UPDATE: Part 2 covers the advanced defragmenting tools and methods.
Some handy in-page links to help you navigate:
Overview and General Ideas
Basic Definitions
- CPU - Central Processing Unit
- This is what Intel and AMD commercials are about, this chip functions like a calculator, computing all the data.
- Hard Drive
- This is a glorified CD-ROM Disc that is much faster and has a higher capacity than a CD-ROM. This is where all your files and Operating System is stored on.
- RAM - Random Access Memory
- Data that is frequently accessed is stored in RAM instead of the Hard Drive because RAM is much much faster.
- Page File / Virtual Memory
- This is literally a file that is stored on your Hard Drive and is used as a form of RAM when you run out of real RAM. Much slower than RAM (because it is located on the hard drive) it is used to store bits of data used by programs.
Three-pronged attack against the sluggish druggish
Increase RAM/Memory
Reducing the amount of RAM that is wasted by unneeded programs, unused device drivers and devices, background services, visual effects, and various other stuff frees up RAM for your needed programs and processes. The final step of this article details the Cacheman Software that automatically takes care of everything this article doesn't go into (like registry modifications and hidden tweaks)..Optimize Hard Drive Data
The attack in order:
- Reduce Amount of data on drive by removing unneeded data and configuring optimum settings to prevent buildup in the future.
- Configure settings which minimize the amount of disk activity, e.g., reading and writing to disk.
- Defragment the data that is left, and setup an automated system to prevent fragmentation in the future.
Free Up CPU Time
Almost all of the following tips will help to decrease the amount of CPU processing time that is wasted on unneeded processes.
Part 1: Increase and Free Memory/RAM
Configure Performance Options
Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance -> SettingsIf you have massive RAM like I do, best appearance is nice. To max your speed change to "Adjust for best performance".
Change Theme to Classic
The Classic Theme uses less RAM and CPU than the newer XP themes.Fine-Tune Effects
Disable all for maximum speed. I like to only leave ClearType enabled.Color quality and Resolution
To sacrifice quality for speed, change the Color quality to a lower setting, and lower the resolution if you want.Clean up that Desktop!
Your desktop is always loaded in RAM, as it is always available to view. So everything that is ON your desktop is likewise stored in RAM. This means that every icon located on your desktop, which is actually an icon file, is loaded in RAM. What I do is instead of a cluttered Desktop always loaded in RAM, I simply create 1 folder called Desktop on my Desktop, and move everything from my desktop to that folder. That way instead of all those icons taking up memory, now only the single folder icon is taking up RAM. Not a HUGE impact, but it illustrates what RAM is and how you can stop wasting it.Make Background Solid Color
By
setting the background image of your desktop (and folders if you are
using custom folder backgrounds) to none, and instead just using a solid
color (like blue) you free up RAM. If your desktop uses a high-quality
background image (like mine) that is a 5MB jpeg image, that effectively
wastes 5MB of your RAM. A solid color background uses none.Optimize Folder Options
Open up Explorer/My Computer -> Tools -> Folder OptionsFirst change the option to "Use Windows classic folders". Now goto the View tab and hit the button "Reset all Folders", which will clear your individual folder viewing settings. Then change the options to the ones I have selected in the image for optimum speed, its up to you which options you don't want to change. The searching for network folders is a very real cause of slowness.
Page File / Virtual Memory
The
optimal way to use a page file is to not use a pagefile and max out
your physical RAM. Next to doing that (which Windows won't let you do
anyway, they love pagefiling) the optimal setup is to have the pagefile
on a 2nd hard-drive-disk. The computer can only read/write data to/from
the hard drive at a certain speed, and only a certain amount of
read/writes can be going on at one time.. Think of it like a pipe.
Having the pagefile.sys on the same disk that Windows and all the
Program's are loaded on clogs the pipe and limits flow of data in both
directions.Note that moving the page file to a separate partition on the same hard drive would NOT fix this problem or alleviate the bottleneck in any way, so the solution is to get a 2nd hard drive, I personally recommend these 2 $49.99 - 320GB x 7500RPM hard-drives that are very reliable.
Page File Size
The
size of your pagefile is up for debate, no clear answer, but I've tried
a lot of different configurations over the years and here is what I
recommend. If you have little RAM (less than 1GB), then you should just
let Windows control it. Otherwise use the custom option to set it at a
low initial size of 400MB to grow up to 3096MB. I have 4GB of RAM, so I
set it to start at 100MB and grow to 5000MB. The general rule is to
set it to be 1.5x the amount of RAM you have.Disable Devices
Disable
any devices you never use, like internal modems, firewire ports, floppy
drives, etc.. Also disable them in your systems BIOS if you can.Uninstalling Devices
If
you have devices that you used on your computer in the past but don't
anymore, they are still being loaded up by Windows and at the very least
hogging some resources. So go through and uninstall them.. (You have
to select View -> Show hidden devices).. If you plug them back in
they will be re-installed with the "Found new hardware" wizard.Disable Fast User Switching
Control Panel -> Users -> Change the way users log onMake sure you disable fast-user-switching unless you absolutely must have it. I've found it to be a cool feature if you are a basic computer user not installing programs or tweaking settings.. Nut it can create big problems if you use your computer for all sorts of *advanced* stuff (advanced for Windows)... Plus disabling it will have some speed improvements.
Optimizing Services
Start -> Run -> services.mscFirst make sure you export your current services to a backup file before you begin. There are a number of informative articles about this topic on the web.
