Make Your PC Run Faster and Better

First Do Essential Housekeeping
Before undertaking any system changes, be sure that the basic maintenance chores are done. Also be sure that you know how to get back where you started in case changes don't work out. As a reminder here are the things that need to be done regularly: 
Run up-to-date anti-virus
Run up-to-date anti-spyware (preferably two or more)
Empty “temp” files
Empty Recycle Bin
Run chkdsk and disk defragmenter
Back up your system 
Make your computer start faster
Getting the computer up and running involves several stages. There are various tweaks that can be applied for each stage to speed things up. In my own experience, only a few make much difference. Some references are given in the sidebar. The most important improvement by far comes from controlling the programs that are loaded at start up. This item will be discussed in more detail below but first here is a survey of other possibilities. 
The boot process involving the BIOS 
There are a variety of tweaks that are possible in this first stage but I have never found one that did more than shave a second or two here and there. Furthermore, the BIOS is terra incognita for the average PC user. There are probably more fruitful areas where time-saving measures can be looked for but those who love to tinker can get some ideas from this ExtremeTech reference.
About Bootvis.exe
This graphical Microsoft developer tool is mentioned and recommended as a way to speed up booting in countless places. I see it so often that I felt constrained to devote a separate section to it. This is what Microsoft has to say
Please note that Bootvis.exe is not a tool that will improve boot/resume performance for end users. Contrary to some published reports, Bootvis.exe cannot reduce or alter a system's boot or resume performance. The boot optimization routines invoked by Bootvis.exe are built into Windows XP. These routines run automatically at pre-determined times as part of the normal operation of the operating system.
From what I understand (I'm no expert) a brand-new setup might take a couple of days before Windows XP finishes optimizing and, if you just can't wait, Bootvis.exe might help you optimize right away . But, basically, you can forget about using this tool in spite of what everybody keeps saying. You can't even download it from Microsoft anymore although there are sites that still have it. There seem to be several versions and one or more may not work in SP2. 

In any event, it seems it is possible to carry out some of the type of optimization done by this tool just by using RUNDLL32.EXE. In Start-Run. Enter the command 
RUNDLL32.EXE advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
Loading Windows
Windows XP loads pretty fast but there are some ways to hurry it up a bit. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff you read isn't too useful. Here are a few of the common suggestions. 
A study has shown that cutting down on the number of fonts being loaded will speed things up. If you have many hundreds of fonts, you might consider removing some. Those who wish to manage their fonts can read this article. 
There is a lot of discussion of configuring "Prefetch" and the related subject "boot defrag". The average PC user can ignore these subjects since Windows XP basically takes care of this area on its own. These configurations are part of what the utility "Bootvis.exe" discussed above was supposed to help manage. If you must tinker, do the RUNDLL32.exe command given above in the Bootvis.exe section. However, forget the often-mentioned idea of regularly deleting the contents of the \Windows\Prefetch\ folder. In fact, deleting Prefetch will initially slow down the boot until the folder is rebuilt. See Ed Bott's blog on the subject. Also see this bad tweaks list. 
The Start menu in Windows XP contains an entry, My Recent Documents, where a list of all the recent documents that you have opened or used is kept. This provides a quick way to reopen any document. After a while the list can get quite long and it has the effect of slowing the bootup process. Details of managing this feature are discussed here. What isn't obvious is that the list of files that can be accessed from the My Recent Documents entry in the Start may be only the tip of the iceberg. The folder, %USERPROFILE%\Recent, where the entries are stored may have many more. This folder should be cleaned regularly. This can be done manually or automatically every time you log off. To make the cleanup automatic you can edit the Registry. (The usual caveats about Registry editing apply.) In the Registry editor Regedit, navigate to this key: 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Create a DWORD value named ClearRecentDocsOnExit and give it a data value of 1. Shortcut entries for “My Recent Documents” will still be collected during a login session but will then be cleared at logoff.

