1. Disable Indexing Services

           Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

• Go to Start
• Click Settings
• Click Control Panel
• Double-click Add/Remove Programs
• Click the Add/Remove Window Components
• Uncheck the Indexing services
• Click Next

            2. Optimise Display Settings

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

• Go to Start
• Click Settings
• Click Control Panel
• Click System
• Click Advanced tab
• In the Performance tab click Settings
• Leave only the following ticked:
• Show shadows under menus
• Show shadows under mouse pointer
• Show translucent selection rectangle
• Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
• Use visual styles on windows and buttons

           3. Speedup Folder Browsing

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

• Open My Computer
• Click on Tools menu
• Click on Folder Options
• Click on the View tab.
• Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
• Click Apply
• Click Ok
• Reboot your computer

  4. Disable Performance Counters

  Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.

  To disable:

  • download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
  • Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters’ window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled’ checkbox at the bottom.button below

  5. Improve Memory Usage

  Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.

  Once Installed:

  • Go to Show Wizard and select All
  • Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing
  • Exit and Save Cacheman
  • Restart Windows

  6. Optimise your internet connection

  There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.

  • Download and install
  • Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
  • Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
  • Check Optimal Settings then Apply
  • Reboot

  7. Optimise Your Pagefile

  If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

  • Right click on My Computer and select Properties
  • Select the Advanced tab
  • Under Performance choose the Settings button
  • Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
  • Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

  Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

  8. Run BootVis - Improve Boot Times

  BootVis will significantly improve boot times

  • Download and Run
  • Select Trace
  • Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
  • A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
  • Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system’s boot process. When it’s done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
  • Reboot.
  • When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete

• 10. Remove Fonts for Speed

  Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.

  • Open Control Panel
  • Open Fonts folder
  • Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
  
  

  If the above techniques do not give you satisfactory result then try the ones mentioned below:

  Top 7 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

  Everyone knows that Windows computers can sometimes slow down over time. While not an exhaustive list of solutions to problems, this collection presents seven ways to speed up a computer.

   

  Complete with step-by-step instructions and numerous screen shots, even novice computer users can follow these steps. The steps and screen shots are intended for Windows XP users, but users of other Windows versions can follow a similar process.

  1. Defragment Your Hard Drive

  Over time, the data on your hard drive gets scattered. Defragmenting your hard drive puts your data back into sequential order, making it easier for Windows to access it. As a result, the performance of your computer will improve.

  2. Scan Your Hard Disk

  Has your computer ever crashed, making it impossible to shut it down properly? Have you ever experienecd a power outage? These problems and others can cause damage to your system files. Windows provides a utility called scandisk that will automatically detect and fix much of the damage, improving your system's performance in the process.

  3. Scan for Viruses

  Viruses can wreak havoc on your computer. Detecting and cleaning viruses is an excellent way to improve your system's performance. There are many antivirus programs to choose from, but the About Guide to Antivirus Software provides a list of the Top 7 Antivirus Programs for Windows.

  4. Check for Spyware and Adware

  Spyware is software that allows companies to monitor what websites you visit or even access your computer. Adware is software that displays advertisements. Both use system resources and slow your computer down. Detecting and removing the programs will improve system performance.

  5. Uninstall Unneeded Programs

  Removing programs that you no longer use can free up space on your computer and speed up your system's performance. However, you need to uninstall the programs properly to see much improvement; deleting them is not enough.

  6. Adjust Visual Effects for Better Performance

  Windows XP provides a number of interesting visual effects like animated windows and fading menus. These effects, however, can slow down your computer. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to customize the visual effects to match your preferences and performance needs.

  7. Stop Programs from starting on Windows boot

  One way you can speed up your computer is to prevent programs from launching themselves at start-up. Not only do the unwanted programs delay the start of Windows, they also continue to slow down your computer since they use system resources.