To start....
Go to Start--->Control Panel-->Programs & Features-->Uninstall all the programs that they have "thrown" at you. Programs such as "online offers" or programs with your computer manufacturer's name plastered all over it are 99% of the time JUNK.
Go to your computer's website and get all the updates (bios, hardware, drivers, etc)
Go to Windows update and update all of the software there...
Next, some of these are up to your personal preference. I will explain how to disable things such as UAC (User Account Control), which IMHO is a major pain in the ass.
To disable UAC (User Account Control):
Hold the Windows logo button and R together. Type in MSCONFIG and hit enter.
Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find "Disable UAC" Click on that line. and press Launch. Restart the computer at this point since it will make everything else go faster.
To disable some unused programs:
Windows key + R and type in services.msc... hit enter
Right click on the following. Select STOP. Right click again... select properties and change the startup to Disabled.
- Computer browser (if not connected to LAN)
- Fax (if not using printer and fax)
- Windows Error Reporting Service
- Secondary logon
- Tablet PC Input service
- Print spooler (if not using printer and fax)
- Security center
- Routing and remote access (if not connected to LAN)
- Internet connection sharing
- TCP/IP NetBios helper
- Server (if not sharing resources through LAN)
- Offline files
- Distributed Link Tracking Client
- IKE and AuthIP IP Keying Modules
- Remote Registry
Close the services management console.
Disable System Restore:
Another big time hog of memory. Some might not want to do this. This program allows you to bring your computer back to a state in which it worked if you mess something up.
1. Control panel-> System and maintenance-> System
2. Advanced system settings
3. System protection tab
4. Uncheck all the drives.
5. Apply changes.
Disable some (or all UI effects):
Again... this is up to you what all you uncheck. I have listed some of the bigger memory hogs here... you may disable all of them, the ones I listed... whichever..
1. Control panel-> System
2. Advanced system settings
3. Advanced tab/Performance/Settings
4. Uncheck the following boxes:
- Fade or slide menus into view
- Fade or slide tooltips into view
- show shadows under menus
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Slide open combo boxes
- Use a background image for each folder type
Again.. you can do more or less depending on how much performance you want to gain.
5. Apply changes.
Bring those annoyingly large icons back to a nice size
The icons on Vista's desktop are HUGE... I hated it... To change em back
Right click on the desktop, choose VIEW and choose Classic Icons
Disable options in folders
1. Open an explorer window. hit the ALT key to make the classic menu appear. Select tools and then folder options.
2. Select the view tab.
3. Uncheck the following boxes:
- display file icon on thumbnails
- display simple folder view in navigation pane
- use sharing wizard
- show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
- show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
4. Apply changes.
If you like the classic menus... click on the general tab now and select Classic Menus
Get rid of the Security Center
The security center is a very annoying feature with a built in pop up. If you're not a complete moron and can remember to install anti-virus software without Windows telling you..
- Windows Key + R again.. type in cmd and hit enter
- Type cd\
- Type cd windows\system32
- Run these commands
a. takeown /f wscapi.dll
b. takeown /f wscsvc.dll
c. takeown /f wscui.cpl
This has given you ownership of the three files. Enter the System32 directory via Windows Explorer and right click each of these three files. Go to the Properties/Security Tab and edit/add an entry for everyone and give them all full access. (tick all the squares). Rename these three files with a BAK extension. In Start/Run type services.msc and disable the Security Center Service.
Now reboot and the OS is all yours.
Windows Defender is redundant in my opinion.. to disable it...
- Windows key + R
- Type in MSConfig and hit enter
- Scroll down to Windows Defender (might not show the entire name... will be towards the bottom though)
- Uncheck the box and hit apply.
Reboot and then check the box that asks if you want to be warned about System Config changes.
And this next tweak is especially for the gamers using VISTA
Right click on your game... select properties...click on the compatibility tab...
Click Disable desktop composition radio box. This will shut down a lot of "Aero" while running this app. Once you close your game, all will be back to normal. Good for freeing up RAM
Resize Partition
In Windows Vista it is now possible to resize partitions
without any data loss in the new Disk Management console.
Resizing Partitions with Windows Vista:
1) Click on the Start Button and right click on Computer and select Manage.
2) Expand the Storage section and select Disk Management.
3) Then just right click on any partition
and select either Expand or Shrink to change the size of the partition.
This will allow you to safely resize your partitions without any data loss.
without any data loss in the new Disk Management console.
Resizing Partitions with Windows Vista:
1) Click on the Start Button and right click on Computer and select Manage.
2) Expand the Storage section and select Disk Management.
3) Then just right click on any partition
and select either Expand or Shrink to change the size of the partition.
This will allow you to safely resize your partitions without any data loss.
Increase network performance when playing media
Windows Vista throttles your network bandwidth when you are playing any multimedia file such as an MP3 or a video. This was designed to ensure the CPU has enough free cycles available to play your media without skipping. The down side is that when you are playing a multimedia file you will notice that your network speed of file transfers will decrease on high speed network connections. By default when you are playing a multimedia file your network transfers are limited to 10 packets per millisecond.
In Windows Vista SP1 Microsoft introduces a registry key that allows you to customize this setting.
1) [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile]
2) NetworkThrottlingIndexValue
You can set NetworkThrottlingIndexValue between 1 and 70. If you want to disable set the hexadecimal value to FFFFFFFF.
Microsoft warns that if you increase the value above 10 you may experience playback quality issues. Depending on your network setup, it is worth experimenting.
After making any changes a restart is needed.
In Windows Vista SP1 Microsoft introduces a registry key that allows you to customize this setting.
1) [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile]
2) NetworkThrottlingIndexValue
You can set NetworkThrottlingIndexValue between 1 and 70. If you want to disable set the hexadecimal value to FFFFFFFF.
Microsoft warns that if you increase the value above 10 you may experience playback quality issues. Depending on your network setup, it is worth experimenting.
After making any changes a restart is needed.
