Use tools not heavy on resources -
Avast Home, CCleaner, PC Tools Registry Mechanic, Foxit PDF Reader, Winrar, uTorrent, WMP classic, IMGburn, Office XP
1.Disable Unnecessary Services
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access
Server
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
2. Remove useless crap files and disable useless startup programs
Download ccleaner and remove all junk files, also disable useless startup programs.
3. Detect and Repair Disk Errors
To run the Error Checking utility:
Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.
1.Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2.In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3.In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
4.Click the Check Now button.
5. In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
6.If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.
4. Defragment Harddisk regularly
Use good software like Diskeeper, O&O Defrag, Perfect Disk to defrag ur HDD.
5. Turn Off System Restore
System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:
Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Click 'Ok'
6. Speedup Folder Access - Disable Last Access Update
If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.
Go to Start and then Run and type "regedit"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'
7.Disable System Sounds
Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:
Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"
8. Make Your Menus Load Faster
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood
9. Improve XP Shutdown Speed
This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.
Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
10. Load up folder items/icons quicker.
With explorer open, click on Tools in the menu bar.
Go to Folder Options, and click to open up the options window.
Click on the View tab to show a bunch of options with bullets next to them.
Uncheck the first one, \"Automatically search for network folders and printers.\"
That's it. I hope you find these tips useful - you should now see a noticeable speed improvement if you make all of these changes correctly. Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised!
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