Removing Unneeded Network Protocols
This
actually helps a lot and can have a significant impact on your computer
speed, much more so than any impact on network speed improvements.
These protocols require all sorts of RAM and are kept loaded. They also
represent a security risk as it provides another process to be
attacked.Part 2: Optimize Hard Drive and Data
Recommended Hard Drives
These are the cheapest price's for these tried and true hard-drives. I love TigerDirect and recommend you check them out.- $49.99 Seagate Barracuda 320GB - 7200RPM
- $49.99 WD3200 Caviar Blue 320GB - 7200RPM
- $59.99 WD5000 Caviar Blue 500GB - 7200RPM
- $229.99 WD VelociRaptor 320GB - 10,000RPM, FAST!
File System Tweaks
Start -> Run -> compmgmt.mscCheck the structure and properties of your disks and partitions to see if anything is out of place. Make sure file systems are using NTFS. But some partitions like dell utility partition, or a partition shared by linux/mac/windows on dual-boot systems may be fat or fat32. To convert fat-based to NTFS, defragment MFT, resize NTFS clusters, etc.. you have to use a third part product. I personally use Norton Partition Magic, Paragon Partition Manager, and Acronis Disk Director Suite (plus 20 other various tools).
2nd Hard Drive
*Advanced*If your lucky or smart enough to have more than one hard drive disk installed, in addition to moving your pagefile to that 2nd hard-drive you should setup the hard drive with at least 2 partitions first. Say you install one of those 320GB hard drives I recommend... Here's how I set the partitions on the 2nd hard-drive.
- 6.5GB - S: [SWAP] - First partition is fastest area on drive, this partition is ONLY for the pagefile. Size is 1.5x the max size of your pagefile setting, or 1.5x the amount of RAM.
- 13.5GB - 2nd partition is not given a drive letter, instead it is mounted as both C:\TMP and C:\TEMP folders.. similarly to optimizing the pagefile, Windows and Programs use the TMP and TEMP folders A LOT so this will really speed up any installations and a lot of Windows itself. *very tricky*
- 300GB - This is also mounted instead of given a drive letter, mounted as "C:\Documents and Settings" which is where all your settings and user files (Desktop, My Documents) are stored. *very tricky*
Remove Unneccessary Programs
Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs
Remove all programs that you are positive you don't need anymore, the more you remove, the better. Microsoft provides a free tool that is simple and helpful when removing programs. Download it at: Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
Remove Windows Components
The only main categories I need are Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Update Root Certificates, and Accessories and Utilities
I also remove the Games category which is a subcategory of Accessories and Utilities.System Restore Optimization
Turn
off system restore on any drives that are not crucial... So if you have
a 2nd hard-drive that is used for pagefile and temp file storage, turn
it off. And you should make sure the settings aren't too generous, I
usually never go higher than 10GB.Recycle Bin Settings
Keep
this setting to a low value, try not to delete stuff you will need
later. I personally disable the Recycle Bin completely.. but I come
from a unix background so I have no issues with misplacing files.Remove Unneccessary Fonts
C:\Windows\FontsFonts are loaded up by default by Windows and every time you load a program like Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Outlook, etc., so moving any you never use out of the
C:\Windows\Fonts folder saves RAM and CPU
and HD space. This is a bit hairy but I sort by size and then check out
how long its been since the font has been accessed by looking at the
file attributes. The less fonts you have, the faster your computer, but
there is obviously a trade-off. You can move all fonts except for a
few basic ones included with Windows to a backup folder instead of
deleting them, then reboot and if your font is messed up then move some
of the fonts from the backup folder back and try again.Prefetch Cleaning
Delete the contents of theC:\WINDOWS\Prefetch folder and restart the computer. Its good to empty this folder and reboot after major upgrades or about once a month.Part 3: Finishing the Optimization Process
These 3 tips will have the biggest speed impact for 99% of you, this is some really good stuff.Disk Cleanup
Start -> Run -> %SystemRoot%\system32\cleanmgr.exeThis wizard is a very useful tool that combines several cleanup tools in one location. It also provides a way to clean up all past restore points save on your disk except the most recent one.
Defragmenting with SmartDefrag
The World’s Most Efficient DefragmenterWhat’s the primary cause of slow/unstable PC performance? It’s disk fragmentation. Smart Defrag helps defragment your hard drives more efficiently than any other product on the market –– free or not.
This powerful, award-winning free defragmenter is 100% safe and clean with no adware, spyware, or viruses.
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Cacheman XP Optimization
Cacheman
is a Windows software designed to speed up your computer by optimizing
several caches, managing RAM and fine tuning a number of system
settings. Auto-Optimization makes it suitable for novice and
intermediate users yet it is also powerful and versatile enough for
computer experts. Backups of settings ensure that all user modifications
can be reversed with a single click.Go Get It
Software Recommendations
From the Sysinternals Suite
Autoruns
See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login. Autoruns also shows you the full list of Registry and file locations where applications can configure auto-start settings.Process Explorer
Find out what files, registry keys and other objects processes have open, which DLLs they have loaded, and more. This uniquely powerful utility will even show you who owns each process.Process Monitor
Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.VMMap
See a breakdown of a process's committed virtual memory types as well as the amount of physical memory (working set) assigned by the operating system to those types. Identify the sources of process memory usage and the memory cost of application features.Tweak UI Powertoy
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.Go Get It
Tags: Cache, File System, 301 Redirect, Nice, Optimization, Security, Windows XP, Linux, Logs, Bottleneck
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