↓Skip to main content

Make Your Windows Faster

·754 words·4 mins
Software Windows
Table of Contents

This article provides tips on how to make Windows run faster by disabling unnecessary features and optimizing various settings. Let’s dive in!

  1. Open My Computer
  2. Click Tools menu
  3. Click Folder Options
  4. Click View tab
  5. Uncheck “Automatically search for network folders and printers”
  6. Click Apply
  7. Click OK
  8. Reboot your computer

Improve Memory Usage #

Cacheman improves computer performance by optimizing disk cache, memory and other settings.

After installing:

  1. Go to Show Wizard and select All
  2. Run all wizards using defaults (unless you know what you’re doing)
  3. Exit and Save Cacheman
  4. Restart Windows

Optimize Internet Connection #

TCP/IP Optimizer provides an easy way to optimize your connection:

  1. Download and install
  2. Click General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
  3. Click Network Adapter and choose your internet interface
  4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
  5. Reboot

Optimize Page File #

Give your page file a fixed size to prevent Windows from having to resize it:

  1. Right-click My Computer and select Properties
  2. Select Advanced tab
  3. Under Performance, click Settings
  4. Select Advanced tab and under Virtual Memory click Change
  5. Highlight your page file drive and set Initial Size equal to Maximum Size

For systems with:

  • Less than 512MB RAM: Leave at default size
  • 512MB+ RAM: Set page file to 1:1 ratio with physical memory

Improve Boot Times with BootVis #

  1. Download and Run
  2. Select Trace
  3. Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
  4. Accept default Trace Repetitions and Reboot
  5. After analysis completes, go to Trace menu and select Optimize System
  6. Reboot
  7. Wait for Optimizing System process to complete

Remove Desktop Background #

Desktop backgrounds use memory and slow loading times:

  1. Right-click Desktop and select Properties
  2. Select Desktop tab
  3. In Background window select None
  4. Click OK

Remove Unnecessary Fonts #

Fonts, especially TrueType, consume system resources:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Open Fonts folder
  3. Move unused fonts to backup folder (e.g., C:\FONTBKUP)

Disable Unnecessary Services #

Windows XP runs many unneeded services by default. To disable a service:

  1. Go to Start > Run and type “services.msc”
  2. Double-click service to modify
  3. Change Startup type to “Disabled”

Common services safe to disable:

  • Alerter
  • Clipbook
  • Computer Browser
  • Distributed Link Tracking Client
  • Fast User Switching
  • Help and Support (if unused)
  • 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
  • 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 (keep if using wireless)
  • Workstation

Disable System Restore #

System Restore can use gigabytes of disk space:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Click Performance and Maintenance
  3. Click System
  4. Click System Restore tab
  5. Check “Turn off System Restore on All Drives”
  6. Click OK

Defragment Page File #

Use PageDefrag to optimize page file performance:

  1. Download and Run PageDefrag
  2. Check “Defrag at next Reboot”
  3. Click OK
  4. Reboot

Speed Up Folder Access #

Disable last access time updates in Registry:

  1. Run regedit
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  3. Create DWORD Value “NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate”
  4. Set Value Data to “1”

Disable System Sounds #

System sounds can impact performance:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices
  3. Check “Place volume icon in taskbar”
  4. Click Sounds tab
  5. Choose “No Sounds” scheme
  6. Click Apply then OK

Enable Boot Defragmentation #

Optimize boot files placement:

  1. Run regedit
  2. Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
  3. Modify “Enable” value to “Y”
  4. Reboot

Improve Swap File Usage #

For systems with >256MB RAM:

  1. Run msconfig.exe
  2. Click System.ini tab
  3. Expand 386enh
  4. Add: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
  5. Click OK and restart

Speed Up Menu Display #

Reduce menu display delay:

  1. Run regedit
  2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
  3. Modify “MenuShowDelay”
  4. Set value between 50-150 (0 makes menus too sensitive)

Accelerate Program Loading #

Add /prefetch:1 parameter to shortcuts:

  1. Right-click program shortcut
  2. Select Properties
  3. Add " /prefetch:1" to end of Target field
  4. Click OK

Improve Shutdown Speed #

Reduce application termination wait time:

  1. Run regedit
  2. Modify these values to “1000”:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WaitToKillAppTimeout
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\HungAppTimeout
    • HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\WaitToKillAppTimeout
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WaitToKillServiceTimeout

Optimize Boot Sequence #

Configure BIOS boot order:

  1. Enter BIOS (usually F2 or Delete at startup)
  2. Navigate to Boot menu
  3. Set Hard Drive as First Boot Device
  4. Save and exit

Configure Static IP #

Manual IP assignment can speed up boot:

  1. Open Network Connections
  2. Right-click adapter and select Properties
  3. Select TCP/IP and click Properties
  4. Choose “Use following IP address”
  5. Enter appropriate network settings

Enable DMA Mode #

Ensure drives use DMA for better performance:

  1. Open Device Manager
  2. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers
  3. Check Primary/Secondary Channel settings
  4. Set Transfer Mode to “DMA if available”

Additional Tips #

  • Use ClearMem to free up memory periodically
  • Configure correct network card settings
  • Disable delete confirmation dialogs
  • Consider disabling Prefetch on low memory systems

Source: ActiveHowTo