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Trimming Down Windows XP

  • 15-12-2008 11:15AM
    #1
    Dartz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,447 ✭✭✭


    Alright, long story short.

    I have Windows XP Service Pack 3 on a Laptop. Pentium M 1.6Ghz and 256Mb of RAM. I need to get it booting faster, but adding RAM is not an option.

    It has to be useable by someone 'inexperienced' with computers (to say the least.) therefore, it needs a good Virus Scanner and Firewall. I've been using Kaspersky Internet Security. I need to use this, as the laptop's user is not in any way net-savvy. They wouldnt' understand what to click and what not to click. It does the job well enough.

    I've disabled as much as I can on startup... most of the bloatware Toshiba sent in with it anyway, but it still takes a few minutes after reaching desktop to become in any way useable.

    Is there anything else I can do to this thing to speed it up, without needing to add RAM. The install itself is pretty fresh, even though the laptop is a good few years old. Everything appears in good order, though battery life is down to a half hour.

    Any suggestions?


Comments

  • #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 96,874 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    pcdecrapifier is worth a look

    msconfig / autoruns to unload junk

    change IE to a lighter browser , firefox can be a memory hog if you don't tweak it


    http://www.litepc.com/ might be a trial version

    there was sysinternals article on how to kill just about everything in windows so the task list was down to about 4 running tasks !

    http://www.tweakxp.com/article37562.aspx


    check for AV doing full scan on startup
    get user to use hibernate / suspend instead ?


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