has your Computer speed or performance slowed?

One of the things that computer owners usually notice is this. There are several reasons why this happens to your computer. Lack of maintenance, fragmented data, corrupted registry, spyware, and unnecessary loading of computer programs and services can surely affect your PC speed and performance. Managing your programs and cleaning your registry can easily boost your computer's performance speed up to 30%.

SuperFetch

SuperFetch monitors which applications you use the most and pre-loads these into your system memory on startup so they load faster when you need to use them, this is great for people with a lot of ram, but on computers with less ram (laptops especially) this can have a big hit on system performance.

1. Scroll down the list to “SuperFetch”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
2. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled using the drop-down list
3. Click Ok

You can now close the Computer Management window.

Trialware

 The more programs on your hard drive, the longer it takes a PC to find anything.

Vista comes with many software packages preinstalled; you can decide which you want to run or disable.

Click your Start button on the bottom left hand of your screen, then choose Control Panel.

Double click "Programs and Features" (which used to be called "Add or Remove Programs" in Windows XP).

You’ll see a list of all the programs that came preinstalled with your new PC. Some of these software packages are "trialware", in which you may have 30 days to try the software. Often, this software is bundled with Vista from your PC manufacturer or Microsoft. It’s up to you whether you want to try the software or delete it from your PC.

Note:

Trialware is often referred to as crapware or junkware. Critics complain that crapware is unwanted, useless, and sometimes hard to remove by design--all the while taking up valuable disk space. Most crapware is operational for a trial period in hopes of persuading the user into buying the full version.

When you’re done, it’s time to disable some unnecessary software that comes with Windows itself.

From the Programs and Features window.

Click "Turn Windows features on or off" on the left side panel.

User Account Control will ask you to confirm; do so.

You’ll get a list of Windows built-in software, much of which you’ll never use. Uncheck whatever you don’t need.

If you’re not sure whether you need something or not, hover your mouse over it to get a description. Some likely candidates for removal are Games, Indexing Service, Print Services, Tablet PC Optional Components (unless you have a tablet PC), Telnet Client and Telnet Server, and Windows Fax and Scan. If you still aren’t sure, leave it alone.

Disable the not required services:

Services are background processes which keeps running waiting for a response, so if you dont use the application it still runs and uses resource.How to do it…

• For this type “msconfig” without double quotes in the run prompt or at the command prompt.
• Go to services up tab un check the unneeded startup items.

Disabling Services in Vista

There are several services you can disable to help improve performance.

• Desktop
  
  Window Manager Session Manager – Provides Desktop Window Manager startup and maintenance services.
• If you don’t plan on using Aero Glass, you can disable this service.
• Diagnostic Policy Service – Enables problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution for Windows components.Set to Disabled
• Diagnostic Service Host – Same as above
• Diagnostic System Host – Same as above
• Offline Files – The Offline Files service performs maintenance activities on the Offline Files cache, responds to user logon and logoff events, implements the internals of the public API, and dispatches interesting events to those interested in Offline Files activities and changes in cache state.
• Terminal Services – Allows users to connect interactively to a remote computer. Remote Desktop and Terminal Server depend on this service. If you don’t use either of these, then you can disable the service.
• Windows Error Reporting Service – Allows errors to be reported when programs stop working or responding and allows existing solutions to be delivered.
• Windows Search – Formerly this was the Indexing Service. Provides content indexing.

Disk cleanup and defragmentation

You can use Vista's disk cleanup and defragmentation tools to remove unwanted files and to rearrange data on the disk so that files are not fragmented. Both of these actions will help increase disk access performance.
You can open the Disk Cleanup tool from the Performance Information And Tools left tasks pane or from the All Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu.
The Disk Cleanup tool allows you to select whether to clean up files from your own user profile only or the files of all users. When you select a specific drive to clean up, the tool will calculate how much space you will be able to free by running the cleanup, as shown in Figure M.

Figure M

Disk Cleanup can free up space on your disk, giving better performance.

You can access the Disk Defragmentation tool from the Advanced Tools option in the left pane of the System Information And Tools console or from the All Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu.
You can (and should) set the Disk Defragmenter to run on a regular basis, such as once per week. To avoid a performance hit, schedule the defragmenter to run at a time when you aren't normally using your computer. You can also do a manual defragmentation if you think it's necessary (for example, if you've spent the day uninstalling and installing programs, and the computer seems to be running slower). Just click the Defragment Now button, shown in Figure N.

