2. Go to the Control Panel option,
3. Select the System and Maintenance icon
4. Then Performance Information and Tools
There are many different visual effects enabled that make up the Vista look and feel.
Try to unclick one of these at a time and see if you notice any visual difference other than Vista appears to operate faster:
•    Animate controls and elements inside windows
•    Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
•    Fade or slide menus into view
•    Fade or slide ToolTips into view
•    Fade out menu items after clicking
•    Slide open combo boxes
•    Slide taskbar button
•    Use a background image for each folder type

ReadyBoot
There’s a simple trick that can help you increase your running memory in case you do not have the money or the time to purchase RAM. Vista can allow you to use your flash disk to increase your memory. Through the use of a feature called ready boot.

• Plug your USB disk into your external USB slot.
• Open my computer.
• Right click on the memory card.
• Select properties
• Select readyboot  tab.
• Then specify the space to use as your RAM