Speeding up Windows Vista

Nikhil Rastogi, Sep 16, 2007 1419 hrs IST

Is 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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EXPERT REVIEW

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.

USER COMMENTS

Excellent tips! My Vista's performance has really shot up now and its begining to close in XP performance. Thanks for the tips - Nikhil and keep up the good work, !!

by Hari Nair, Bangalore, on Jan 26, 2009 08:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

please inform where and what price readyboost flash memory vaialable.need one for sony vaio laptop

by ravi, chennai, on Dec 09, 2007 04:21 PM, Report abuse Reply

now i can use vista very fastly

by manak, mohali, on Mar 09, 2008 11:12 PM, Report abuse Reply

Most basic question of all... are there enough people buying Vista in India? If someone is so fed up of XP and want an upgrade, better go for Linux. There are quite a few distributions which look as nice or better than vista with better performance.

by linux4life, Mumbai, on Sep 16, 2007 11:13 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hey Linux man, <br> SUSE linux 10.1 has better option. <br> But here people uses piracy eventhough it's linux/windows. Indians cannot use only pirated Mac. It's a shame that over 70% people in india using pirated OS.

by ANAND, Baroda, on Sep 21, 2007 11:01 AM, Report abuse

Normal PC user is not concerned whether the OS is Open Source or not. Who cares when u can get Vista (Pirated) as free. Ultimately what matters is usability, and Microsoft has no competition in this issue. Linux sucks big time which needs to write (code) configs for making ur Network drivers work, forget about other external devices.

by Sameer, Mumbai, on Sep 22, 2007 02:18 PM, Report abuse

Hey man different linux os having great environments than vista but linux have less softwares than windows.This is the main reason one is not interested in linux....

by Kartz, VSP, on Jan 16, 2008 06:03 PM, Report abuse

I have vista operting system.I want to know how to configure tv tuner card in this operting system.

by raju, jsr, on Sep 29, 2007 09:41 AM, Report abuse Reply

its so easy install updated driver first for ur device, then open media center , default application of win vista

by Sagar Saxena, Ghaziabad, on Oct 24, 2007 08:56 AM, Report abuse

sagar sir please help me for xandrox linux . my question is how to configure my lan network in xandroxo/s pleasehelp me

by sandeep, delhi, on Nov 17, 2007 03:41 PM, Report abuse

if u want to increase speed of xp, 2003 & vista do this, disable auto update service, disable security center service, disable windows defender service, disable firewall service, disable user access control from user accounts, disable error reporting service, delete startup entry of windows defender from msconfig. now your system is running perfect, its 100% working, its my invention. bye bye, call me 09818557585

by Sagar Saxena, Delhi, on Sep 29, 2007 11:31 AM, Report abuse Reply

It has really helped me!

by vimal, Karanja, on Sep 25, 2007 05:40 PM, Report abuse Reply

These tips are very useful... shall use it. Thanks http://www.audiobooksportal.com/

by Anonymous, SY, on Sep 23, 2007 05:38 PM, Report abuse Reply

with vista,what must be a right config. 3ghz proc/2 gb ram/good fsb/ but in a laptop best to go for desktop replacement laptop since i have been using a laptop with vista which really test patience.

by gane, delhi, on Sep 21, 2007 12:58 AM, Report abuse Reply

pretty dumb article, like we didnt already know that shutting aero will speed it up! sheesh, talk about stupid. u speed up a system by stopping unnescesary services not shutting any process that uses up a lot of resources. if ur gonna run vista widout aero, mite as well use win 98, theres not much difference. and abt the guys cribbing abt vista - i have tried vista ultimate, xp, mac os x and ubuntu. ubuntu sux coz its not at all user-friendly for the non-geeks among us. simple processes that are automated in windows and mac, need millions of commands and code. mac os ROCKS!!! i have a macbook pro, and the mac os is ten times better than vista in most aspects, except for some things. the main problem is the shortage of softwares and support for macs in india. also, some things like auto network detection in xp are missing in macs, and a lot of config is needed. and vista rocks too, thanks to its new look, but windows crashes and BSODs are still a big problem! so overall, in india, if u have a gud pc, wid 2 gb ram and stuff, go for vista nyday!