Figure N

Defragmenting the disk regularly improves disk access performance.

Adjusting other advanced settings

In the Performance Options dialog box, you can click the Advanced tab to adjust other settings that affect performance. In the top section, you can control processor scheduling, as shown in Figure I.

Figure I

On the Advanced tab of Performance Options, you can allocate processor use.

Here, you can adjust for best performance of applications or background services. For the most responsiveness, you'll want to adjust for best performance of applications.
In the second section, you can make changes to the paging file location and size that can improve performance. Click the Change button to display the Virtual Memory settings dialog box, shown in Figure J.

Figure J

You can change virtual memory settings for better performance.

By default, Windows automatically manages the paging file. If you deselect this check box, you can change the location of the paging file, spreading it out among multiple physical disks if you have them. This can speed access to paged data.
You can also increase the size of the paging file and/or make it static, so that instead of using the resources to increase and decrease the size, it always stays the same size. This can also slightly increase overall performance but will tie up more of your disk space. To set a static paging file, click the Custom Size button and enter the same number (file size in MB) in the Initial Size and Maximum Size fields.

Performance Monitor

Vista, like its business-oriented predecessors (XP Professional, Windows 2000, and NT Workstation), includes a performance monitoring tool that allows you to do detailed monitoring of various counters relating to both software and hardware components.
You'll find the tool under a new name, Reliability And Performance Monitor, on the Administrative Tools menu in Control Panel. Figure A shows the Performance Monitor, monitoring % Processor Time and Memory Pages/Second.

Figure A

You can use the Performance Monitor to assess performance of almost any component in the computer.

The Performance Monitor is a great tool for IT pros, but it may be a bit daunting for the average user. Luckily, Vista has a simpler way for you to know, at a glance, which of your hardware components may be bottlenecks when it comes to running Aero.

Performance Information And Tools

A new feature in Vista is the Performance Information And Tools control panel, which analyzes your computer's hardware components and assigns a rating known as the Windows Experience Index (WEI) score. Your processor, RAM, graphics capabilities (separately rated for Aero and for gaming/3D), and primary hard disk are each rated individually. The lowest score determines your overall WEI score.
Possible scores range from 1.0 to 5.9. Generally, a computer needs a base WEI of 3.0 or better to satisfactorily run Aero and other advanced features. To find out your WEI, click Start | Control Panel | Performance Information And Tools.
Running this tool showed me why using Vista on my laptop was such a different experience from using it on my desktop. As shown in Figure B and Figure C, the desktop machine's hardware rated a 5.1, whereas the laptop scored a measly 2.0.

Figure B

A high WEI score, such as that of my Dell XPS, results in a good Vista Aero experience.

Figure C

A score under 3.0, such as that of my Sony laptop, is likely to result in a poor Aero experience.

As you can see, the RAM scores fine now, with 1.5 GB of memory, and the hard disk isn't the problem, either. Even the processor is close to the 3.0 threshold. But the graphics adapter in the laptop is not up to the task of running Aero.
That leads me to this question: Why is Sony selling these systems with Vista Business installed if they won't run the interface properly? But that doesn't help with the immediate problem: How can I make this computer work acceptably and benefit from at least some of Vista's new features?
The Performance Information And Tools interface makes it easy for you to tweak several components that can affect Vista performance. These options are shown in the Tasks pane on the left side of the window, as you can see in Figure C. Some performance tweaks you can do from this interface include:

• Managing startup programs to help Vista load more quickly
• Adjusting visual effects to help Vista perform better if you have an inadequate video card
• Adjusting other advanced settings that affect performance, such as processor allocation and paging file location and size
• Adjusting indexing options to prevent indexing from using up too many resources and thus slowing other applications
• Adjusting power settings to balance performance needs with energy conservation needs
• Cleaning up the hard disk so Vista can access data stored there more quickly
• Using advanced tools, such as the disk defragmenter, task manager, system information tool, event logs, and Reliability And Performance Monitor to diagnose performance problems and fix them

Disable User Access Control (UAC)

This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn’t directly impact performance, it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good.
To disable User Access Control:

• Click Start then Control Panel
• Select User Accounts
• Select Turn User Account Control on or off
• Uncheck User Account Control Box
• Restart as recommended

Turn off Windows Hibernation

Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don’t use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost.
To disable Hibernation:

• Select the Control Panel then Power Options
• Click Change Plan Settings
• Click on Change Advanced Power Settings
• Expand the Sleep selection
• Expand the Hibernate After selection
• Crank the selector down to zero
• Click Apply

Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Windows Ready Boost (Additional Memory Cache)

Note that ReadyBoost makes very little difference on machines with a lot of memory, but it’s a great way to speed up a lower-end system.

