1. Prioritise programs
If you're running lots of programs simultaneously but one is particularly important, you can make the CPU give it a high priority. To do so, press [CTRL]+[Shift]+[Esc] to launch Task Manager, right-click the app and select Go to process.
Then right-click the process, select Set priority | Above normal, and it may now get more CPU time. Alternatively, set a resource-hogging app to Below normal priority and other programs should become faster. Don't tweak critical or system processes, though, or your PC may crash.
2. Recover Vista resources
If you don't use the sidebar then right-click it, select Properties and clear Start Sidebar to prevent it loading in future. If you've installed your own antivirus software then you don't need Windows Defender.
Launch Defender; click Tools | Options, scroll down to Administrator options and deselect the Use Windows Defender box. You can also either turn off Aero to save a big chunk of RAM, or optimise it by right-clicking Computer, selecting Properties | Advanced | Performance settings and choosing Adjust for best performance.
The indexing service is useful, helping you find files and folders at speed, and it only runs when your PC is idle. Still, some say turning it off makes a real performance difference. If you rarely use the search function then launch services.msc, double-click Windows Search, click Stop and set Startup Type to Disabled to turn it off.
3. Replace Windows search
If you have turned Windows searching off, replace it with the utility Everything. This runs far more quickly, and it builds its database from the NTFS Master File Table, so no disk crawling is required.
It only works with NTFS though, and can't search the contents of files. If your search problems are with Outlook, take a look at Xobni, which the authors say is up to 50 times faster than the default Windows keyword search.
4. Copy more quickly
If Windows takes forever to copy files, use TeraCopyor FastCopy instead. These apps deliver better performance and handy extras like the ability to pause the copy process.
Use Fling to schedule network or FTP transfers to take place when you're not around.
5. Use speedy DNS servers
When you enter a domain name into your browser, is has to be resolved into an IP address by your ISP's DNS server. If this is overloaded then there will always be a browsing delay. Fortunately, OpenDNS has fast alternative DNS servers that you can use for free.
To try OpenDNS, launch NCPA.CPL, right-click your internet connection and select Properties. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and hit Properties (use v4 on Vista), then choose Use the following DNS server addresses and enter 208.67.222.222 in the Preferred and 208.67.220.220 in the Alternate boxes.
6. Put your PC to sleep
If you have Vista, choose Sleep rather than Shutdown to save some time the next time you want to use your machine. Windows saves the state of your PC rather than closing it, which means it turns off (and reboots later) far more quickly. Or at least that's the plan.
If Sleep won't work for you then it's probably a driver problem. Check the Event Log to see what's going wrong.
7. Reduce task switching
Regular editions of Windows switch rapidly from one program to another, ensuring a responsive user interface. But each task switch is an overhead, wasting CPU time. If you don't need a highly responsive interface – you're using Microsoft Office rather than playing 3D games, say – then giving each app more CPU time before moving to the next will cut task switching, making your PC more efficient.
Right-click Computer, select Properties | Advanced system settings | Performance settings | Advanced and select Adjust for best performance of the background services. Restore the normal setting if apps seem less responsive.
8. Clean up your disk
Removing junk from your drive can improve performance, even if it still has hundreds of gigabytes of free space. Uninstall unwanted programs with Windows or Revo Uninstaller. Likewise, stubborn security programs can be expunged using AppRemover.
Next, try Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner to remove redundant files. Manually browse the Program Files and Windows\Temp folders for unnecessary files and folders (only delete what you're sure is safe to go.)
Finally, click Start (then Run if you're using XP or earlier), type %TEMP% and hit [Enter] to inspect and clear your User Temporary Files folder.
9. Move your paging file
Relocate the Windows paging file to a second physical drive (not a partition) different to the one that your applications are on to enable your PC to read and write to both simultaneously. This will speed things up noticeably.
To do this, right-click Computer, select Properties and click Advanced [System Settings] | Performance settings | Advanced | Change. Clear Automatically manage paging file,click your current drive, select No paging file and then Set.
Next, select the drive you want to use for the paging file, select System managed size, click Set, then OK and reboot to see the results.
10. Accelerate explorer
By default Windows XP regularly scans for new network printers and folders, adding anything it finds to My Network Places or the Printers folder. But if you rarely access network resources then this just slows you down.
Click Start | Control Panel | Appearances and themes | Folder options | View, and clear Automatically search for network folders and printers to stop it doing so.
