Optimize XP

XP is the best Windows operating system except server in my opinion. It can be made to be very fast by performing simple steps. Here is a list of things you can do to speed it up;


Switch off the unnecessary GUI effects

Making your menus fade & the windows have moving effects isn’t an improvement & it will slow down the PC. So here is how to remove it….

Right click My Computer.

Click ‘Properties‘.

On the properties window, click on the ‘Advance‘ tab.

In the performance area, press ‘Settings‘.

Select the radio button option that says ‘Adjust for best performance‘.

Tick ‘Smooth edges of screen fonts‘. Reading blocky text can put strain on the eyes, so this one will be left on.

If you want to keep the theme you have running, tick ‘Use visual styles on windows and buttons‘.

Click ‘Apply‘.


Defragment the hard drive regularly

Everyone knows this one.

To defragment your hard drive do the following -

Left click start menu.

Click ‘All Programs‘.

Click ‘Accessories’.

Click 'System Tools'.

Click 'Disk Defragmenter'.

Select on the drive you want to defragment.

Click 'Defragment'.

The defragmenting process might take a while, but your PC will be a lot faster once it is finished.


Setting up efficient RAM usage

Now click on the ‘Advance‘ tab.

Make sure that ‘Programs’ is selected on both radio buttons.

On the virtual memory tab click ‘Change‘.

Select the radio button called ‘Custom Size‘.

make the ‘Initial‘ size the same as the ‘Maximum size‘.

Click ‘Apply‘.

Close the Virtual Memory Window.

Close the Performance options window.


Disable automatic download of updates

I personally don’t get updates for windows. But as many do, this section had to be included.

As soon as you connect to the net, XP will try to clog up your connection with updates. So, I will show you how to get XP to tell you that there are updates available, but it wont update them, unless you tell them to.

This means that you can update when you aren’t doing anything else on the net.

Click on the ‘Automatic Updates‘ tab.

Select the radio buttin called ‘Notify me but don’t automaticly download or install them’.

Click ‘Apply‘.


Turn off System Restore

If something goes wrong on my XP, I will fix it myself, not use System Restore.

If you use System Restore ignore this step. If you fix problems yourself & don’t use System Restore then read on.

System restore can use up a lot of system resources.

Click the ‘System Restore‘ tab.

Tick the ‘Turn off System Restore‘ option.

Click ‘Apply‘.

Close the System Properties window.


Setting up Display Properties

Right click anywhere on the desktop. Click ‘Properties‘.

On the Display Properties window, click on the ‘Desktop’ tab,

Click the ‘Customize Desktop’ button.

Untick the ‘Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 30 days‘.

XP will no longer hassle you about clearing up your desktop. This could speed up Explorer a tiny bit.

Close the Desktop Items window.

Click on the ‘appearance‘ tab.

Click ‘Effects‘.

Untick ‘Use the following transition effect for menu & tooltips‘.

Untick ‘Show shadows under menus‘.

Untick ‘Show window contents while dragging‘.

Close the effects window.

Click on the ‘Screen Saver’ tab.

Select the combo box & select ‘(none)’

Close the Display Properties window.


Configuring the control Panel

Go onto the control panel.

In the control Panel, open up the ‘Mouse‘ option.

Click on the ‘Pointers‘ tab.

Make sure that ‘Enable pointer shadow‘ is unticked.

Set the combo box in the scheme section to ‘None‘.

Close the Mouse Properties window.

In the control panel window, click ’sounds & audio devices’.

Put the device volume at the highest & untick ‘Place volume icon in taskbar‘.
I found that it is best to leave XP’s volume at highest & modify volume through the speakers or media player. Removing it from the taskbar will remove a unessessary icon.

Click on the ’sounds’ tab.

On the combo box select ‘No Sounds‘. This will stop the sounds XP makes when booting up & using Explorer etc. This will probably speed up XP a very small amount.

Close the Sounds & Audio Properties window.

In the control Panel, open the taskbar & start menu option.

In the Taskbar & Start menu Properties window, untick ‘Hide inactive icons’. It is best to be able to see all running system tray icons, without hiding them.

Click on the start menu tab.

Click ‘Customize‘ button.

In the Programs section, put the number of programs of programs on start menu to 0. This means that XP wont have to remember what programs you have been using recently.

Click Clear List.

Click on the ‘Advance‘ tab.

Untick ‘List my most recently opened documents‘. This means that XP wont have to remember what documents you have been accessing recently

Close the Customize start menu window.

Close the Taskbar & Menu Properties window.

Close the Control Panel.

Disabling services that aren’t being used

You will need to use administrative tools to disable services.

If you’re running XP professional, you should already have administrative tools installed.

Here is how to open it.

Open the Run dialog box & type ‘control admintools‘ into it without the quotation marks or italics.

Now a window should come up called ‘Administrative Tools‘.

Obviously, if you use remote services, ignore this stage.

In the ‘Administrative Tools‘ window, open up ‘Services‘.

Another windows will come up called ‘Services‘.

In the services windows, find something called ‘Remote Desktop Help Session Manager‘

Doubleclick on it. Another window will come up.

In the new window, go onto the combo box & select ‘Disabled‘.

Close the window.

In the ‘Services‘ window, find something called ‘Remote Registry‘

Doubleclick on it. Another window will come up.

In the new window, go onto the combo box & select ‘Disabled‘.

Close the window.

Close the ‘Services‘ window.