Windows, it is still the preferred OS for the millions of PC users around the world. The most popular software from Microsoft has been Windows XP till date despite the release of Windows Vista as early as in January 2007. Windows XP, the ubiquitous operating system from Microsoft, was first released on October 25, 2001, and since then more than 500 million users have appreciated its skills and features.

Despite its great utility and features, some Windows users complain about the slow speed of their Windows. There are various reasons behind the slow speed of Windows. Some of them are related to the lots of extra features which enhance its visual appearance. Some are related to inefficient utilization of system resources. Some are concerned with bloated software and some are because of our laziness. You can easily enhance the performance of your Windows, whether Windows XP or Windows Vista, by following some tweaks and by following a regular maintenance schedule.

There are lots of tweaks, which can speed up Windows and make Windows run faster. Here we are presenting a series of articles, which will give an answer to your question on …

[Related: I have now been using Perfect 10, which is a great way to make your computer faster.]

How to make Windows Run Faster

This is a 17 post series. In fact this series has been prepared by re-organizing some of my previous posts.

You will find that these tips, in general, are in context of Windows XP. But most of these tips are equally applicable to Windows Vista as well. They will speed up Windows XP and are equally relevant to make Windows Vista run faster. Click on the following links to go to the individual tip to make Windows run faster.

1. 50 Light Weight Software to Make Windows Run faster
2. Convert Hard Drive from FAT32 to NTFS to Run Windows Faster
3. Reduce Startup Programs to Increase Windows Speed
4. Disable Indexing Services to Run Windows Faster
5. Increase Windows speed by Disabling Unused Windows services

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6. Increase Windows Speed by Optimizing Paging File
7. Make Windows Run fast by Disabling Performance Counters
8. Use Manual Windows Updates to Run Windows Faster
9. Make Windows Fast by Adjusting Visual Effects
10. Make Windows Run Faster by Disabling Error Reporting
11. Disable Sounds to Make Windows Run Faster
12. Defragment Hard Disks to Make Windows Run Faster
13. Speedup Windows by Disabling Auto Search for Network Folders and Printers
14. Get Rid of Balloon Tips to Make Windows Run Faster
15. Replace Background to Load Windows XP faster
16. Run Disk Cleanup and make Windows run faster
17. Making Windows XP run faster by fixing system errors

Windows Internet Explorer is still the most popular Internet Browser despite the availability of much better and secured browsers like Firefox and Opera.

With the rapid increase in the bandwidths and rapid proliferation of Internet, most of the time Windows users spend a large part of their PC time on Internet. Hence small tips to increase the speed of your Internet Browsing, will actually make your windows run faster.

There are lots of tips available on this blog on how to make Windows faster and how to make your firefox run faster. Just Search. With this tip we are telling you how to make Internet Explorer run faster.

Related:Make your Windows XP Computer run faster, How to Speed Up Windows XP

How to speed up IE to run your windows faster

It is an old trick, but still useful. This is a simple Registry edit, which hardly takes you two minutes to configure. Follow these simple steps.

• Go to Start > Run.
• Type regedit and hit Enter.
• Select HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Internet Settings
• Increase the values (DECIMAL) from default to a higher value e.g. 10

That’s it. Simple.

Windows Vista was touted to be the biggest disappointment of 2007. And now, Microsoft also indirectly admits it. That is the reason why it is seriously considering extending the life of Windows XP, which was scheduled to die on 30th June of this year.

Well, we are talking about the Save XP Petition Campaign, which is being run by InfoWorld to request Microsoft to extend the deadline of 30th June. IT is the day, after which Microsoft will not be shipping Windows XP anymore. This is not being liked by many of the XP fans, who just refuse to embrace Vista no matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade them.

They always keep on complaining that Vista has

• Hefty hardware requirements
• Less-than-peppy performance
• Occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices, and
• Frequent, irritating security pop-up windows, to name a few.

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The count is already claimed to have crossed more than 2,00,000.