11. Remove fonts
Most PCs accumulate fonts over time, reducing performance as your system spends time processing them. It's a good idea to remove fonts you never use, as long as you're careful – deleting important fonts can have all kinds of strange effects.
Opt for the odd script, foreign or symbol fonts first. If in doubt leave it alone, and copy all your fonts to a back-up folder first so that they're easily reinstalled.
12. Defrag thoroughly
The regular Windows defrag tool can't defragment files that are open for exclusive access, which means that your paging and Registry files remain untouched. Fortunately there's a free tool that can help. PageDefrag runs during the boot process and can defragment these system files without any trouble.
It's also worth trying a commercial app. PerfectDisk delivers the best results in our experience – get the 30-day trial and see how it works for you.
13. Go for speed over power
Windows Vista's power options can turn off many optimisations in its effort to save energy, so if you prefer speed then it's important to confirm you're set up correctly.
Click Control Panel | System and maintenance | Power options and make sure you're using the High Performance plan. Next, click the Change plan settings link under High performance to make sure that you're using the fastest option for each setting.
14. Speed up the Start Menu
Make Windows open menus more quickly with a quick Registry change. Just go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, double-click MenuShowDelay and change it from the default 400 (milliseconds) to something smaller: 100ms works for us. Restart Windows to see the results.
15. Tune NTFS
If you don't use old 16-bit software, launch REGEDIT and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem, then set NtfsDisable8 dot3NameCreation to 1.
Windows will no longer create DOS-style shortened versions of file names, speeding up file creation. Set NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate to 1 and Windows won't update the Last Access date on a folder when you view it, delivering a small boost to drive performance. These options can break older software, so test your PC thoroughly afterwards.
16. Optimise Firefox
Firefox stores its data in self-contained SQLite databases, and these can be compacted in order to recover a little performance. You could do this by downloading the command-line tool Sqlite3 and then using the command for %i in (*.sqlite) do @echo VACUUM; | sqlite3 %i to compact all SQLite files in the current folder.
However, it's much easier to install the SQLite Manager Firefox add-on. After you've done this, navigate to Tools | SQLite Manager | Database | Connect database and browse to one of the large .sqlite files in your Mozilla profile.
Note its current size, click Database | Compact database, and check the size again – our urlclassifier3.sqlite database dropped by 40MB.
17. Speed up iTunes
Help iTunes run a little faster by disabling features that you don't use. If you don't ever look at the Genius recommendations, click Store | Turn off Genius to give a small performance boost.
If you're not on a large network or don't want to share your library, click Edit | Preferences | Sharing and turn off Look for shared libraries and Share my library.
If you don't use Apple TV, click the Apple TV tab and clear Look for Apple TVs. Finally, click the Devices tab and clear any unnecessary Look for... options.
Large libraries are the main reason for poor iTunes performance. Click Music in the Library section, then hold down [Shift] and choose File | Show exact duplicates to look for multiple copies of songs. Delete any you don't need and then browse the library to remove other songs you don't play any more.
18. Install only what you need
If you normally select the Complete option when you install a program, you might end up with all kinds of features that you never use. Get in the habit of selecting the Custom option instead, and pick only what you need.
19. Upgrade your software
UpdateStar will scan your programs and report any it recognises that have updates available. Installing these should get you bug fixes, more features and better performance. Similarly, DriverMax will identify outdated drivers, then download and install updates.
20. Fix Internet Explorer 8
If IE8 seems very slow and unreliable then your upgrade from IE7 may have broken some DLL registrations. To fix this, open a command window (if you're running Vista, right-click cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator) and type regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll. Press [Enter], then reboot your PC to see if the browser has got any faster.
21. Block Flash applets
Flash applets use up system resources and can slow down your browser. Often these applets take the form of unwanted adverts, so it's a good idea all round to block them and recover the resources to give improved performance.
Firefox users need only install FlashBlock to kill unwanted Flash apps, and if you install Adblock Plus as well, annoying ads and banners will become a thing of the past. Meanwhile IE8 can now selectively block Flash applets, too.
Click Tools | Manage add-ons, select Toolbars and extensions and opt to show all add-ons. Double-click the Flash add-on and click Remove all sites | Close. All Flash applets will now be blocked.
