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10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows XP

December 3rd, 2005 • Related • Filed Under

Update: If you are using Windows Vista then check out 10 Simple Ways To SpeedUp Windows Vista. If are feeling more adventurous I have also posted 10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows and also More Ways to Speed Up Windows XP

I’ve just finished setting up a new PC for a friend and I think some of you will be interested in some of the tweaks I make to all of my PCs to make them quicker. I’ve focused here on the ones which are simple to do and won’t cause problems if you get it wrong, rather than listing registry tweaks etc.

1. Disable Indexing Services

Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Double-click Add/Remove Programs
Click the Add/Remove Window Components
Uncheck the Indexing services
Click Next

2. Optimise Display Settings

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Click System
Click Advanced tab
In the Performance tab click Settings
Leave only the following ticked:

Show shadows under menus
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Show translucent selection rectangle
Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
Use visual styles on windows and buttons

3. Speedup Folder Browsing

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

Open My Computer
Click on Tools menu
Click on Folder Options
Click on the View tab.
Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
Click Apply
Click Ok
Reboot your computer

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About the Author

Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 139 Responses So Far. »

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#139

Comment by Tom Callaghan on 13 August 2008:

Hi,
Have been following these steps to speed up my notebook all working fine until I got to number 10. I deleted all the fonts I didn’t recognise or use and found that deleting fonts crashes Firefox version 3.0.1 When I reinstalled them firefox worked again. If anyone knows which particular fonts cause this problem please let me know.
Thanks for the tips

cheers
tom
#138

Comment by Xbox 360 on 9 August 2008:

Thanks will try this when i get home!
#137

Comment by Baldrick on 9 August 2008:

btw peeps its nice to get fixes but if you go back to dabbling in crap you will end up in crap - bad security slows your pc down more than optimum configuration - dont look for steroids when you are using viagra
#136

Comment by baldrick on 9 August 2008:

Your hints/tips/knowledge are much appreciated by me - running a relatively crappy tiny a360+ laptop, many thanks. I don’t know how it works, but i have heard tell of a program that puts virtual memory at the “start” of the hdd for quicker access and apparently that makes a low spec pc/laptop run a little quicker - i do have a fixed page-file that is not fragmented but i am led to believe that if it was moved to the “start” of the hdd that would be more efficient. So, - having fixed virtual memory at the “start” of the hdd - is it quicker, and can anybody configure it that way or is special software needed and is it worth it?
#135

Comment by roshan on 2 August 2008:

This really worked just tried it on my pc and it works like magic…
#134

Comment by roshan on 2 August 2008:

Nice guide and here is also a complied guide that i included your tips in: http://www.teckitech.com/07/21-super-effective-fast-simple-ways-to-speed-up-xp/

Tried it on my own xp it works like a magic

Read roshan’s latest blog post….Balisong Styled Concept Music Player>>>
#133

Comment by Voucher Codes on 23 July 2008:

Thanks buddy.. Its really helped me to speed up my computer..

Cheers
#132

Comment by PS3 on 16 July 2008:

Thanks for this, has really helped my computer speed up!
#131

Comment by Bobby on 8 July 2008:

Thanks alot ^^

this really helped as my computer was getting reallly slow!!

thanks!