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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Speed It Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow ComputersSpeed It Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow Computers

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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Speed It Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow ComputersSpeed It Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow Computers

Learn More Buy

The Bottom Line

Windows XP and Windows Vista are both operating systems that use a lot of system resources. Fortunately, you can reduce this resource use—and speed up performance—by making a series of configuration tweaks. Here’s the bottom line:

  • Both Windows XP and Vista can be speeded up by turning off graphics elements that require excessive use of system resources.
  • Both operating systems can also benefit by disabling unnecessary background services and features.
  • The file indexing required by Windows’ search feature is something else that slows down most systems. Turn off file indexing to speed up your PC.
  • Windows XP has a memory leak issue that results in less usable memory being available over time. The quick solution is to reboot your XP machine every few days.
  • Windows Vista’s biggest resource hog is its Aero interface. Revert from Aero to the Windows Vista Basic interface to speed up your system.

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Last Update: November 17, 2020