Speeding Up MS Windows
Note many of the commands may require Administrator rights.

1) find the culprits:
use task manager

click on processes tab

click on Mem Usage, where the largest appears first

this will tell you the programs using the most memory

Other good program(process) usage applications are 'what's running' and 'process xp'.


2 ) Remove the culprits
a) uninstall the application, using this method first (the registry entries should also be removed)
control panel -> add/remove

b)disable services(programs running in background)
start->run
type services.msc
sort by name
disable the unnecessary items , note you can enable later on
helpsrv
indexing
error reporting
switch user - this will require to use log off(back to user list), if to use a different log in.

do not disable:
event log
automatic updates (however update to 'prompt' and not automatic downloads)

c) if no uninstall application or service, then you'll need to manually remove.
find the directory where the exe is located and rename the file extenstion exe to exe_ .
If you receive write permission error, then move the directory to the desktop. If after reboot computer works fine, then delete the entire directory.

d) Remove printers that you know you (and household) will never use. Many times 'virtual printers' are added by software such as 'Ms Office One Note', and 'XPS printer'. These printers take up processing memory when the PC loads. To remove these, use Start->control Panel , select Printers. Right click on the printer, and select delete.

3) weekly tasks that should be done
a) update your virus definitions (not the application updates) the 'virus database'
b0run 'full scan' overnight
c)remove files from:
c:\windows\installer - I remove stuff that is more than 6 months old
c:\Document and Settings\_login_name\LocalSettings\Temp , where _login_name is your login name
c:\Document and Settings\_login_name\LocalSettings\TemporaryInternetFiles


4) If these don't help, then create a new login. You can then copy your My Documents from the old login to your new account(but copy to a external usb key or harddrive).
c:\Document and Settings\_old_name\ , where _old_name is the old login
c:\Document and Settings\_new_name\ , where _new_name is the new login

Note that many of the settings will not be the same, and applications will behave as a new install .


5 ) Don't make the entire household use the same login. Instead, have an admin login for yourself and non-admin for other users.
Admin logins give too many rights... installing applications etc.