Optimize Windows XP

Whether you want to use Windows XP for music recording, video editing, web browsing or anything else, here is the ultimate guide to make Windows XP just a lot faster!

1. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> System. Click on the Advanced tab. Click on Perfomance, Settings. Select Adjust for best performance.

2. This is a debatable tweak, but for me it has been working just fine. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> System. Click on the System Restore tab. Turn off System Restore for all drives.

3. Start –> Settings –> Taskbar and Start Menu. Untick “Auto-hide the taskbar” and “Hide inactive icons”.

4. Disable Hibernation. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> Power Options. Click on the Hibernate tab. Untick “Enable hibernation”.

5. Disable Fast User Switching. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> User Accounts. On Select the way users log on or off, Untick “Use Fast User Swtiching”.

6. Disable indexing service. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> Administrative Tools –> Services. Find “Indexing Service”, double click on it. Change Startup type: Disabled.

7. Start –> Settings –> Control Panel –> System. Click on the Advanced tab. Click on Perfomance, Settings. Click on the Advanced tab. On Virtual memory click on Change. Click on Custom size. The number you will enter on “Initial Size (MB):” and “Maximun Size (MB):” corresponds to 1.5 times the actual memory you have in your computer, or you can enter the “Recommended:” size. In this case 3063 MB. Remember to click on Set.

8. Minimize menu loading. Start –> Run… Enter “regedit”. Click OK. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER –> Control Panel –> Desktop. Double click on “MenuShowDelay”. Enter “0″ and click OK.