Community Newsletter: Q&A: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine?
- 1/11/08 3:13 PM
Maybe it's fast but it's doing too much
by Dr. Planarian - 12/15/07 3:51 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
So you got a new Vista computer and it takes a long time to boot.
Let me ask you a few questions:
1. Did you remove all the absurd bloatware that most manufacturers pre-install on the computers they sell? If not, I guarantee that this stuff is slowing you down. As a general rule of thumb, if you're not using it, get rid of it.
2. Did it come with one of the big, fat security suites like Norton or McAfee? Again, toss them into the garbage and get nice, clean, free AVG for an antivirus, SpyBot Search and Destroy for anti-spyware/adware (Spyware Doctor is better but you have to pay for it), and use something like Zone Alarm Free for a firewall (in nearly all cases, though, Vista's own firewall is good enough). They work well and don't use up all your RAM.
3. Are you using AOL? Nothing slows down a computer worse than AOL, which will run all these resource-intensive scans and updates at times of its own choosing and without letting you know it's happening. You'll wait MINUTES for your browser or email application to come up, and the disk drive light will be blinking feverishly even when you aren't doing anything at all.
Your computer is new so your problem probably isn't disk fragmentation or registry de-optimization, but that'll slow you down eventually too.
Your computer has enough resources. A clean computer that is sufficiently robust will run applications under vista with startling rapidity, but it can't run if it's weighted down with a load of garbage, which I suspect is your problem. Clean it up and get back to us.
To speed up a bit.
by tanukisoba87 - 12/15/07 4:00 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There several ways to speed up vista as far as i know.(since i have one)
Here are the details:
1. upgrading the RAM memory. Vista computers require a good RAM trasfer speed. I recommend the minimum of PC2-5300 type(667Mhz) of memory OR PC2-6400 (800Mhz) memory. 1024mb of these is preferable. I have 2 512mb of PC2-5300 type and 2 of 1024mb filling up 4 slots in total.
2. Upgrading the graphic card. This is the crucial point where you have to spend a lot of time looking for the most compatible one. I recommend the one that is Vista ready (sealed on the box)and more or less the latest one (preferable year 2006 ones).GDDR3 type of video card is preferable but if you don't play games, then ordinary GDDR2 type is ok (but in this case buy 512mb ones). Be careful for the collect driver of the video card. (before you take out your current video card, make sure you uninstall the Display driver of the card)
all that graphical buisness score can be seen at Control panel - System - refresh index.
3. Bit of a Tweak. There are many background process going around when you turn on the Vista system. Reducing the background process is good. If you want a detail of this, please email me: t.oinari@gmail.com
4. Turn off unwanted programs. Go to (right click) Drive C -Property - and you can see at the bottom that the indexing file is ticked. untick that. It takes time to complete that.
Now, go to control panel, system , and advanced setting (at the top left)
under performance section which you see, click settings. Here you can change a bit of vista interface such as fade out and fade in staff like that.
Now go back to the control panel and go to Program and features. at the top left, you see the Turn off windows features button. click that . leave Remote differential compression and print service and microsoft NET framework alone and untick all others.
Go to Windows defender and block the start up items from there. Leave the necessary ones you think.
By the way, there are a lot of task that you sometimes have to consider using Administrator setting. For example, at the windows defender, click Show for all users button in order to fully let your system know what you are going to do.
I have a lot of issues that i have experienced so if you want a tweak guide, i can tell you mine if you wish.
hope that helps.
Faster Vista
by pauldesr - 12/15/07 4:54 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My Vista runs fine after ridding my computer of Norton, making sure there was absolutely nothing by AOL loaded, and installing Windows Live OneCare for security.
Vista
by rfkahn - 12/15/07 5:45 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I find that Vista is MUCH slower than earlier systems. I also find Office 2007 to be much slower than Vista. I do not know if the virus protection programs slow Vista/Office to a crawl or if it is the Vista operating system itself. I am looking forward to a better operating system or maybe converting over to MAC.
Win 2000 Pro
by flyfisherman66 - 12/15/07 6:08 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Works for me, much faster.
My son has the awnswer he runs XP with a Vista shell over
by rodm963 - 12/15/07 6:23 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I read that Xp is more than Double as fast as vista don't remember where well heres the link
tovista theme
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1089/make_xp_look_like_vista_longhorn_free
I made the error of getting Vista as well
by cnetstaple - 12/15/07 6:31 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Earlier this year I came across a great deal on a Dell PC with Vista so I took the plunge and bought it.
Sadly Vista really is Bloatware, I am very disappointed with the performance, even opening apps takes ages and aside from the glitz, Microsoft haven't really made any major usability improvements.
I am a Mac user too and I really wish I had paid the extra and got another Mac. OS X does leave Vista standing at the start line. I would have even been able to install XP or Vista on the Mac in a dual boot config so I would have had the best of both worlds.