For those who shun Registry editing, I have written an INF file to do the Registry change. Download the zipped file here to anywhere convenient and unzip. Then right-click and choose “Install” from the context menu. The change will take place when you log off or reboot.
Note: This file is offered without any guarantees and the user assumes all respnsibility for its use.
Drivers and hardware
Part of the boot process is loading and initializing the hardware. 
Keep the drivers for your peripherals and other hardware up-to-date. This may require checking regularly at the Web sites of the manufacturers. If you have older equipment, be sure that you are using drivers written for Windows XP. 
You may want to disable rarely used peripherals or hardware services. Possible examples are game ports, IR ports, MIDI devices, and Firewire. Disabling devices does not remove them and they can be re-enabled if desired. Use Device Manager to make changes. Click here to see how to use Device Manager. 
Networking tweaks
Network cards can be a substantial drag on startup time since they can spend a lot of time getting network addresses. Also if you have a lot of network protocols , loading them can take time. 
If you have a home network and are using automatic IP assignments, you may be able to speed things up by assigning permanent IPs to the computers on your network. Consult the instructions for your router. Also see this reference.
If you are using DSL and connect by PPPOE directly to a modem (not a router) you definitely want to assign a permanent IP to your network card. Otherwise, there is a considerable delay while the card hunts for an address when you boot. Consult your ISP for instructions. Also see this reference.
Limiting the programs and services that start up

This area is where the big savings in time can be made. The average PC user probably has far too much stuff loading at start up. Also, Windows starts up a lot of services by default that many systems do not need. The measures to take are covered in great detail on pages elsewhere on this site. How to use the Windows System Configuration Utility (Msconfig) and the Services Console to control both programs and services is discussed. There is also some excellent freeware to help manage your startup and one program, WinPatrol, is evaluated here. 
Making the system run better

Controlling what starts up is also a major way to make your system faster and more efficient once it is up and running. Other ways to help your system run more efficiently are discussed on the
Control What Runs in the Background
Caveat
An absolutely essential prerequisite is the absence of malware and adware. Unless a machine is free of these pests, there is no point in discussing other performance topics. Also, make no system changes unless you know how to undo them 
What background processes are 
The computer is always carrying out processes that are not visible as programs on the Desktop or the Taskbar. They come both from application software and from Windows. They are not overtly obvious and are said to run in the background. Many of them are essential functions but some may be useless (or even harmful if malware is involved).
The problem
The typical home PC today is likely to be stuffed with background programs and services. Windows XP is quite good at handling a lot of simultaneous processes but too many can consume enough resources to noticeably affect system performance. Also, some programs are poorly written or consume so many resources (Norton SystemWorks comes to mind) that by themselves they create a problem.
Where unnecessary background processes come from
There are several sources. 
It is all too common for software companies to pile on a lot of unnecessary features that load into the background at startup. 
Even Windows XP has a default configuration that loads a lot of services that typical home users do not need or use. 
In today's climate a substantial amount of protection against malware and crackers is required. This involves several programs running in the background. These programs are often resource-intensive and require careful configuration. They may conflict with one another if default settings are used. For example, it is easy to end up with three different programs checking your email attachments. Personally, I prevent a lot of functions from running automatically and instead use a regularly scheduled manual routine. 
Solutions
As mentioned on the previous page, the measures to take are covered in great detail on pages elsewhere on this site. How to use the Windows System Configuration Utility (Msconfig) and the Services Console to control both programs and services is discussed. There is also some excellent freeware to help manage what runs in the background and one program, WinPatrol, is evaluated here. Below is a table showing examples of some services that might be unnecessary. Others are given in the references above. 
Some Candidates for Unnecessary Services Computer Browser Keeps track of the other computers on your network 
Error Reporting Service Reports failures of applications directly to Microsoft 
Fast User Switching To switch to other users on the same system without logging off 
Indexing Service Creates a searchable database of hard drive 
Messenger To send text popup messages to computers on the network
Remote Registry For remote connection to the Registry
Terminal Services Allows users to connect to the computer with remote desktop
Wireless Zero Configuration Configures wireless 802.11 devices

Configure Windows XP

Some basic tweaks that help performance are discussed on another page in a previous article. Many tweaks are given in the references listed there and in the previous page. Some examples are:
Disable Error Reporting to Microsoft 
Configure System Restore to take up less space
Change Visual Settings to remove "eye candy"
Turn off fancy animated visual effects
Use Windows more efficiently

What is Windows prefetch?

