Hey, im Daniel
i always go round my Freinds n speed up there computer even if it just to get the start menu up faster!
in this post ill try and give you a faster computer in a fast time, i will go though....

(This is only for windows xp service packs 1 and 2)
-How to stop all the programs starting up that you dont want !
-increase VIRTUAL memory
-Take some visual effects away that you dont notice, and seriously use memory !

Right first of all your gonna want to click start>run and type into the box, msconfig then click ok
a box should come up with 6 tabs | General | system.ini | win.ini | boot.ini | services | startup
click startup and a list of all the programs that startup will appear with check boxes at the start of them
you should untick all the programs that you dont want starting when you turn on your computer
personally i pressed the disable all button, this gives me a clean startup with no programs
starting when i turn on, but you must be carefull, if you have a firewall, or virus protector
you want to keep them ticked! now you will have unclogged all the programs starting up when
your computer starts, giveing you a faster startup! JUST DONT MESS WITH THE SERVICES
they are required for windows!

Second step, again click start and highlight my computer, right click it and goto properties
now a box should have with 7 tabs, click the tab named advanced and click the settings button
inside the box named performance, it should take you straight to visual effects
and more settings will be in a list with check boxes at the start of them, untick all of the boxes
exept - use common tasks in folders -, and - use visual styles on windows and buttons-
DONT close this yet, the last step needs this window,

OK, last step, now this is not complicated, if your still on the window like i told you to be
you need to click the advanced tab, and at the bottom there should be a box called
virtual memory, click the button named change and a new window should pop up
there sould be 2 boxes one saying, inital size and the other saying, maximum size
in the two boxes put 3 times your system memory
now click set, then ok all the boxes that are still on the screen

you should now notice a difference in speed, and if you restart your computer should start up faster!
WHEN YOUR COMPUTER STARTS after the speed tweak, a box will appear saying stuff, just click
do not appear on startup, then click ok!

CONGRATULATIONS! you finished the speed tweak, took me a long time to write so i hope u
appreciate it

Enjoy, Dan

This post has been edited by Shinodan: Mar 12 2006, 05:25 PM

Ok Daniel, here's the thing:

1. It works on non-SP'ed Windows XP...

2. Your program disabling sure allows you to prevent stuff from loading, but you must do it with care really, sometimes leaving only firewalls and anti-viruses isn't enough to get your PC stable... There are some essential programs some people may have that are NOT included in this category, and sometimes getting there through the executable's file name can be tricky.

3. Just because messing around with virtual memory like you did, and I quote: "in the two boxes put the number 1000 in each box, this will take 1 gig away from your hard drive but you will live!" can be actually HARMFUL. Here's why: Virtual Memory (known in other OS'es as Swap memory) should generally be greater than the amount of RAM in your system, most systems work optimally at twice the amount of RAM, but not every single one of them. So let's say you have 1 GB of RAM (1024 MB not 1000 MB) and you apply 1 GB of Virtual Memory. Well, even if your disc and memory are fast enough, you will probably have a performance DECREASE, because every time you need more memory pages in the swap area to cover up your memory, you won't have it, so it makes your system do a lot more memory-to-disc swaps to compensate.

Just... try to be careful while giving advice, really.

OK I EDITED THE POST TO BE RIGHT

the virual memory should be 3 times bigger than ur memory, forgot to mention that
but apart from that my advice is not harmfull! i would be harmfull if you messed around with
the SYSTEM programs, not the startup ones so its not harmfull really

This post has been edited by Shinodan: Mar 12 2006, 05:26 PM

I personally have disabled virtual memory at all, due to it is very slow, but I have done this because I have 1 GB of RAM and usually half of it is used. these tweaks, I met them some time ago and did a lot to make my windows feel less windows as it can, but it might be good for someone else, who still did not do similar things.

I absolutely disagree about the swapfile trick. It's a totaly unlogic rule. Someone who has only 64Mb of RAM needs a bigger swap file, because 64Mb just isn't enough to store all the data (in fact, I have a PIII w/ a slimmed down version of XP, lots of disabled services and it still uses 77Mb of RAM), while someone who has 2Gb of RAM has almost no need for it.

Imagine, winxp, with photoshop, opera and Mercury, let's assume it's about 600Mb of memory.
The 64Mb pc has a total of 256Mb memory (64RAM, 192SWAP) and it will crash, while the 2GB pc can store everything in the much faster RAM.

Swap file should be set different for every pc.
Other tip for the swap file. Instead of creating a huge file (wich might prevent swapfile fragmentation), you could set a lower limit for the swap file (the size of this file is never changed, thus, no fragmentation) and a higher limit in case you'd need more swap space.
E.g. I have the lower limit at 512Mb (my PC has 512MB RAM) and this is enough for most games. But some games (BF2, FEAR) need more so windows increases the swap size.

Oh, and here is a good link for disabling services, I've been using this for a long while now: http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm