50 ways to make Windows Vista faster (part 5)

In our last part of our guide to making Windows Vista run faster, we take a look at Windows Vista’s visual effects and how they can be streamlined to improve performance.

41. Optimise the Registry

Download and install Free Registry Defrag from registry-clean.net then launch the program. Click Analyze Registry and wait for the results to show up – unlike Registry cleaning utilities, no entries are removed from the Registry with the problems that often introduces; instead wasted space is reclaimed and the files defragmented to improve performance.

Don’t “clean” your Registry, defrag it instead

42. Scale Back Visual Effects

Remove some of Windows Vista’s visual effects for a speed boost. Click Start, right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click Advanced System Settings and click Settings under Performance. On the Visual Effects tab select Adjust for best performance to disable everything, or click Custom to disable individual effects. Click OK twice to enable your changes.

43. Disable Transparent Effects

Disable transparency in Windows Aero for a more responsive experience

The glass effect used by Windows Aero consumes a large number of resources. You can switch it off without disabling Windows Aero by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Personalize. Select Window Colour and Appearance and untick Enable Transparency before clicking OK.

44. Disable System Restore

System Restore is handy for rolling your system back after encountering problems, but the cost is less disk space and processing power as Restore points are created and your drive is monitored. If you can live without this fail-safe mechanism, switch it off. Click Start, right-click My Computer and select Properties. Choose System Protection, then untick the box next to your drive and click Turn off System Restore when prompted.

45. Disable User Account Control

User Account Control puts in a layer of security that stops you from making system changes without confirming them. More experienced users willing to take the security risk can disable this to speed things up when performing low-level tasks. Open Control Panel and choose User Accounts and Family Safety. Select User Accounts and click Turn User Account Control on or off. Untick Use User Account Control to protect your computer, click OK and reboot.

User Account Control can slow down and irritate experts, but it’s essential for less experienced users

46. Stop Autmatic Hibernation

Prevent your PC from going to sleep to free up more resources

The Automatic hibernation process runs constantly in the background using up resources. If you’re happy to hibernate manually, and you’re not using a laptop on battery power, switch it off: open Control Panel, select System and Maintenance and click “Change when the computer sleeps”. Set “Put the computer to sleep” to Never and click Save changes.

47. Disable Remote Differential Compression

Unless you move files around your network on a regular basis, this feature can be safely switched off. Open Control Panel and select Programs. Choose Turn Windows features on and off, untick Remote Differential Compression and click OK.

48. Check Event Viewer

Problems with your PC can sometimes be manifested in sluggish performance or long delays – here’s how to identify what they are, enabling you to examine ways of fixing them

a) Access System Logs

Click Start, right-click Computer and select Manage. When the Computer Management console appears select Event Viewer – after a short delay the following summary screen will appear.

b) View Errors and Warnings

Select Windows Logs. Double-click a log to view recorded events – select Action > Filter Current Log and tick Critical, Error and Warning so only those events are shown. Click OK.

c) Event Details

Right click an event and choose Event Properties. The resulting dialog presents details of the event, including a brief description of what happened – if further information is available, click it for a possible fix.

49. Lose the Sidebar

Each Sidebar gadget consumes system resources, so either trim back what you use to a minimum or go one step further and switch it off completely. Right-click the sidebar and choose Properties. Untick “Start the Sidebar when Windows starts” and click OK, then right-click again and this time choose Close Sidebar.

50. How Stable are your Tweaks

It’s a good idea to monitor your system to see what effect – positive or negative – your tweaks hav
e on the stability of your system. The Reliability Monitor provides a graph over time so you can see how each action might have affected the running of your PC.

The Reliability Monitor reveals stable your system is and lists possible causes of instability

Launch it by click Start, typing performance information and pressing [Enter]. Select Advanced tools from the left-hand pane and click Open Reliability and Performance Monitor. Select Reliability Monitor and view the graph to see what’s been going on behind the scenes.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five