Prefetch is a feature, introduced in Windows XP, that stores specific data about the applications you run in order to help them start faster. Prefetch is an algorithm that helps anticipate cache misses (times when Windows requests data that isn’t stored in the disk cache), and stores that data on the hard disk for easy retrieval.

This data is located in \Windows\Prefetch, and, as the theory goes, periodically clearing out the data in this folder (say, once a month) will improve performance. Prefetch files are files with a “PF” extension inside the Prefetch directory:
As new applications are subsequently started, new prefetch data will be created, which may mean slightly reduced performance at first. But with older entries gone, there will be less data to parse, and Windows should be able to locate the data it needs more quickly. Any performance gains you may see will be minor (if you see any at all), but those users wishing to squeeze every last CPU cycle out of their computers will want to try this one.

Note that deleting Prefetch data may increase boot time slightly, but only the next time you boot Windows. Each subsequent boot should proceed normally, since the prefetch data will already be present for the programs Windows loads when it boots.

The Prefetcher’s configuration is stored in the windows Registry at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters.

The EnablePrefetcher value can set to be one of the following:
0 = Disabled
1 = Application launch prefetching enabled
2 = Boot prefetching enabled
3 = Applaunch and Boot enabled (Optimal and Default)

It is a known myth to change the default value to anything other than 3 to speed up performance. If you notice a performance issue caused by an “optimizer” software that changed this registry value to non-3, bring back the original value to 3.

99 ways to make your computer blazingly fast

1. Defragment your computer hard disk using free tools like SmartDefrag.

2. You should also defragment your Windows pagefile and registry.

3. Clean up hard drive disk space being taken up by temporary files, the recycle bin, hibernation and more. You can also use a tool like TreeSize to determine what is taking up space on your hard drive.

4. Load up Windows faster by using Startup Delayer, a free program that will speed up the boot time of Windows by delaying the startup of programs.

5. Speaking of startup programs, many of them are useless and can be turned off. Use the MSCONFIG utility to disable startup programs.

6. By default, the size of the paging file is controlled by Windows, which can cause defragmentation. Also, the paging file should be on a different hard drive or partition than the boot partition. Read here on the rules for best paging file performance.

7. In Windows XP and Vista, the Windows Search indexing service is turned on for all local hard drives. Turning off indexing is a simple way to increase performance.

8. If you don’t care about all the fancy visual effects in Windows, you can turn them off by going to Performance Options.

9. You can optimize the Windows boot time using a free program called Bootvis from Microsoft.

10. Clean your registry by removing broken shortcuts, missing shared DLLs, invalid paths, invalid installer references and more. Read about the 10 best and free registry cleaners.

11. One of the main reasons why PC’s are slow is because of spyware. There are many programs to remove spyware including Ad-Aware, Giant Antispyware, SUPERAntiSpyware, and more.

12. If you have a deeper spyware infection that is very hard to remove, you can use HijackThis to remove spyware.

13. Remove unwanted pre-installed software (aka junk software) from your new PC using PC Decrapifier.

14. Disable unnecessary Windows services, settings, and programs that slow down your computer.

15. Tweak Windows XP and tweak Windows Vista settings using free programs

16. Disable UAC (User Account Control) in Windows Vista

17. Tweak your mouse settings so that you can copy and paste faster, scroll faster, navigate quickly while browsing and more. Read here to learn how to tweak your mouse.

18. Delete temporary and unused files on your computer using a free program like CCleaner. It can also fix issues with your registry.

19. Delete your Internet browsing history, temporary Internet files, cookies to free up disk space.

20. Clean out the Windows prefetch folder to improve performance.

21. Disable the XP boot logo to speed up Windows boot time.

22. Reduce the number of fonts that your computer has to load up on startup.

23. Force Windows to unload DLLs from memory to free up RAM.

24. Run DOS programs in separate memory spaces for better performance.

25. Turn off system restore only if you regularly backup your Windows machine using third party software.

26. Move or change the location of your My Documents folder so that it is on a separate partition or hard drive.

27. Turn off default disk performance monitors on Windows XP to increase performance.

28. Speed up boot time by disabling unused ports on your Windows machine.

29. Use Process Lasso to speed up your computer by allowing it to make sure that no one process can completely overtake the CPU.

