Windows XP Performance Tweaks - Improve Your PC's Performance by Tweaking Windows XP

Since Windows XP was released in the market, the particular system has been the subject of criticisms from concerned users. The good news is that, there are different tweaks designed to answer some of the problems users find in the system. To improve your computer’s performance, here are a few system patches you can easily apply.

Freezing at Startup

The first few releases of Windows XP has been known to demonstrate this problem. Basically, what happens is that the computer freezes at a blue screen for more than 2 to 3 minutes after the computer has loaded. During this time, not even punching a few keys or clicking the mouse works. This can be fixed by choosing Start, clicking Run and typing MSCONFIG in the space provided. When the window shows up, disable the Background Intelligent Transfer, reboot and you’ll find that the problem has been fixed.

Shutting Down Tweak

A few changes in the Windows Registry may be able to fix a computer that takes a long time to shut down. Go to Start, choose Run and type “regedit” on the box. Hit enter and look for the HKEY CURRENT USER folder. Open it up and go to Control Panel and Desktop. Look for the “Autoend Tasks”, double-click it and change the value from 0 to 1 When you reboot your PC, you’ll find that shutting down has become a breeze with this particular tweak.

Disabling Unnecessary Programs at Startup

Perhaps one reason why your computer is starting to lag is because of the amount of programs that it launches at startup. It’s highly unlikely that you will need all these programs every time you use your PC.

To change this, go to Start, Run and type the “msconfig” command on the space. Choose startup and uncheck the boxes that you don’t really use often. Don’t disable the antivirus though as you will need this running in the background constantly.

Turn off Themes

If you go for performance quality rather than visual quality, then you should probably turn off the themes and visual effects. To do this, you will have to right-click the desktop, click properties and go to the Appearance tab.

Disk Cleanup

A computer’s slow performance may also be attributed to the accumulation of small files in the memory. You can fix this by right-clicking your hard drive, selecting Properties and choosing the Disk Cleanup option. This will basically calculate the amount of disk space that you can safely empty of unnecessary files that lags the system.

Disk Defragmentation

What this function does is it stimulates faster access of files by rearranging the information into a more organized state. To do this, right-click you hard drive, select Properties, Tools and choosing the “Defragment Now” option.

Making your computer run faster involves a series of steps and tweaks that would require patience and a bit of computer know-how. First of all, the PC’s key maintenance requirements must be accomplished. Included in this is a complete antivirus scan and a disk cleanup. To activate disk clean up, right-click your hard drive, choose Properties and push the Disk Cleanup button.

Startup

Once you’re done with the basic necessities, pay attention to your PC’s startup. It’s possible that you have dozens of programs activated at startup, making it slower for the PC to get ready. It will be infinitely better if you just disable these programs at startup and open them only when necessary. This will save your computer time readying the program before you can use the system. You can accomplish this by choosing Start, clicking Run and typing “msconfig”. A new window will appear, click the Startup tab and uncheck all the boxes that you do not require at startup. However, don’t uncheck the antivirus icon since this should always be running in your system.

Removing Idle Programs

One of the reasons why your computer is slowing down could be the amount of programs installed in the system that you don’t really use. If you have idle softwares in your system, you might uninstall them and free important space from your hard drive. You can do this through the Add or Remove Programs function found by clicking Start, Settings and choosing Control Panel.

Disk Defragmentation

This process takes a long time to finish but it’s a guaranteed solution. Defragmentation will rearrange your files so that you will be able to access your computer faster. You can do this by right-clicking a hard drive, selecting Properties, clicking tool and choosing the Defragment Now button. It is advisable that you do not use your computer while the system is defragmenting.

You may also opt for a registry scan for your database. There are also various tweaks and programs on the internet designed to speed up the booting process of your computer. However, be very weary when downloading such programs because these could seriously affect your system or may even carry viruses in your drive.

Make sure that you have a backup of all your files in the event that something gets out of plan. Hopefully, if you stick with the basic steps, then you won’t be facing that problem anytime soon. Luckily, most systems are automatically equipped with these performance-improving functions.