by neil, mumbai, on Sep 20, 2007 12:07 AM, Report abuse Reply

windows sucked, it sucks now, and it will keep sucking in the future, till microsoft learns to make better stuff for the people and not just goody-goody eyecandy

by anony, realworld, on Sep 17, 2007 08:40 PM, Report abuse Reply

the stats show 250 copies of Vista sold in China and approx 250 in India ...officially . well , ppl instead of crying and cribbing for OS ... I urge ya'll to use UBUNTU ...The future is OPEN SOURCE and very user friendly and it even looks stylish and kewl . Vista is namesake but UBuntu is here to live forever . I'd place my bets with VIsta+sp1 . . .

by Abhy!!, Mumbai, on Sep 17, 2007 07:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

We can assemble Vista ready PC in very very low budget now with powerful C2D, Dx GPU and 2GB RAM. E4400 5k + 8600GT 6k + 2GB DDR2 RAM 3.4k + 160GB SATA2 HDD 2k = 16.4k (Vista will fly, I guarantee. Grow up guys. Dont blame Microsoft If UR PC is outdated).

by Nevarre, Gurgaon, on Sep 17, 2007 03:42 PM, Report abuse Reply

Vista is good, I have just upgraded to Vista Home Premium from XP Prof but again my hardware is good, 2 GB RAM and a Quad Core and believe me its faster and much better than XP. I guess you should not even try to install Vista if you have less than 1 GB of RAM.

by Rob, AP, on Sep 17, 2007 12:04 PM, Report abuse Reply

Yes fulfill Vista demands and it will fly, faster than XP. XP starts to slow down after some days. But Vista remains fresh thanks to its Prefetch feature. XP is current and Vista is future.

by Nevarre, Gurgaon, on Sep 17, 2007 03:36 PM, Report abuse

Best Tip: uninstall vista and use XP

by Anonymous, motocity, on Sep 16, 2007 05:53 PM, Report abuse Reply

Ha ha. Tomorrow you will say to Uninstall XP and use 2000. Grow up!

by Rocks, Philadelphia, on Sep 16, 2007 07:15 PM, Report abuse

guss, You need to grow up!!

by Anonymous, blr, on Sep 16, 2007 08:21 PM, Report abuse

ur aWsome dUde.....aWsome tiP..........kEEp it uP.........u area mOre ON and ON and Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

by ragsbava, nasiCko, on Sep 17, 2007 07:59 AM, Report abuse

u should use win98 Se.. Better for u

by Aman, Bangalore, on Sep 17, 2007 09:50 AM, Report abuse

Its good .........Keep it up to date

by Deeptiman, New-Delhi, on Sep 17, 2007 05:53 AM, Report abuse Reply

Thanks very useful and very timely

by Anonymous, Sydney, on Sep 17, 2007 05:18 AM, Report abuse Reply

I've installed Vista Ultimate in my laptop, though it is resource hungry i dont see any difference in performance when compared with XP which came default with this laptop with that of Vista. Vista is a Good upgrade in terms of security, looks, performance, system drivers and many more. Also the DX10 allows the games to work better as well.

by Vikram, Chennai, on Sep 17, 2007 12:29 AM, Report abuse Reply

ha ha... hay you must be Using Either TOP END hardware or (Most Likely) using "Vista Home Basic" try using "Vista Home Premium" or "Vista Ultimate Edition" & then Talk man...

by GadgetGuy, Hyderabad, on Sep 17, 2007 02:38 AM, Report abuse

Pretty banal article...it's something any Tom, Dick and Harry cud write on his blog! C'mon guys, are you running out of ideas???

by Ameya Sohoni, Mumbai, on Sep 16, 2007 09:46 PM, Report abuse Reply