Okay... back to the original reason for this topic... speeding up... To sum up what is alread here... 1. Optimize your hard drive... To run Disk Defragmenter, follow these directions: * Single-click the Start button, mouse-over Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then single-click Disk Defragmenter. * Select the drive you'd like to defragment and hit the Settings button. * On the Disk Defragmenter Settings menu checkmark "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster" and "Check drive for errors." Hit OK to go back to the first screen. Hit OK to begin the process. * For a graphical representation of how it works, hit the Show Details button. * Come back in a few hours after the process is finished. 2. Disable all startups, services and apps that are no longer used or aren't complete necessary. Windows XP has several services running in the background. But did you know that you don't need all of those services turned on? You can turn some of them off for a leaner Windows XP. Here are three examples of services in XP that you may not need turned on all the time: * Automatic Updates - Used to see if there are any updates available for download. I choose to manually update due to the very long lag time from when an update is available to when WinXP reports it. If you decide to disable this service, it's very important that you check the Windows Update site often to ensure the latest patches are installed. Take note: Manual (and Automatic) update via the Windows Update website requires that a component called Cryptographic Services is running. Place this service in automatic mode if you do not wish to update manually. * Help and Support - Required for Microsoft's online help documents. If you ever use Help and Support, this service will be placed back in automatic mode even if you've already disabled this service. I try to avoid as much Microsoft help as I can. * Messenger - Sends messages between clients and servers. Not needed under normal conditions at your home. This has nothing to do with MSN Messenger, nor is it WinPopUp. 3. RAM is cheap right now... Install more of it. 4. Update your device drivers (this is a pitfall that I fell into a little while ago, the new device drivers made a huge difference). 5. Upgrade your video card. (Without getting into the battle of which card is better, if you have not updated your video card in a while, its going to make a difference).
