Tips and Tricks to Speed Up Your Windows XP

Microsoft developed Windows XP with performance in mind, but this doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do to improve the experience further. Gathered below are some of the simplest tips and tricks available for Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

Tip #1: TweakXP
The most simple option available will always be to download specialized software that does the hard work for you. While manual tweaks are useful, there's simply no comparison; TweakXP and similar programs cover many aspects of Windows XP and can perform the tweaks that would take you and I hours in a matter of minutes. You choose what you wish to see and these tweaking programs do it for you.

TweakXP is recommended due to its ease of use and freeware status. It can be found at:
http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakutility/

Another highly recommended application is Microsoft's PowerToys for Windows XP, which is available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Tip #2: Disable File Indexing
Windows XP contains an indexing service designed to extract information from documents and aid you in a "searchable keyword index." While this process can (in some cases) be useful, the amount of resources necessary to properly index your computer can also slow it down greatly! In addition, there are many users who will never even use this search feature. If you want to squeeze more speed out of your XP machine, disable the file indexing.

To disable this file indexing, double-click on My Computer and right-click on your C:\ Drive (or whichever drive you wish to disable indexing for). From here, select "Properties" and uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, you must apply these new settings to "C:\ subfoldersand files." Voila! You will notice a performance boost with these changes made.

Tip #3: Turn Off Unwanted XP Services
There are many features of Windows XP that you will never have a use for. These unnecessary features do nothing but occupy memory and slow down your XP experience. It is strongly recommended that you turn off the features you know you will not use in order to increase the performance of your machine. This is perhaps one of the most beneficial tweaks you can do for your system!

To begin, go to your Start Menu and click on Run. From here, type in services.msc and hit enter. You will see a list of services pop up; at this point, choose which services you wish to disable. Doing so will save you valuable memory and spare your processor the trouble to boot! For a list of services and full descriptions for each, please visit:
http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

Tip #4: Remove All Spyware from Your Computer
If you're like most XP users, you've collected a decent amount of Spyware by simply surfing your daily routine. These Spyware applications and settings can often lead to unwanted and undetected performance issues and should be cleaned immediately!

A few highly-regarded Spyware removal programs are Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy. A free version of both Ad-Aware and Search and Destroy can be found at the following addresses:

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/

Tip #5: Run Disk Cleanup
Last, but certainly not least, Windows XP is shipped with a clean-up tool that is designed to remove temporary and unnecessary files that may be plaguing your system. To access this tool, double-click on My Computer and right-click on your C:\ drive. Select "Properties" from the context menu and click the "Disk Cleanup" button -- it should be just to the right of the pie-chart that displays the available space on your hard drive.

Repeating this simple process even once a month will go a long ways towards keeping your system free of clutter.

Congratulations on Your Well-Oiled System!

These tips and tricks will go a long way towards making your Windows XP experience much more efficient than when you begun. While new operating systems come and go every few years, there will always be ways of customizing and improving the performance of these products to fit your wants and needs.