Any tools to make Windows 'quicker'?

M

matt loves telkom

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Messages
868
Reaction score
0
Hi,
does anyone know of any software or programs that genuinely make a difference to the performance of Windows Xp?
i know googling them helps but can anyone recommend something theyve tried before.my pc is just running shockinly slow of late.it takes 3-5 seconds for the start button and other programs to launch.my hdd is also a bit old and i can tell its on its way...
I know a format once every few months is a good idea but i dont have the drivers at the moment for my pc and will get them at work.
Anyone know of tools/utilities that make a noticeable difference.

any help appreciated
 
u could give ccleaner a try, and also defraggler.

even just a windows defrag can make a difference
 
Yes there several tools that can speed up Window:

Download Autoruns from www.sysinternals.com. Run it and remove any unnecessary startup files.
Run Add/remove programs and remove stuff you don't use.
Download Avast and check for malicious code (virus etc).
Download Spybot and check for spyware.

All these tools that cost $99 and promise massive increases in performance are junk. Including registry cleaners, defrag etc.
 
Yes, buy a faster processor, RAM and a nice hard drive. A decent Graphics card will also do wonders! :)
 
I second that suggestion of using the freeware tool 'ccleaner' - after every session using my browser (firefox), I strip away anything from 30-100+ megs of rubbish off my pc. I also use ccleaner to do a quick check of registry and fix issues.
I also have winpatrol installed - and it whines at any changes to registry/startup.
 
Scan for Viruses.
Uninstall everything you don't need or don't use.
Remove unnecessary stuff from StartUp (Start -> Run -> MSCONFIG)
Defrag your drive
Put your swap file on a seperate faster Drive
Get a SSD and put your Windows and swap file on that - Intel X25M Gen2 preferred but these are very expensive. An 80GB is possibly affordable. You'll have to do some feature disabling to make XP SSD friendly. A 10,000 RPM drive is an alternative to the SSD.
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?products_id=25682

Regarding memory - for XP 32bit and standard programs (ie not CAD and not PhotoShop) 2GB is max you'll need.
 
cheers guys - will give ccleaner a go.
i also notice my hdd is making constant noises (sounds like those oldern day 4 gb hdd's processing all the time). I am gonna replace it with a spare newer hdd but i need to partition that one and im having issues with.i created a 40 gb partition and when i boot off Windows cd to setup on that partition it wont see the 40 gb but only the whole 300 gb.tried Partition Magic and it created the partition fine but its all good.il keep trying
 
Last edited:
ponder said:
Format->Install OS & Software...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is really the only way. The Windows registry grows over time and cleaning it out doesn't really help. The registry was designed to grow in 32MB increments, as you go over this mark it allocates another 32MB and never releases that amount even if you delete registry entries.

The best option is to install OS & apps, then make a backup of your hard disk so that when the inevitable time to re install happens, you can just restore this backup.
 
killadoob said:
Get a SSD hard drive.

You can do all of the above but if you want a fast OS get a fast hdd.
Click to expand...

Only if he has R5,000 to burn. He can also get a cheaper Velociraptor.

Ideally Intel SSD and those are still tiny and very expensive. I now own one (160GB X25M Gen2) but sort of regret buying it, I should have known better, even though it cost me less than buying it locally.
(Also own a Toshiba 64GB in my Netbook and that's because NEC put it in to make the netbook thin and there the lack of mechanical parts is the Numero Uno reason why an SSD works in laptops. The speed boost is nice but the lack of mechanical parts is what's so cool about them for laptops.) For desktop machines, they're still too expensive.
 
Last edited:
Mouse said:
The Windows registry grows over time and cleaning it out doesn't really help. The registry was designed to grow in 32MB increments, as you go over this mark it allocates another 32MB and never releases that amount even if you delete registry entries.
Click to expand...

The size of the registry has no impact on system performance. Your registry cannot get cluttered and slow you computer down. It does not work that way. It is simply a database of settings that are called by the application. If your application settings are in one hive, surrounded by 1 million useless hives then they become just that, useless hives that are disregarded by the OS.

Think of hard drive with files. If you doubleclick a shortcut it knows where to find the necessary file to open; if you harddrive has one file or 1 million files, the shortcut will always open just that one file.

The registry is the same. An application references the registry for settings, and knows where to find those settings. Just like you PC does not scan your entire disk every time you open a file; so your application does not scan your entire registry for settings.

I have servers with 200MB+ registries and they work fine, no slowdown or performance issues.

The only time to use a reg cleaner is to remove a specific problematic entry, like a virus, and even then it is safer to use something like Regmon to remove only the problematic entry.
 
To speed up windows (or any other OS) you need to determine the cause of the (perceived) slowness. So use the perfmon tool, supplied in windows, to check where the bottleneck is.

Look at swap rate - a high rate indicates too little available memory. This may be caused by too little memory installed or by too many processes taking up memory resource.

Look at your swap drive sizes and where they are located. Often a full C: drive is the cause. also look at the speed of the swap drive(s). Use the fasted drive for swapping.

Look at memory chip speeds. One slow chip causes all memory to run slow.

Look at mapped disk drives. an inaccessible drive mapping will kill your machine's response.

Look at Internet connectivity - more and more apps assume fast online availability and often call home for updates and /or help files. If one has a proper broadband connection (currently not possible in RSA) this is a great asset.

Don't 'fix' the registry unless you really know what you are doing and I suggest that in most cases people don't know. This ignorance arises from the way some software developers abuse the registry so that cleaners are not able to properly detect whether an entry is removable - ever notice how all the cleaners ask you to confirm removal? Why? They are supposed to be the expert!!!!

If you are using WinXP or later, take a restore point before fiddling. Then make only one change at a time and if the change doesn't produce a result, revert before trying the next one. Better is to get to know perfmon intimately and to find the bottleneck before trying to fix it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X