Ready Boost is Microsoft’s name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access memory the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system performance.
To set this up:

• Insert a USB Flash Drive (preferably 2GB or more)
• Click Start then Computer
• Right Click the USB Drive in My Computer
• Select the Ready Boost Tab
• Choose Use this device
• Select as much space as you can free up for RAM usage vs. Storage

Turn off System Restore

Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk. * Control Panel>System
* Click System Protection on the left panel
* Uncheck the main system drive
* Agree to the confirmation

Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation

Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag manually every week or so.
To disable this:
* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the C: Drive
* Select the Tools Tab
* Uncheck Run on a schedule

Turn off Remote Differential Compression

Remote Differential Compression measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system performance.
To disable this service:
* Open Control Panel
* Switch to Classic View
* Select Program Features
* Choose Turn Windows features on and off

Adjust indexing options

You can control what locations should be indexed by Vista's search engine. Indexing can take a lot of resources and put a drag on other running applications if you have a low-powered computer.
In the Performance Information And Tools dialog box, select Indexing Options in the left pane. Then, click the Modify button in the Indexing Options dialog box and click the Show All Locations button at the bottom of the Indexed Locations dialog box. Now you can individually select and deselect the locations to be indexed, as shown in Figure K.

Figure K

These options let you specify which locations to index.

Adjust power settings

Generally, using more power results in better performance. You can select the balance you prefer between saving energy and getting the highest performance by adjusting power plan settings.
Vista has three preconfigured power plans you can choose from, as shown in Figure L:

• Balanced (gives equal weight to energy savings and performance)
• Power Saver (sacrifices performance to save energy)
• High Performance (sacrifices energy conservation for better performance)

Figure L



You can select a power plan to balance performance against energy conservation.
You can also create a custom power plan, by selecting Create A Power Plan in the left pane. You start with one of the three plan templates, adjust individual components using a wizard, and then save the plan.

Disable Automatic Startup Programs

The more programs you have loading when the computer boots up, the longer it will take for the operating system to be ready to use. You can cut down on startup time by eliminating from startup those programs you don't really need to run every time you start the computer.
Clicking the Manage Startup Programs selection in Performance Information And Tools will open the Windows Defender Software Explorer, as shown in Figure D.

Figure D

You can manage Startup Programs from the Windows Defender Software Explorer.

You can scroll through the list to see all the programs that run at startup. The right pane displays a great deal of information about the selected program, including its filename, display name, description, publisher, digital signature information, startup value, path, file size, version number, the date it was installed, startup type (where it is designated to start up on boot -- for example, in the Current User settings in the registry), location, and whether the program shipped with the operating system.
Some programs can be removed or disabled by selecting the program in the left pane and clicking the Remove or Disable button in the bottom-right area of the window. Others will have these buttons grayed out. If the Remove and Disable buttons are unavailable, you'll need to remove the program from startup manually. This may involve removing it from the Startup folder, which you'll find on the Start | All Programs menu, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

You can find the Startup folder in the All Programs menu.

You can also navigate to the Startup folder in the file system via Windows Explorer, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

You can navigate to the Startup folder in Windows Explorer and remove programs.

To find the Startup folder in the file system, just right-click on it on the All Programs menu and click Open or go to the disk on which Vista is installed and navigate to Users\ or All Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup.
You can remove programs from the folder by right-clicking and deleting. The programs here are shortcuts, so you will not affect the program itself. You can also find a list of startup programs in the System Information tool, as shown in Figure G.

Figure G

You can view a list of startup programs in the System Information tool.

To access the System Information tool, type msinfo32 in the Start Menu's Search/Run box or on the All Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu. This tool is for viewing the information only; you can't make changes to the startup programs here.
In some cases, you may have to edit the registry to prevent a program from loading at startup. The System Information tool will show you the location in the registry that needs to be edited.