- The performance of all operations on your desktop can be greatly improved by turning off many visual effects. Press the "Windows" and "Pause/Break" keys together and click on the "Advanced" tab. Under the performance section click on the settings button and uncheck every setting with the exception of "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop," "Use visual styles on windows and buttons," and "Smooth edges of screen fonts." Click "Apply" and "OK" and many visual effects that were barely noticeable in the first place will be removed.
Turning off the hibernate feature will free up resources and improve performance. From the Start menu click on the "Control Panel" icon and then click on "Power Options." Select the "Hibernate" tab and uncheck the "Enable Hibernation" box and click "OK." - Turning off the indexing feature can provide a huge gain in overall loading speed, especially for older computers with a large amount of data on their hard drives. Open up "My Computer" by pressing the "Window" and "E" keys together. Right click on the drive that is labeled "C" and select "Properties." Under the "General" tab, uncheck the selection that says "Allow the Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." A window will open and make certain to check the box that reads "Apply change to C:\, subfolders and files" and click "OK."
Defragmenting your hard drive will also improve the speed of your computer by reducing the time it takes to access a file. From the Start menu navigate to the "Accessories" folder then the "System Tools" folder and select "Disk Defragmenter." Click on the "Defragment" button and allow it ample time to defragment your entire hard drive. The time it takes to complete this process varies greatly, depending on how much data is stored on your computer and how fast your hard drive operates. - Turning off the Remote Assistance feature of Windows XP will greatly increase the security of your operating system. Press the "Windows" and "Pause/Break" keys together and click on the "Remote" tab. Uncheck both of the boxes in this tab and click "OK."
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