Windows Vista Speed Tweaks

New Windows Vista users often complain about the lack of performance their system experiences. Here are a few handy tips to improve your overall system speed.

Maximize Your System RAM

If you are trying to run Vista on less than 2GB of RAM, you will experience system slowness. The single thing that will improve any system is more RAM.

Reduce the amount of RAM in use.

If your system is RAM-poor, keep running programs to a minimum. This likely means disabling the Sidebar. This program typically uses 5-20MB of RAM - sometimes more depending on the number of gadgets that are open. To disable it, locate the Sidebar icon on the task bar, right-click on it and select EXIT. You can also permanently disable the sidebar from the Services.msc snap in.

Power Management

Vista offers different power management schemes. These can be accessed from the Control Panel, or from the battery icon in the taskbar. Desktops should always be set to "High Performance" when in use. Setting the power scheme to "Power Saver" will save battery power on laptops, but will instantly reduce system speed by 50%. Choose the best power scheme for your needs.

Disable Services

Many of Vista's services can be unloaded from startup. Disable the following services:

• Application Experience
• Bluetooth Support Service (if available)
• Diagnostic Policy
• Diagnostic Service
• Diagnostic System Host
• Fax
• Human Interface
• Interactive Services
• Ready Boost
• Smart Card
• Tablet PC Input
• Windows Defender

Set the following services to "Automatic -- Delayed Start"

• Superfetch
• Win Image Acquisition

(NOTE: disabling some of these services will cause all pop-up balloons to cease appearing; this can be good or bad depending on your taste)

Disable Aero / Advanced graphics

Many of Vista's advanced graphics ("Aero") will slow down the OS. To improve performance, consider adjusting the Performance Options to "Best Performance" To open this menu: right-click Computer, select Properties; click on Advanced system settings; under Performance, click on the Settings button. Note, this will set Vista to "Basic" graphics mode (and make all fonts nearly unreadable).

To achieve a balance of looks vs. performance, turn off all but the following options:

• Animate controls and elements inside windows
• Show thumbnails instead of icons
• Smooth edges of screen fonts
• Smooth-scroll list boxes
• Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop
• Use visual styles on windows and buttons

Speed Up System Boot

Many devices are not needed at system boot; any device not needed should be disabled, otherwise Vista must take time to initialize this item during boot. Here are some common devices that can be disabled in the BIOS and/or Device Manager on most modern computers:

• Smart Card readers
• Modem
• LPT port
• Floppy drive

Other System Settings

• MSCONFIG: Under the BOOT tab, set your "Boot Timeout" to 3 seconds to give your system that extra edge it needs to boot quickly.
• Make sure the BIOS is set to "Quick Boot".

These tips were tested on numerous Windows Vista Business 32-bit systems and have proven effective for many users. As with all computer advice your mileage may vary depending on your system setup.