How to Speed Up Windows XP: Change CPU Process Priorities in Your Task Manager

Changing the priority of a specific process on your computer allows you to allocate more memory usage to a specific program or service. This allows the program or service to run faster and more efficiently than normal. This tutorial will show you how to speed up Windows XP by using the Windows Task Manager to change process priorities on your PC.

Step #1
The first thing you need to do is open the Task Manager. To do this, simply hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard. If the Windows Task Manager window doesn't open, a different one will open displaying several options. Click the Task Manager button to open the utility.

Step #2.
Click on the Processes tab in the Task Manager. This will display a complete list of all running processes on your computer. If you are not sure what process to select, simply click the Applications tab (the tab located to the far left). After doing that, right-click on the program or application you want to prioritize and click Go to Process. This would take you directly to the process.

Step #3.
Now you need to right-click the process you wish to speed up. Next, hover the mouse over the option named Set Priority. Alternatively, just hit the letter P on your keyboard.

Step #4.
Click on the priority level that you want for the program. You can speed up this process of changing priority levels by using the keyboard shortcuts described as follows:

L = Low, B = Below normal, N = normal, A = above normal, H = high, R = realtime

Step #5.
Click Yes on the confirmation window that appears once you make your selection.

By default, all the priority levels start out as "normal". The higher you set a program's priority, the more the system resources that will be used for the application. This in turn will effectively make the program run faster.

*Setting a program to "Low" is recommended if the program is not necessarily important.

*The "Realtime" option can be used for a program that needs to have maximum resources to run efficiently.

Warning: The Realtime option means that the specified process will have exclusive rights to the system resources above all other programs. Selecting this option may cause other processes to crash. It should only be used for programs specifically designed for real-time processing.

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