Richard wrote:

On 8/7/2011 3:36 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:

WOW! Big improvement. Thanks, Richard.

Do you have any more tips like that?


Nothing that will be as dramatic all at once.
But the usual suspects...

Don't load every utility under the sun in the quick start box.
Remove those that you don't actually need often.

These days, it is trend for most of the program to add themselves in
startup registry so that they run as soon as you boot XP, gradually
normal user end up with a load of startup programs using system
resources for no reason.

For example, Yahoo messenger will load itself in the system tray
But it is of no use until you are not really using it.

Do: Start -- Run -- (Type "msconfig")
You will see following screen, now goto "Startup" .

Disable all unwanted service / application like Yahoo messenger, MS
office startup, anything you don't use. Make sure you do not disable
your "Antivirus" at startup, I have two-three things enabled at startup
which I really need running all the time.
And I run shipsbell.exe as a service so it starts automatically.

Now press "OK" to apply.

NOTE: If you are unsure about certain service or program listed there
then simply give a search on internet by its name and you will find its
detail so you can decide to disable or not to disable.

Fonts add a lot of overhead.
So adding every cute font will slow you down.

Clean out the registry once in a while. That's an IFFY one because you
can mess up the computer really well really easily. But it is a
noticeable change if the registry is bloated.

Delete temporary files. Problem is some require special tools just to
get at. This is one of them...

C:\Documents and Settings\[your profile Name]\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5
Probably as clogged as grandpa's arteries...

If you have less than 2 gig of RAM (on XP) upgrade to 2 at least!
You can go to 4 on XP, which is fairly cheap these days and it makes
a big difference.

Defrag often.

Live right.
Drink good beer be nice to your wife and eat your vegetables...


I use Revo Uninstaller to delete programs. It uses the program's
unistall information, then all the residue left behind. One program I
removed recently left over 20,000 entries in the registry and almost
10,000 other dead files that were scattered all over the hard drive.
There is a free version, and a paid version. I usually download the
free version on the person's computer and run it at their house.


--
It's easy to think outside the box, when you have a cutting torch.