How to Speed up Windows XP

By Tyler Downer
2/9/08

Stuck in the Slow Lane?

Windows XP has been to dominator in the operating System market since it's release in 2001. Even the newest Windows Operating System, Vista, has failed to change computing as much as XP. However, XP has an annoying tendency to get clogged up and slow down, taking longer to complete simple tasks. This can increase you working time and frustration. It is easy to speed XP up though. With a few simple steps you can make XP perform almost as well as the day you bought it. Note, some of these steps involve deleting files and folders from your computer, take care while doing this and perform a system backup to protect your files. Let's begin!(Thiese steps can also be performed on Vista. While the exact methods or locations may be different, it is much the same.)

  1. We are going to remove any programs that you do not need or don't use any more. To do this, click Start, Control Panel, Add Remove Programs. From here you can remove any programs you don't want. If you are like me, you sometimes try programs that you decide you don't want, but you never delete them. So, you may have some programs hanging around that you have used, but think you may use again some day. Here is a basic rule, if it is a free program you can get again and it has not been used in over 6 months, you can most likely delete it. It you paid for it, you probably want to keep it. This step removes much of the workload on XP by reducing the amount of programs it has to keep track of. It also frees up hard drive space.
  2. After removing old programs, close the window. Now go to Start, My Documents. From here delete any documents, photos, movies or music you don't need. Do this by clicking the document once, then pressing Delete. This makes it easier to sort through these folders and saves more hard drive space.
  3. Close the Documents window. Now, go to Start, My Computer, C:, Windows, Temp. Delete all files in this folder. If the computer tells you some of them can not be deleted, click OK. These are temporary files that the computer only uses occasionally, if at all.
  4. Close the window and go back to the Control Panel. Go to System, Advanced Tab, then the Settings button in the performance box. In the Visual Effect Tab, uncheck all boxes but the last two, or as many as you want. This reduces the amount of things XP has to handle.
  5. Close the window. Open My Computer, from here you will do several things. Right-click on C:, click Properties, Click on Disk Cleanup. Run this program, deleting all files it finds. After it is done, in the C: Properties window, go to Tools, from here click the Check Now button in the Error-checking box. Check both boxes that show up. Restart your computer. A utility will run that checks your computer for error and repairs them.
  6. After checking your computer for errors, it will boot normally. Now, go to My Computer, Right-Click on C:, go to Tools, click Defragment Now. Then click Defragment. This reorganizes your files, making your computer much faster by finding them more easily.

Now you are done. If you repeat the steps above once a month, your computer will stay in pretty much the same shape as it is after completing this the first time, without as many slow downs. Of course, you could perform hardware upgrades, buy more RAM, a better CPU, a Video Card, but those all take much more time, experience and money. The above steps are all free and can save you time while you work.

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