And what is the reaction of Microsoft. They are not sleeping. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday that the company may reconsider its decision to stop selling Windows XP on June 30. At an event in Belgium, Ballmer told reporters, “If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter,” according to an Associated Press report.

Low Virtual Memory – What to do ?

If you are a lazy person like many computer wizards, you would have encountered an annoying pop-up window many times, which notifies you that you are running on low virtual memory, and Windows is trying to increase it. If it happens once in a while, then its OK. Nothing to worry about. But if it happens repeatedly, then you need to take action, because now it has started affecting the performance of your PC.

How to optimize Virtual memory in XP

A few simple steps.
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• Open Control Panel > System.
• Click on Advanced tab
• Click the Settings button in the Performance panel.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Click the Change button in the Virtual memory panel.
• It was lying deep, but you found it.
• Now, you have two options. If you exactly about your system, you can choose the size of the virtual memory, otherwise select the System managed size option. It is safe.




Simple, isn’t it?

This post is part of the 17 Tips Series on How to Make Windows Run Faster.

The File System, in which Windows stores your files on the hard disk is a crucial factor in determining the time taken to retrieve it. And it goes without saying that it is important to select the correct file system for making windows run faster.

Windows uses two file systems to manage files on your hard disks. FAT32 and NTFS.
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FAT32 vs NTFS

What is NTFS File System

NTFS (New Technology File System) is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista. NTFS has several improvements over FAT32 such as improved support for metadata and the use of advanced data structures to improve performance, reliability, and disk space utilization, plus additional extensions such as security access control lists etc. A boot disk to boot NTFS drive is called an NTFS Boot Disk.

What is FAT File system

The File Allocation Table (FAT) file system is an older file system that relies on an allocation table to keep track of files and folders on a volume

Because of the various features, NTFS is a superior way to organize files as compared to the FAT32, and it definitely makes your windows run faster to convert FAT to NTFS. There are several reasons why to change a FAT file system to NTFS. You can easily search for them on Google.

How to Speed up Windows by Converting Hard Drive from FAT32 to NTFS

Converting FAT32 to NTFS is quick and easy. A few simple steps and your NTFS conversion is complete to make windows faster. Let’s see how to do that.

Click Start > Run.

Type diskmgmt.msc > OK. This will give information about various disks installed installed on your PC. See which disk you want to convert from FAT32 to NTFS.

Again Click Start > Run.

Type cmd  > OK to open the command prompt.

Type convert c: /fs:ntfs so as to convert drive c: to NTFS.

Repeat the same command for other drives.

See also the other 16 tips to How to Make Windows Run Faster.

This post is part of the 17 Tips Series on How to Make Windows Run Faster.

If you are my type of Windows users, you will be using and testing new programs very often. Most of these programs try to install in such a way so as to get listed in the startup folder and initialize every time Windows boots. If you allow this to happen, this soon creates a situation, when your system tray is full of different kinds of icons, and your RAM of full of these programs, whether you currently are using that program or not.

It is a big drain on your precious system resources and it is better to optimize the programs which should find place in your startup folder.

How to reduce the Startup Programs to increase Windows speed

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A few simple steps…

• Click Start > Run.
• Type msconfig > OK
• Click on the Startup tab.
• Disable those programs that you do not want to startup on boot up
• Save the settings

See also the other 16 tips to How to Make Windows Run Faster.

This post is part of the 17 Tips Series on How to Make Windows Run Faster.

Indexing service is a feature of Windows, which consumes of lots of system resources and RAM. The purpose of indexing services of Windows is to index files and folders in your Hard Disk so as to speed up their searching. But, in practice, it has been seen that most people do not use these services, and it is often very helpful to run Windows faster, if you consider to disable these services.

How you can disable indexing services to run Windows faster

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Few simple steps…

• Click Start > Control Panel.
• Open Add or Remove Programs
• Click on Add or Remove Windows Components
• Uncheck the Indexing Service
• Complete the process

See also the other 16 tips to How to Make Windows Run Faster.