However, if an applet is trying to run on a site you trust, click the warning bar, select Run add-on, add it to your allow list and Flash will be launched automatically on your next visit.
22. Tweak Microsoft Word
Simplify and speed up document displays by using a single typeface instead of many. To set this up, go to Word options, select Advanced, scroll to Show document control and select Use draft font....
If you're happy with your spelling, or at least content to check it when the document is done, turn off Word's AutoCorrect options (in the Proofing section of Options) to save some resources.
If you have a fast printer then Word's default background printing can slow you down (Clear Print in background in the Print section of Options). A corrupted or bulky normal.dotm template may also negatively affect speeds.
To sort this out, lose Word, locate the normal.dotm file in your profile and rename it normal.dotm.old. You'll lose your custom settings, but it may help to speed up the application. If you find that this doesn't help, restore the previous normal.dotm to get your settings back.
23. Stop sharing
Windows Media Player's media sharing functionality can be a real resource hog. To turn it off, right- click the Library tab, click on Media sharing and clear the Find media and Share my media options.
Next, launch services.msc, double-click Windows Media Player, click Stop and set its Startup Type to Disabled to save yourself some CPU time.
24. Clean your outlook inbox
The more messages Outlook stores, the slower it gets, so if you want to improve performance then some pruning is in order.
Most email responses contain copies of the original message, so you should be able to delete earlier messages without losing information. Thread Compressor is a free Outlook add-in that will do this automatically. Save All Attachments will save all the attachments in multiple emails, and then remove them.
25. Disable add-ons
Removing unwanted add-ons frees up system resources and can make your apps more stable.
In Microsoft Word 2007, click the Word button, then click Word Options | Add-ins. Choose the type of add-on you'd like to view in the Manage list, click View and remove anything unnecessary. Repeat the process in Outlook 2007 by clicking Tools | Trust Center | Add-ins.
In Adobe Reader, click Help, select About Adobe plug-ins and note the filename of anything you don't need. If you never want to save PDFs to RTF, say, then include SaveAsRTF.API.
Close Reader, go to the plug-ins folder – probably Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\plug_ins – and rename the unwanted plug-ins, for example changing SaveAsRTF.API to SaveAsRTF.API.OLD
If you're running lots of programs simultaneously but one is particularly important, you can make the CPU give it a high priority. To do so, press [CTRL]+[Shift]+[Esc] to launch Task Manager, right-click the app and select Go to process.
Then right-click the process, select Set priority | Above normal, and it may now get more CPU time. Alternatively, set a resource-hogging app to Below normal priority and other programs should become faster. Don't tweak critical or system processes, though, or your PC may crash.
2. Recover Vista resources
If you don't use the sidebar then right-click it, select Properties and clear Start Sidebar to prevent it loading in future. If you've installed your own antivirus software then you don't need Windows Defender.
Launch Defender; click Tools | Options, scroll down to Administrator options and deselect the Use Windows Defender box. You can also either turn off Aero to save a big chunk of RAM, or optimise it by right-clicking Computer, selecting Properties | Advanced | Performance settings and choosing Adjust for best performance.
The indexing service is useful, helping you find files and folders at speed, and it only runs when your PC is idle. Still, some say turning it off makes a real performance difference. If you rarely use the search function then launch services.msc, double-click Windows Search, click Stop and set Startup Type to Disabled to turn it off.
3. Replace Windows search
If you have turned Windows searching off, replace it with the utility Everything. This runs far more quickly, and it builds its database from the NTFS Master File Table, so no disk crawling is required.
It only works with NTFS though, and can't search the contents of files. If your search problems are with Outlook, take a look at Xobni, which the authors say is up to 50 times faster than the default Windows keyword search.
4. Copy more quickly
If Windows takes forever to copy files, use TeraCopyor FastCopy instead. These apps deliver better performance and handy extras like the ability to pause the copy process.
Use Fling to schedule network or FTP transfers to take place when you're not around.
5. Use speedy DNS servers
When you enter a domain name into your browser, is has to be resolved into an IP address by your ISP's DNS server. If this is overloaded then there will always be a browsing delay. Fortunately, OpenDNS has fast alternative DNS servers that you can use for free.
To try OpenDNS, launch NCPA.CPL, right-click your internet connection and select Properties. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and hit Properties (use v4 on Vista), then choose Use the following DNS server addresses and enter 208.67.222.222 in the Preferred and 208.67.220.220 in the Alternate boxes.
