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Speeding up Windows Vista
Nikhil Rastogi, Sep 16, 2007 1419 hrs ISTIs Windows Vista slowly sucking the life away from your PC? Fret not. In this article, we show you expert tips and tweaks to speed up Vista.
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Speeding up Windows Vista is easy. In fact, if you've ever tinkered around with Windows XP to increase performance, then you'd pretty much understand how to do the same with Windows Vista. This is because Windows Vista is essentially Windows XP with major enhancements; the base still pretty much remains the same.
She's Pretty but Not Smart
The first and the most obvious performance hog is the new Windows Aero look. (Aero is the name of the new Windows transparent feel that Vista has.) It's good looking no doubt, but nothing great - considering that you can do the same with Windows XP with "Windows Transformation pack".
Shutting Aero off at first will definitely make Vista lose its coolness value, but take it from me: if your system is running sluggish, this is the first thing that you must go.
1. Click on "Start > Control Panel > System". Alternatively, you can use a keyboard shortcut: press "Windows Key + Pause Break". Pause Break key is above/close to the "Num Lock" key.
2. Once in System page, you'll see your computer's hardware information neatly displayed here. Look to the right hand side, and click on "Advanced system settings".
3. The System Properties has now opened up. This is the same as right-clicking on My Computer and then going to Properties on previous versions of Windows.
4. You're already in the "Advanced" tab; click on "Settings" button in "Performance".
5. You're now on the "Visual Effects" page. Here, simply click on "Adjust for best Performance", click "OK" and - Viola!
Windows Vista now looks just like Windows 98 or 2000. Quite a drastic difference. Windows Vista has certainly lost its coolness factor - but is now ready for pure performance.
In case you aren't too happy with the look, you can always go back and change the settings to "Adjust for best appearance". Or better still, instead of switching all the effects on, you can select what you'd like to enable or disable in the list given. For instance, you could scroll all the way down and switch on the last option only: "Use Visual Styles on windows and buttons". This would ensure that you get the Windows Basic look - not the complete Aero (transparent glass feel) - minus all the performance hogging stuff. In effect, a good balance between appearance and performance.
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