30. Make icons appear faster while browsing in My Computer by disabling search for network files and printers.

31. Speed up browsing of pictures and videos in Windows Vista by disabling the Vista thumbnails cache.

32. Edit the right-click context menu in Windows XP and Vista and remove unnecessary items to increase display speed.

33. Use the Windows Performance Toolkit and the trace logs to speed up Windows boot time.

34. Speed up your Internet browsing by using an external DNS server such as OpenDNS.

35. Improve Vista performance by using ReadyBoost, a new feature whereby Vista can use the free space on your USB drive as a caching mechanism.

36. If you have a slow Internet connection, you can browse web pages faster using a service called Finch, which converts it into simple text.

37. Use Vista Services Optimizer to disable unnecessary services in Vista safely.

38. Also, check out my list of web accelerators, which are programs that try to prefetch and cache the sites you are going to visit.

39. Speed up Mozilla Firefox by tweaking the configuration settings and by installing an add-on called FasterFox.

40. Learn how to build your own computer with the fastest parts and best hardware.

41. Use a program called TeraCopy to speed up file copying in Windows XP and Vista.

42. Disable automatic Last Access Timestamp to speed up Windows XP.

43. Speed up the Start Menu in Vista by hacking the MenuShowDelay key in the registry.

44. Increase the FileSystem memory cache in Vista to utilize a system with a large amount of RAM.

45. Install more RAM if you are running XP with less than 512 MB or Vista with less than 1 GB of RAM.

46. Shut down XP faster by reducing the wait time to kill hung applications.

47. Make sure that you have selected “Adjust for best performance” on the Performance tab in System Properties.

48. If you are reinstalling Windows, make sure that you partition your hard drives correctly to maximize performance.

49. Use Altiris software virtualization to install all of your programs into a virtual layer that does not affect the registry or system files.

50. Create and install virtual machines for free and install junk program, games, etc into the virtual machines instead of the host operating system. Check out Sun openxVM.

51. Do not clear your paging file during shutdown unless it is needed for security purposes. Clearing the paging file slows down shutdown.

52. If your XP or Vista computer is not using NFTS, make sure you convert your FAT disk to the NTFS file system.

53. Update all of your drivers in Windows, including chipset and motherboard drivers to their latest versions.

54. Every once in a while run the built-in Windows Disk Cleanup utility.

55. Enable DMA mode in Windows XP for IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers in Device Manager.

56. Remove unnecessary or old programs from the Add/Remove dialog of the Control Panel.

57. Use a program click memtest86 or Prime95 to check for bad memory on your PC.

58. Determine your BIOS version and check the manufactures website to see if you need to update your BIOS.

59. Every once in a while, clean your mouse, keyboard and computer fans of dust and other buildup.

60. Replace a slow hard drive with a faster 7200 RPM drive, SATA drive, or SAS drive.

61. Changing from Master/Slave to Cable Select on your hard drive configuration can significantly decrease your boot time.

62. Perform a virus scan on your computer regularly. If you don’t want to install virus protection, use some of the free online virus scanners.

63. Remove extra toolbars from your Windows taskbar and from your Internet browser.

64. Disable the Windows Vista Sidebar if you’re not really using it for anything important. All those gadgets take up memory and processing power.

65. If you have a SATA drive and you’re running Windows Vista, you can speed up your PC by enabling the advanced write caching features.

66. Learn how to use keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Microsoft Word, Outlook, or create your own keyboard shortcuts.

67. Turn off the Aero visual effects in Windows Vista to increase computer performance.

68. If you are technically savvy and don’t mind taking a few risks, you can try to overclock your processor.

69. Speed up the Send To menu in Explorer by typing “sendto” in the Run dialog box and deleting unnecessary items.

70. Make sure to download all the latest Windows Updates, Service Packs, and hot fixes as they “normally” help your computer work better.

