How to make my computer faster

[Nerwin]

Hey guys, do you have any tips or tricks to make a computer faster without changing the theme, becasue I really want to keep my Windows MCE theme, but i want to make windows much more faster.

have any ideas

if you need more information, just ask me the ? and i will try to answer it.

Thanks...

[XPero]

nLite would be a good option (if not the best)

[MGadAllah]

I think reading more about registery tweaks will help a lot

[coyotewrw]

TAiN recently asked me in this thread how much of a performance hit I was having on my system. I posted some basic tips for the newer members that you might find useful. They've worked for me, anyway...

Edited September 14, 2006 by coyotewrw

[MGadAllah]

I posted some basic tips

It was effective for me , beside I've used the media monkey you reffered to in your signature, I really found it great Edited September 14, 2006 by mgadallah

[Nerwin]

TAiN recently asked me in this thread how much of a performance hit I was having on my system. I posted some basic tips for the newer members that you might find useful. They've worked for me, anyway...

All what i see are screenshots.....

I do not no much about software, I'm an expert in computer harware and computer networking

[MGadAllah]

My best advice for those just getting started:

1. DO keep your drives defragged with plenty of free space (burn extra data like movies to DVD).
   
2. DON'T use "system enhancers" like RAM defraggers, etc. They typically do more harm than good because they interfere with Windows' default methodology for system maintenance, and Windows gets VERY p*ssy about that.
   
3. DON'T use bloatware like the Norton and MacAfee suites. You do NOT need all the bells and whistles. Instead, use an AV/firewall that does ONLY those two things. My personal choice is F-Secure, but there are other good programs out there that keep it simple.
   
4. Be VERY careful about messing with Windows' services and other default settings. There's plenty of "advice" sites that are full of sh*t and/or out of date. Do only a couple of changes then watch your system for a day or two to see if they were good or not.
   
5. BACKUP. BACKUP. BACKUP!!! My personal choice is Acronis True Image. I ALWAYS update the backup before making any serious changes or installing unknown software.
   
6. Once a week, scan your system for spyware and clean out your internet cache with something like CCleaner.
   

One last thing: I don't use programs like StyleXP or IconPackager to mod my system. I either make changes to the Registry directly or reshack the system files themselves.

I've also noticed that there's been an increase in performance since I stripped all the unneeded icon formats from Shell32.dll and other system files, sticking with the following: 48x48 XP, 32x32 XP, 24x24 XP, 16x16 XP. Maybe that's just my imagination, but my system seems faster since getting rid of the large formats (128x128, etc.) and the old formats (256 colors and 16 colors). I'd be interested in getting some eedback on this.

Cheers!

Edited September 14, 2006 by mgadallah

[coyotewrw]

Sorry for sending you to screenshot hell, computerMan. mgadallah's post shows what I was talking about.

[Nerwin]

Thats does not help very much, but thats me. but i will list my systems specs:

I have a ....

P4 3.2Ghz 800fsb W/HT

1 GIG (pc-2700)

250 GIG SATA-150 HDD (7200 RPM)

if you want more just ask me

Software...

WINDOWS XP PRO W/SP2

ITunes 7.0

Adobe Photoshop CS2

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional

Symantec AntiVirus (corp Edition) 10.0

Microsft office 2003 pro

And Again if you want more, please ask me

[fleamailman]

Little question you wrote:

I've also noticed that there's been an increase in performance since I stripped all the unneeded icon formats from Shell32.dll and other system files, sticking with the following: 48x48 XP, 32x32 XP, 24x24 XP, 16x16 XP.

How does one go about doing the above then?

[coyotewrw]

@computerMan: Well, as you said, you're more of a hardware than a software guy. Those tips are related to keeping XP clean and tight.

The best hardware in the world won't help if Windows and other software isn't maintained correctly. Imho, you'd do yourself a lot of good educating yourself on the software side, because hardware is only half of the equation.

The b*tch of it is that while hardware problems almost always manifest immediately, software issues can have a cumulative effect, making the system slower and slower over time.

One offender I can see off the bat is Symantic. Norton and McAfee are notorious for slowing down XP and interfering with other programs. You're better off using somethin like F-Secure or similar program that follow the "keep it simple" approach.

Hope that helps.

@fleamailman: What I meant was that I edit my icons in Axialis IconWorkshop before inserting them into my system files (like shell32.dll) using Resource Hacker. There's a very good ResHacker tutorial in the MSFN Customizing Windows section.

Edited September 14, 2006 by coyotewrw

[Nerwin]

I herd that if i disable the Disable Indexing Service will increase the computers speed

[MGadAllah]

Disable Indexing Service will increase the computers speed

Right, but from my experience any operating system MS issued can not stay more then a year, you will find yourself in a need for a new reinstall, so all tools from here and there just try to increase the time before the need time come, because system performance become so slow, but if any one know tricks, sure it will help alot. Edited September 15, 2006 by mgadallah

[cumminbk]

Your on the right track with the indexing service disabling it will increase performance very much. with no negative effects.

double click my computer - right click main hard drive - go to properties, and uncheck allow indexing service to index this drive for faster file searching.

This majorly increases performace and has very little effect on slowing file searches.

Edited September 15, 2006 by cumminbk

[Nerwin]

Cool, any other tricks, that can boost my somputers speed?