Windows vista best performance settings

You can also do a manual defragmentation if you think it's necessary for example, if you've spent the day uninstalling and installing programs, and the computer seems to be running slower. Just click the Defragment Now button, shown in Figure N. The Advanced Tools section of the Performance Information And Tools utility gives you quick links to the following tools for gathering performance-related info:. Microsoft has made it easy by consolidating many of these actions in the Performance Information And Tools console.

Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MCSE, MVP is a technology consultant, trainer, and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. Deb is a tech editor, developmental editor, and contributor to over 20 add Identify your bottlenecks The first step in fixing a problem is to find out exactly what's broken. Performance Monitor Vista, like its business-oriented predecessors XP Professional, Windows , and NT Workstation , includes a performance monitoring tool that allows you to do detailed monitoring of various counters relating to both software and hardware components.

Figure A You can use the Performance Monitor to assess performance of almost any component in the computer. Figure C A score under 3. Figure G You can view a list of startup programs in the System Information tool. Figure H You can adjust settings via the Performance Options dialog box. Figure J You can change virtual memory settings for better performance. Figure K These options let you specify which locations to index. Figure L You can select a power plan to balance performance against energy conservation.

Figure M Disk Cleanup can free up space on your disk, giving better performance. Figure N Defragmenting the disk regularly improves disk access performance. Editor's Picks. The best programming languages to learn in Check for Log4j vulnerabilities with this simple-to-use script. TasksBoard is the kanban interface for Google Tasks you've been waiting for. Paging Zefram Cochrane: Humans have figured out how to make a warp bubble.

Show Comments. Hide Comments. My Profile Log out. Join Discussion. Performance Options Open System Properties right click on My Computer and select Properties , select Advanced system settings , then press the Performance Settings button, finally selecting the Advanced tab. This drop-down menu specifies the data to be dumped useful for troubleshooting purposes in the event of a STOP error occurring, four options are available: none.

Selecting this option sets that no data should be dumped. This is recommended as it places no restrictions or conditions on Page File configuration.

Small memory dump 64KB. Using Windows. In order to finish press Ok. In the Command Prompt window please select, copy and paste the following command: Powercfg - setactive 8c5e7fda- e8bf- 4a 9a a6e23a8cc Please press Enter to execute. Speed up Vista. This section contains small tweaking which will improve your overall system performance. Make this settings following these steps:. All windows based systems have the system configuration utility Msconfig included and it's used to change the way windows starts up.

Whit in the utility you can disable startup programs and services in order for the system to boot faster and improve his overall performance. In the Command Prompt window please select, copy and paste the following command: msconfig Please press Enter to execute In System Configuration please go to Startup list and Disable All.

Leave only programs that you want to start with your operating system for example your laptop touchpad program Now please go to Boot tab, change Timeout to 3 sec and press on Advanced Options If your system have more then 1 core you can use them to boot your pc faster Press Ok to finish and choose Exit Without Restart.

Visual Effects. Visual effects makes your system have a pleasing look. The system is using effects like fading, shadows and other styles to achieve the pleasant appearance. These effects consume considerable amount of system resources.

Some features can be unchecked and you'll still be able to keep the visual effect but a bit decreased. After these changes you'll notice a performance boost. In the Command Prompt window please select, copy and paste the following command: systempropertiesperformance Please press Enter to execute In Performance Options window select Adjust for best performance then check: Smooth edges of screen fonts Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop Use visual styles on windows and buttons Press OK to finish.

Please go to Start right click on Computer and choose Properties In System window please click on Advanced system settings Please confirm UAC pop- up In System Properties window please go to Advanced tab and click on the Settings button from Performance section In Performance Options window select Adjust for best performance then check: Smooth edges of screen fonts Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop Use visual styles on windows and buttons Press OK to finish.

Disk Cleanup. Windows provides the perfect utility to help you clean up unnecessary files from your partition. This utility is called disk cleanup and it scans you disk for files that are safe to delete, freeing up significant amounts of disk space. The utility can be accessed using these steps:. We can free more space by disabling the hibernation feature, this only if you don't use it. There are 2 features that are present when you restart or shutdown your computer: standby and hibernate.

All your work and running applications will be resumed. The standby feature save all data in RAM. Some peripherals will have the power cut off, the computer enters in a power saving mode. The concept of the hibernation is also to resume all your work and running applications but it save all these information in a file called hiberfil.

The size of the file can reach 2 GB or more. The main benefit of disabling hibernation is freeing up hard drive space. Lets start now by following these steps:. Virtual memory. Virtual memory or page file is a substitute for RAM. Page file uses a file pagefile.

Virtual memory comes in handy when you are running low on RAM. The default virtual memory, paging file should be set to system managed. The system will know how much space should be allocated for the system and running programs to function properly. Please determine available space following these steps:. In the Folder Options window please go to the View tab, select Show hidden files and folders and deselect Hide extensions for known file types To deselect Hide protected operating system files Recommended please confirm the the Warning window.

Press OK to close Folders Options window. Right click on the selection and choose Delete Please confirm Delete Multiple Items Please check the box Do this for all current items and press Skip Now you can close this window and open the temp folder from windows. Clean your temporary files. Temporary files are created by many different programs. They use the temporary folder during the installation process and while they are running. These files supposed to be removed once the process is completed, but due to various reasons: unexpected shutdown, programming errors, corrupt installation, etc, they are left behind, wasting free space of your hard disk.

In the search box on the taskbar, type restore point , then select Create a restore point from the list of results. Select Next , then choose the restore point related to the app, driver, or update that might be causing the problem. Windows 11 Windows 10 More Make sure you have the latest updates for Windows and device drivers. Check for Windows updates Do one of the following: If the status says "You're up to date," continue and check for optional updates.

If the status says "Updates are available," select Install now. Select the updates you want to install, then select Install. Restart your PC and see if it seems to run better. Sometimes an optional update, like a new non-critical driver, will be available that may help.

If your PC still runs slowly, continue to the next tip. PC still running slowly? Continue to the next tip. To make sure automatic page file management is turned on Select Search on the taskbar, type advanced system in the search box, and then select View advanced system settings , which has Control panel listed underneath it.

You may improve performance if you free some disk space on your PC. Open Storage settings Your drives will be listed in the Storage area. To adjust the visual effects in Windows Select Search , type performance , then select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows in the list of results.

Restart your PC and see if that speeds up your PC. Restart your PC and see if your performance issues have improved with syncing paused. Find the programs that start automatically Sometimes you can determine which programs start automatically by looking at the program icons in the notification area on the far right of the taskbar. Open Startup Apps settings In the Startup Apps area, find the program you want to stop from starting automatically and set it to Off.

System restore works for changes made in the last 7 to 14 days. Check for Windows updates Do one of the following: If the status says "You're up to date," go to the next tip. To run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter In the search box on the taskbar, type troubleshoot , then select Troubleshoot settings , which has System settings listed underneath it.

To make sure automatic page file management is turned on In the search box on the taskbar, type advanced system , and then select View advanced system settings , which has Control panel listed underneath it. To adjust the visual effects in Windows In the search box on the taskbar, type performance , then select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows in the list of results. Notification area with mouse pointing to show hidden icons Even after you check the notification area, you might still miss some programs that run automatically at startup.

Notes: If you turn off a program and it continues to start automatically when Windows starts, you should scan for viruses and malware. Need more help? Join the discussion. A subscription to make the most of your time.

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