Improve Windows XP speed

EKRIUQ

There's a thread here about a computer acting slowly and i don't think this is the reason but I tried this with my computer that was overloaded with programs and it worked great

Windows XP by default enables all visual effects if it thinks your PC can handle it, even PCs with 256mb of ram it enables it, some of these features are pointless and can be turned off without the loss of the eye candy.

Right click my computer
Properties
Advanced
Click on settings under performance
Disable all the visual effects except the last 3
Click apply and OK
OK again
Right click your desktop
Properties
Appearance
Effects
Untick the first two boxes.

You should now notice a great speed up in your PC without losing the visual effects of windows XP, off course you can disable them completely and notice an even greater speed up but some of you might want the blue and green look of windows XP.

8T8

That tip is fairly well known

But it is pretty unnecessary on any modern computer, if their are performance issues then the culprit is usually a lack of proper maintenance by users.

If you want to make the UI even faster install Windowblinds and enable Hyperpaint and the UI will be much more snappy even on older systems (WB is a commercial app though).

old boy

it has just worked for me now i can get onto boards in 10 secs not 1 minute thank you kind sir or madame

aidan_walsh

old boy wrote:

it has just worked for me now i can get onto boards in 10 secs not 1 minute thank you kind sir or madame

That has likely had little effect on the speed of your internet browsing, especially if boards was the only site effected.

EKRIUQ

aidan_walsh wrote:

That has likely had little effect on the speed of your internet browsing, especially if boards was the only site effected.

It speeds up starting FireFox or IE plus I found it good when starting up or rebooting

8T8

BingoBongo wrote:

It speeds up starting FireFox or IE plus I found it good when starting up or rebooting

It sounds like the hardware in your system isn't too current if you actually notice a difference as obviously when you turn off some of those effects the CPU has less to draw on screen.

What kind of CPU is the system & how much RAM ?

Do you have a modern GPU with directdraw enabled ?

EKRIUQ

8T8 wrote:

It sounds like the hardware in your system isn't too current if you actually notice a difference as obviously when you turn off some of those effects the CPU has less to draw on screen.

What kind of CPU is the system & how much RAM ?

Do you have a modern GPU with directdraw enabled ?

Your right computers 5 years old and some heavy programs running on it. Just holding out for windows vista before I get a new one

Anti

vista has already started shipping. So time for a new pc for you.

DaSilva

Anti wrote:

vista has already started shipping. So time for a new pc for you.

Hardly, nearly all the work most people do on the computer could be easily done on far older machines, but by all means buy buy buy, makes it cheaper for me when I actually do need to upgrade :P