71. Make sure that there are no bad sectors or other errors on your hard drive by using the ScanDisk orchkdsk utility.

72. If you are not using some of the hardware on your computer, i.e. floppy drive, CD-ROM drive, USB ports, IR ports, Firewire, etc, then go into your BIOS and disable them so that they do not use any power and do not have to be loaded during boot up.

73. If you have never used the Recent Documents feature in Windows, then disable it completely as a long list can affect PC performance.

74. One basic tweak that can help in performance is to disable error reporting in Windows XP

75. If you don’t care about a pretty interface, you should use the Windows Classic theme under Display Properties.

76. Disable short filenames if you are using NTFS by running the following command: fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1. It will speed up the file creation process.

77. If you have lots of files in a single folder, it can slow down Explorer. It’s best to create multiple folders and spread out the files between the folders.

78. If you have files that are generally large, you might want to consider increasing the cluster size on NTFS to 16K or even 32K instead of 4K. This will help speed up opening of files.

79. If you have more than one disk in your PC, you can increase performance by moving your paging file to the second drive and formatting the volume using FAT32 instead of NTFS.

80. Turn off unnecessary features in Vista by going to Control Panel, choosing Uninstall a program, and then clicking on Turn Windows features on and off. You can turn off Remote Differential Compression, Tablet PC components, DFS replication service, Windows Fax & Scan, Windows Meeting Space, and lots more.

81. Install a free or commercial anti-virus program to help protect against viruses, etc. Make sure to use an anti-virus program that does not hog up all of your computer resources.

82. Completely uninstall programs and applications using a program like Revo Uninstaller. It will get rid of remnants left behind by normal uninstalls.

83. If you know what you are doing, you can install several hard drives into your machine and set them up in RAID 0, RAID 5, or other RAID configurations.

84. If you are using USB 1.0 ports, upgrade to 2.0. If you have a Firewire port, try to use that instead of a USB port since Firewire is faster than USB right now.

85. Remove the drivers for all old devices that may be hidden in Device Manager that you no longer use.

86. A more extreme option is to choose a faster operating system. If you find Vista to be slow, go with Windows XP. Switching to Mac or Linux is also an option.

87. One of the easiest ways to speed up your PC is to simply reformat it. Of course, you want to backup your data, but it is the best way to get your computer back to peak performance.

88. Speed up Internet browsing in IE by increasing the number of max connections per server in the registry.

89. If you use uTorrent to download torrents, you can increase the download speeds by tweaking the settings.

90. If you have a desktop background, make sure it’s a small and simple bitmap image rather than a fancy picture off the Internet. The best is to find a really small texture and to tile it.

91. For the Virtual Memory setting in Windows (right-click on My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory), make sure the MIN and MAX are both the same number.

92. If you search on Google a lot or Wikipedia, you can do it much faster on Vista by adding them to the Vista Start Menu Instant Search box.

93. If you have a custom built computer or a PC that was previously used, make sure to check the BIOS for optimal settings such as enabled CPU caches, correctly set IDE/SATA data transfer modes, memory timings, etc. You can also enable Fast/Quick boot if you have that option.

94. If you have a SCSI drive, make sure the write cache is enabled. You can do so by opening the properties of the SCSI drive in Windows.

95. If you have a machine with an older network card, make sure to enable the onboard processor for the network card, which will offload tasks from the CPU.

96. If you are using Windows Vista, you can disable the Welcome Center splash screen that always pops up.

97. If you already have anti-spyware software installed, turn off Windows Defender protection.

98. If you are running a 32-bit version of Windows and have 4GB of RAM or more, you can force Windows to see and use all of the RAM by enabling PAE.

99. Buy a new computer!!! Pretty easy eh?

This is s little tip that you can make your Internet Explorer browser can run fast as Firefox browser.