So how do you improve the speed of your Vista machine, go back to XP :o)
I am going to check out Ubuntu next. Microsoft have lost the plot.
re: VISTA is slow
by charliegirl42 - 12/15/07 6:44 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Have you de-crapified your machine yet? Vista comes with all sorts of happy little "buy me" programs... and I had to REMOVE all of them. I don't know if that sped things up any, but it made me feel better. ; )
Don't blame Vista for irresponsible manufacturers
by csharpman - 1/5/08 7:08 AM In reply to: re: VISTA is slow by charliegirl42In all fairness, all the crapware you get with a PC these days is not the fault of Microsoft, or the Vista operating system. (P.S. I don't work for Microsoft or anything and am just trying to be unbiased.)
The crapware is installed by the computer manufacturer. I've run into this bigtime with both HP and Dell - and it seems as if everyone is doing it. On the last Dell computer I bought, there was crapware that just hung the whole machine up. I made the mastake of calling Dell Tech Support to get things straightened out - they just wasted hours of my time jerking me around before finally sending software to run my DVD drive without gumming up the whole box.
It's scary. They didn't even know what was installed on the machine in the first place. They have no means of isolating the cause of a problem beacuse they don't know that they installed. They don't know their own configurations.
It seems like they don't even test. Somebody gives them a few bucks to start bundling some crap on their machines and they throw it into the build without even trying stuff out first. And when you call, they have to ask you what they installed. They don't even keep track.
Recently I asked an HP salesperson about getting a Windows Installation CD with a new machine. They won't provide that. They will sell you a recovery CD but won't guarantee that it won't have the same crapware that was originally installed on the machine. So, if you do have to recover, you get the the pleasure of "de-crappifying" all over again.
In all fairness, I have not had experience with all the manufacturers but it seems as if they all do it. And I've seen with both HP and Dell that having a reasoned, constructive conversation with their tech support people is impossible. Don't even waste your time calling those people.
Face up to it - your on your own. Like charliegirl says - start by getting rid the junk. Then make sure that everything that you want to work does work. Then take an image of the entire c: partition and make sure you plan for any failures. Don't count on the manufacturer to make things any better. They might make it worse but they won't make it better.
Vista tips
by B123456H - 12/15/07 6:44 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Vista is just a big bloated o/s. Try defragging the hard drive for starters. (use the Auslogics defragmenter) Next, turn off the visual efx you don't want
Vista problems on new Gateway computer
by djcnm - 12/15/07 6:52 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm anything but a guru but I can tell you that you are not alone! I bought a new computer with Vista last week and I can't believe how slow this thing is. It also locks up when I least expect it. I've had to reformat the hard drive once already. I'm afraid to trust this machine for any of my day to day work for fear of losing it. I've looked at all the technical sites I could find and asked the Geek Squad guy at Best Buy what was going on. I got enough technical mumbo jumbo to last a lifetime but none of it helped! The best advise I've gotten is that a long overdue Service Pack will be released in the first 1/4 of '08.
Hours and hours of Vista problems.
by Old Geezer John - 12/15/07 7:24 AM In reply to: Vista problems on new Gateway computer by djcnmI hope you have DSL or cable because if you do, go out and get the latest drivers for everything and the latest updates for all your software - especially your virus software. My HP came with a free trial of Norton and the old version that came installed caused me several hours of problems until it dawned on me to go to their site and download the latest version. That helped everything a whole lot, but my greatest improvement came when Norton expired and I bought McAffe. Of course the program on the disk was uselessly obsolete and I had to download a Vista version from the internet and it was huge.
Realize that automatic Vista updates will cause you all kinds of problems. Be sure you know how to roll the PC back to an earlier time and how to update malfunctioning drivers after an automatic update. I would suggest you disable automatic updating and only update ever week or two then install the updates one at a time. If any one of the updates causes a problem, you will know which one and roll your PC back to just before that install.
In my opinion and my personal experience, Vista is the dirtiest trick that a monopoly can play on innocent customers and it will take you weeks and weeks before you can trust your PC again. Again in my own opinion, this product was rushed in a bloated and buggy form out to the market long before it was ready and we the public are the "beta testers" whether or not we want to be.
answer for Darren
by djmatt6899 - 12/15/07 7:04 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
1.Restrict number of start up programs ,ones you can start manually ,click internet defense manually before going on internet a pick ones you decide to start up like yahoo messenger add on ons ect.Run strong ultilities like win Patrol,tune up Ultilities as a rule of thumb..
2. Disable services which one may not require. For example, if your pc is a stand-alone one, there may be sevral services which you can disable or switch over to manual mode. Auto-starting and closing down of services takes time & resources. These can be saved. BlackViper's Vista Service Configurations is an excellent guide to follow.