6. Put your PC to sleep
If you have Vista, choose Sleep rather than Shutdown to save some time the next time you want to use your machine. Windows saves the state of your PC rather than closing it, which means it turns off (and reboots later) far more quickly. Or at least that's the plan.
If Sleep won't work for you then it's probably a driver problem. Check the Event Log to see what's going wrong.
7. Reduce task switching
Regular editions of Windows switch rapidly from one program to another, ensuring a responsive user interface. But each task switch is an overhead, wasting CPU time. If you don't need a highly responsive interface – you're using Microsoft Office rather than playing 3D games, say – then giving each app more CPU time before moving to the next will cut task switching, making your PC more efficient.
Right-click Computer, select Properties | Advanced system settings | Performance settings | Advanced and select Adjust for best performance of the background services. Restore the normal setting if apps seem less responsive.
8. Clean up your disk
Removing junk from your drive can improve performance, even if it still has hundreds of gigabytes of free space. Uninstall unwanted programs with Windows or Revo Uninstaller. Likewise, stubborn security programs can be expunged using AppRemover.
Next, try Windows Disk Cleanup or CCleaner to remove redundant files. Manually browse the Program Files and Windows\Temp folders for unnecessary files and folders (only delete what you're sure is safe to go.)
Finally, click Start (then Run if you're using XP or earlier), type %TEMP% and hit [Enter] to inspect and clear your User Temporary Files folder.
9. Move your paging file
Relocate the Windows paging file to a second physical drive (not a partition) different to the one that your applications are on to enable your PC to read and write to both simultaneously. This will speed things up noticeably.
To do this, right-click Computer, select Properties and click Advanced [System Settings] | Performance settings | Advanced | Change. Clear Automatically manage paging file,click your current drive, select No paging file and then Set.
Next, select the drive you want to use for the paging file, select System managed size, click Set, then OK and reboot to see the results.
10. Accelerate explorer
By default Windows XP regularly scans for new network printers and folders, adding anything it finds to My Network Places or the Printers folder. But if you rarely access network resources then this just slows you down.
Click Start | Control Panel | Appearances and themes | Folder options | View, and clear Automatically search for network folders and printers to stop it doing so.
11. Remove fonts
Most PCs accumulate fonts over time, reducing performance as your system spends time processing them. It's a good idea to remove fonts you never use, as long as you're careful – deleting important fonts can have all kinds of strange effects.
Opt for the odd script, foreign or symbol fonts first. If in doubt leave it alone, and copy all your fonts to a back-up folder first so that they're easily reinstalled.
12. Defrag thoroughly
The regular Windows defrag tool can't defragment files that are open for exclusive access, which means that your paging and Registry files remain untouched. Fortunately there's a free tool that can help. PageDefrag runs during the boot process and can defragment these system files without any trouble.
It's also worth trying a commercial app. PerfectDisk delivers the best results in our experience – get the 30-day trial and see how it works for you.
13. Go for speed over power
Windows Vista's power options can turn off many optimisations in its effort to save energy, so if you prefer speed then it's important to confirm you're set up correctly.
Click Control Panel | System and maintenance | Power options and make sure you're using the High Performance plan. Next, click the Change plan settings link under High performance to make sure that you're using the fastest option for each setting.
14. Speed up the Start Menu
Make Windows open menus more quickly with a quick Registry change. Just go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, double-click MenuShowDelay and change it from the default 400 (milliseconds) to something smaller: 100ms works for us. Restart Windows to see the results.
15. Tune NTFS
If you don't use old 16-bit software, launch REGEDIT and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem, then set NtfsDisable8 dot3NameCreation to 1.
Windows will no longer create DOS-style shortened versions of file names, speeding up file creation. Set NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate to 1 and Windows won't update the Last Access date on a folder when you view it, delivering a small boost to drive performance. These options can break older software, so test your PC thoroughly afterwards.
16. Optimise Firefox
Firefox stores its data in self-contained SQLite databases, and these can be compacted in order to recover a little performance. You could do this by downloading the command-line tool Sqlite3 and then using the command for %i in (*.sqlite) do @echo VACUUM; | sqlite3 %i to compact all SQLite files in the current folder.
However, it's much easier to install the SQLite Manager Firefox add-on. After you've done this, navigate to Tools | SQLite Manager | Database | Connect database and browse to one of the large .sqlite files in your Mozilla profile.