You can make it by following the step by step below

step 1: first you go to start menu and then choose run.
step2: After you choose run,it appears a little box,then you can type regedit.
step3:Find the key that you need by following this 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ InternetSettings
step4:On the right box,right click and choose new ,then continue choose DWORD Value
step5:type into the box : MaxConnectionsPerServer
step6:Just right click on that key and choose modify,and then type the value that you want into the value box(when you type the large number then your browser faster)
step7:create another key such as MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server (do the same the above steps)
step8:finish
Now just close every thing and restart your computer,then run your Internet Explorer again, see what happen
It should be run faster than usual.

Double your browser's speed in just five minutes

1. Enable pipelining

Browsers are normally very polite, sending a request to a server then waiting for a response before continuing. Pipelining is a more aggressive technique that lets them send multiple requests before any responses are received, often reducing page download times. To enable it, type about:config in the address bar, double-click network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining so their values are set to true, then double-click network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and set this to 8.

Keep in mind that some servers don't support pipelining, though, and if you regularly visit a lot of these then the tweak can actually reduce performance. Set network.http.pipelining and network.http.proxy.pipelining to false again if you have any problems.

2. Render quickly

Large, complex web pages can take a while to download. Firefox doesn't want to keep you waiting, so by default will display what it's received so far every 0.12 seconds (the "content notify interval"). While this helps the browser feel snappy, frequent redraws increase the total page load time, so a longer content notify interval will improve performance.

Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click (Apple users ctrl-click) somewhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.notify.interval as your preference name, click OK, enter 500000 (that's five hundred thousand, not fifty thousand) and click OK again.

Right-click again in the window and select New > Boolean. This time create a value called content.notify.ontimer and set it to True to finish the job.

3. Faster loading

If you haven't moved your mouse or touched the keyboard for 0.75 seconds (the content switch threshold) then Firefox enters a low frequency interrupt mode, which means its interface becomes less responsive but your page loads more quickly. Reducing the content switch threshold can improve performance, then, and it only takes a moment. 

Type about:config and press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Integer. Type content.switch.threshold, click OK, enter 250000 (a quarter of a second) and click OK to finish.

4. No interruptions

You can take the last step even further by telling Firefox to ignore user interface events altogether until the current page has been downloaded. This is a little drastic as Firefox could remain unresponsive for quite some time, but try this and see how it works for you. 

Type about:config, press [Enter], right-click in the window and select New > Boolean. Type content.interrupt.parsing, click OK, set the value to False and click OK.

5. Block Flash

Intrusive Flash animations are everywhere, popping up over the content you actually want to read and slowing down your browsing. Fortunately there's a very easy solution. Install the Flashblock extension (flashblock.mozdev.org) and it'll block all Flash applets from loading, so web pages will display much more quickly. And if you discover some Flash content that isn't entirely useless, just click its placeholder to download and view the applet as normal.
6. Increase the cache size

As you browse the web so Firefox stores site images and scripts in a local memory cache, where they can be speedily retrieved if you revisit the same page. If you have plenty of RAM (2 GB of more), leave Firefox running all the time and regularly return to pages then you can improve performance by increasing this cache size. Type about:config and press [Enter], then right-click anywhere in the window and select New > Integer. Type browser.cache.memory.capacity, click OK, enter 65536 and click OK, then restart your browser to get the new, larger cache.

7. Enable TraceMonkey

TraceMonkey is a new Firefox feature that converts slow Javascript into super-speedy x86 code, and so lets it run some functions anything up to 20 times faster than the current version. It's still buggy so isn't available in the regular Firefox download yet, but if you're willing to risk the odd crash or two then there's an easy way to try it out. 

Install the latest nightly build (ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/), launch it, type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Type JIT in the filter box, then double-click javascript.options.jit.chrome and javascript.options.jit.content to change their values to true, and that's it - you're running the fastest Firefox Javascript engine ever.

8. Compress data

If you've a slow internet connection then it may feel like you'll never get Firefox to perform properly, but that's not necessarily true. Install toonel.net (toonel.net) and this clever Java applet will re-route your web traffic through its own server, compressing it at the same time, so there's much less to download. And it can even compress JPEGs by allowing you to reduce their quality. This all helps to cut your data transfer, useful if you're on a limited 1 GB-per-month account, and can at best double your browsing performance.