3. Reducing visual effects (eye candy). Right-click on “My Computer” > Properties > Advanced > Performance-Settings > Visual Effects > Adjust for best performance > Apply > OK.
To allow the themes and the glass effects, you may have to check on the boxes : enable transperant glass and use visual styles; this way atleast the spirit of Vista will be preserved- else be prepared for a really bland Vista ! Use your discretion. I know disabling all can actually negate the purpose of 'eye-friendly' Vista.
4. Ensure that boot defragmentation is enabled, so that files used during start-up are clubbed together.
Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction . Select Enable from the list on the right.
Right Click on it and select Modify. Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable. Reboot.
5. Disable : "clear page file on shutdown" option. Cleaning the page-file on every shutdown means overwriting the data by zeros, and it takes time.
To clear/not clear page file you can apply this reg tweak. Back up registry before trying this.
Start->run->regedit [enter]
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management
Modify (if not present, rt click in open space and create) the Value Data Type/s and Value Name/s :
Data Type: REG_DWORD [Dword Value]
Value Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Clear Page File Disabled / 1 = Clear Page File Enabled]
Exit Registry and Reboot.
6. Defragment your System Disk & Fine Tune your Registry. If you find the Vista's in-built defragger slow, you can try SysInternals Power Defragmenter which works on Vista too ! Use the freeware CCleaner to clear up your PC Junk and clean up the Registry. Compacting the Registry occasionally is a good idea too !
7. Generally people also recommend emptying the Prefetch directory once in a while. But Windows uses this directory to speed up launching
applications. It analyzes the files you use during startup and the applications you launch, and it creates an index to where those files and applications are located on your hard disk. Using this index, Windows can launch files and applications faster. Nevertheless clearing the Prefetcher say once a month is what I do !
8. Go to BIOS settings, by pressing del key during boot-up, and disable 'seek floppy drive' option. This saves time for those who do not use floppy drives. There are also some BIOS hacks like Enabling Quick Post, Disabling Boot Daly, etc but best to refrain from these.
9. Change Boot-Order Sequence : Normally, the bios is set to boot from floppy first, then CD and then Hard Disk. Changing the Boot-Order to be: Hard Disk first, then maybe CD/Floppy, could possibly "shave" a second, I guess !
10. Disable windows startup/shutdown/logon/logoff sounds. Go to control panel, sounds & audio devices, sound tab, in program events select 'no sound' for these events.
11. Disable the ScreenSaver if you dont need it. Rt-Click desktop>ScreenSaver>None>OK.
12. Fonts take time to load. Removing some can save on resources. But one must be careful in deciding which fonts to remove. If you delete some system fonts, you may b in for trouble. Tweak VI Pro is a good shareware to manage fonts. It uninstalls fonts without physically removing them. Open its help file. It lists down the system fonts which must not be deleted ! use the list; and then decide what to delete and what to keep.
13. To REALLY reduce your shutdown time.
Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder. Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify. the default value is ( i think) 12000.
Setting it to a lower 4 digit value,( say 1000) will make your PC shutdown faster, but you could end up losing data, so use this tweak judiciously.
14. Get rid of all the extra programs Windows Vista installs. You may not be using some like WLM, Calculator, Games, Meeting Space, Fax, etc. Go To Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features > Turn windows On or Off and do the needful.
15. Go To Control Panel\System and Maintenance\Performance Information and Tools. On the LHS you will see options to Adjust Indexing options, visual effexts, power Settings, etc. These all help directly and indirectly.
Do remember that your Vista-based machine will tend to run a little faster, after the first few weeks after it's installed, thanks to its new feature called "SuperFetch" ; which basically studies the programs that use a lot and remembers them and puts the data into memory.Always run strong anti virus ,anti spyware and anti spam .Delete those temp files daily and go 100 miles faster.......
Emptying the Prefetch isn't a real performance hack
by BigGuns149 - 1/5/08 12:58 AM In reply to: answer for Darren by djmatt6899Some of your other tips might help a bit, but emptying the prefetch isn't going to help much at all. The machine will actually run slower until the prefetch is recreated. Unless your use habits change the prefetch will cache the same programs. This is a really OLD performance "tip" that is usually of little benefit that has been circulating the internet for nearly a decade going back to the Windows 98 days that never seems to die despite the questionable value.
I can't understand how CNET actually considers a answer like this that has a tip that will probably do more harm than good answer.
Virus software
by Old Geezer John - 12/15/07 7:08 AM In reply to: What can I do to improve the speed of my Vista machine? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dumping Norton and installing the McAfee suite sure did wonders for me. In addition, I have not had a lock-up, a necessity to reload the program, or lost my DVD drives since switching. You might also check on when your malware program does its scanning and reschedule it for when you aren't using your PC.
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