Assuming that you maintain your system (defrag your hard drive, and scan and
get rid of spyware):
Try disabling some unneeded Services, particularly the Indexing Service,
which can really slow down a system. Also:
Click: Start
Click Run
Type: msconfig
Click the OK button
When the System Configuration Utility opens, click the Startup tab, and
click to remove the checkmarks to left of any items in the list that don't
really have to be run at Startup. Some programs like QuickTime and
Bookshelf have a default to load at Startup. But can run just as well if
you start them from your Start menu, without having to waste time and memory
loading when Windows boots. The first time you boot after removing a
checkmark from a Startup item you'll get a Selective Startup box, click the
option to NOT show that box again. If you accidentally remove something
from Startup that's essential, and you can't boot into Normal Mode to put
the checkmark back: Boot into Safe Mode (press the F8 key on boot before
the Windows logo, and when the menu appears press the corresponding number
key for Safe Mode). When Safe Mode loads, go back to msconfig and put the
checkmark back. I found that aside from the programs mentioned above, that
my sound card, and display adapter were loading control utilities in the
Notification Area (formerly called System Tray) that weren't needed. Those
controls could be accessed from Control Panel, and didn't need to be loaded
at Startup.
Also:
If the system came with a Network Adapter, and
you use a dialup modem connection, NOT A DSL or CABLE modem connection, and
aren't networking, the system wastes time during boot looking for network
connections. So, if you're using dialup, go to Device Manager, scroll down
to Network Adapters, click the + to the left of that listing, and YOUR
network adapter will list beneath that heading. Right click your network
adapter, then LEFT click on Disable. If you should ever get DSL or Cable
or want to network, go back to the same adapter listing, right click on it,
then LEFT click on Enable.
The above are just a few suggestions to improve performance and shorten the
boot time. Above all, having enough RAM for acceptable
performance from the Windows XP operating system is important (not less than
256MB, but more preferably).
Also to add speed, you might want to right click your Start button, left
click
Properties, and select the Classic Start menu. You might also want to right
click an empty area on your desktop, then left click Properties, and when
the Display Properties box opens click the Appearance tab, then click the
Effects button. When the Effects box opens, click to REMOVE the checkmark
to the left of the first item: Use the following transition effect for menus
and tool tips, then click the OK button for that box, and click the APPLY
and OK buttons on the remaining Display Properties box. The two tips above
just get rid of useless eye candy, and do improve system performance.
--
T.C.
t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
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