Note its current size, click Database | Compact database, and check the size again – our urlclassifier3.sqlite database dropped by 40MB.
17. Speed up iTunes
Help iTunes run a little faster by disabling features that you don't use. If you don't ever look at the Genius recommendations, click Store | Turn off Genius to give a small performance boost.
If you're not on a large network or don't want to share your library, click Edit | Preferences | Sharing and turn off Look for shared libraries and Share my library.
If you don't use Apple TV, click the Apple TV tab and clear Look for Apple TVs. Finally, click the Devices tab and clear any unnecessary Look for... options.
Large libraries are the main reason for poor iTunes performance. Click Music in the Library section, then hold down [Shift] and choose File | Show exact duplicates to look for multiple copies of songs. Delete any you don't need and then browse the library to remove other songs you don't play any more.
18. Install only what you need
If you normally select the Complete option when you install a program, you might end up with all kinds of features that you never use. Get in the habit of selecting the Custom option instead, and pick only what you need.
19. Upgrade your software
UpdateStar will scan your programs and report any it recognises that have updates available. Installing these should get you bug fixes, more features and better performance. Similarly, DriverMax will identify outdated drivers, then download and install updates.
20. Fix Internet Explorer 8
If IE8 seems very slow and unreliable then your upgrade from IE7 may have broken some DLL registrations. To fix this, open a command window (if you're running Vista, right-click cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator) and type regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll. Press [Enter], then reboot your PC to see if the browser has got any faster.
21. Block Flash applets
Flash applets use up system resources and can slow down your browser. Often these applets take the form of unwanted adverts, so it's a good idea all round to block them and recover the resources to give improved performance.
Firefox users need only install FlashBlock to kill unwanted Flash apps, and if you install Adblock Plus as well, annoying ads and banners will become a thing of the past. Meanwhile IE8 can now selectively block Flash applets, too.
Click Tools | Manage add-ons, select Toolbars and extensions and opt to show all add-ons. Double-click the Flash add-on and click Remove all sites | Close. All Flash applets will now be blocked.
However, if an applet is trying to run on a site you trust, click the warning bar, select Run add-on, add it to your allow list and Flash will be launched automatically on your next visit.
22. Tweak Microsoft Word
Simplify and speed up document displays by using a single typeface instead of many. To set this up, go to Word options, select Advanced, scroll to Show document control and select Use draft font....
If you're happy with your spelling, or at least content to check it when the document is done, turn off Word's AutoCorrect options (in the Proofing section of Options) to save some resources.
If you have a fast printer then Word's default background printing can slow you down (Clear Print in background in the Print section of Options). A corrupted or bulky normal.dotm template may also negatively affect speeds.
To sort this out, lose Word, locate the normal.dotm file in your profile and rename it normal.dotm.old. You'll lose your custom settings, but it may help to speed up the application. If you find that this doesn't help, restore the previous normal.dotm to get your settings back.
23. Stop sharing
Windows Media Player's media sharing functionality can be a real resource hog. To turn it off, right- click the Library tab, click on Media sharing and clear the Find media and Share my media options.
Next, launch services.msc, double-click Windows Media Player, click Stop and set its Startup Type to Disabled to save yourself some CPU time.
24. Clean your outlook inbox
The more messages Outlook stores, the slower it gets, so if you want to improve performance then some pruning is in order.
Most email responses contain copies of the original message, so you should be able to delete earlier messages without losing information. Thread Compressor is a free Outlook add-in that will do this automatically. Save All Attachments will save all the attachments in multiple emails, and then remove them.
25. Disable add-ons
Removing unwanted add-ons frees up system resources and can make your apps more stable.
In Microsoft Word 2007, click the Word button, then click Word Options | Add-ins. Choose the type of add-on you'd like to view in the Manage list, click View and remove anything unnecessary. Repeat the process in Outlook 2007 by clicking Tools | Trust Center | Add-ins.
In Adobe Reader, click Help, select About Adobe plug-ins and note the filename of anything you don't need. If you never want to save PDFs to RTF, say, then include SaveAsRTF.API.
Close Reader, go to the plug-ins folder – probably Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\plug_ins – and rename the unwanted plug-ins, for example changing SaveAsRTF.API to SaveAsRTF.API.OLD
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