BOOSTING WINDOWS PERFORMANCE MANUALLY:
1/ Update Your Drivers:
– There is a reason why this is mentioned in almost all discussions about speeding up Windows XP. It’s the first step to achieve better performance; having the latest drivers means Windows can manage hardware more efficiently and reduce errors. By using updated drivers, you significantly enhance Windows performance. However, if updating all drivers is not feasible, focus on the most critical hardware in this order: Graphics card, Chipset driver for the motherboard (also known as Firmware). Other peripherals like keyboards, mice, or USB devices do not require frequent updates. They should only be updated if you have experience dealing with advanced hardware issues.
+ Troubleshooting:
– You plug a USB device into the USB 2.0 port on your computer, and nothing happens. There’s no indication that Windows XP recognizes the hardware you just connected. You unplug it, plug it back in… but to no avail. Frustrated, you move aside and check the Device Manager. You notice that Windows has slowed down, the display is choppy, the mouse moves sluggishly, and shutdown takes longer… What’s going on? Despite being touted for good USB 2.0 support, Windows XP has many issues managing the USB 2.0 ports on the motherboard. This can lead you to mistakenly believe your device is faulty when it’s actually due to Windows not functioning properly with its default driver for the USB 2.0 port. If you encounter the USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller Driver in the USB driver section, you are likely unable to use some High-Speed USB 2.0 devices. This is because this driver does not work with certain Intel motherboard USB 2.0 ports. You should visit www.microsoft.com soon to find patches or drivers to resolve this issue.
– Did you accidentally install the wrong driver for your mouse or keyboard, and now they don’t work? Press F8 during startup to enter Safe Mode and reinstall the drivers. All you need is a little patience. That’s all.
2/ Visual Effects in Windows User Interface:
– Don’t overthink the lengthy title above. It simply refers to graphical effects in Windows XP, such as shadows in the Start Menu, animated windows, and mouse pointer shadows. All these settings give Windows a polished appearance. However, this polish is not without cost. The more detailed the effects, the more resources the Graphics Card consumes, which can slow down the system. If you are a speed-oriented user and don’t need unnecessary frills, consider disabling these default Windows XP settings.
+ First, access System Properties by pressing Windows + Pause/Break, or through Control Panel/System, or by right-clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop and selecting Properties. Next, look for the Advanced tab, and under the Performance section, click Settings. A menu will open; navigate to Visual Effects and select “Adjust for best performance.” That’s it. You can also selectively keep some effects if you prefer.
+ Understanding the Effects
- Animated windows when minimizing and maximizing: Animation for Windows when closing or opening windows.
- Fade or Slide menus into view: Fading or sliding effect when menus appear.
- Fade or Slide Tooltips into view: Fading or sliding effect for Tooltips (help messages).
- Fade out menu items after clicking: Fading effect when you close or execute a command in the menu.
- Show shadows under menus: Shadows beneath menus.
- Show shadows under mouse pointer: Shadows beneath the mouse pointer.
- Show translucent selection rectangle: Displays a see-through rectangle when selecting icons.
- Show window content while dragging: Displays the window content while dragging.
- Slide open combo boxes: Gradually drops down combo boxes.
- Slide taskbar button: Sliding effect for windows displayed on the taskbar.
- Smooth edges of screen fonts: Sharpens font edges.
- Smooth-scroll list boxes: Sharpens the scroll bar in selection list boxes.
- Use a background image for each folder type: Uses wallpaper for different folder types, like MP3, images, text, etc.
- Use common tasks in folders: Uses a left-side utility menu for folders.
- Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop: Uses shadow effects for icon labels on the desktop.
- Use Windows visual styles on windows and buttons: Applies a consistent visual style across all windows and buttons.
+ Here we have listed all the customizable features of Windows XP’s visual effects settings, some of which should be disabled, while others you might want to keep for convenience during use. Each person has different preferences, and this won’t harm the system.
– Tip:
Aside from reducing visual effects, you should also declutter your desktop icons. This not only improves visibility but also reduces the workload on the graphics card. If you don’t use them, I recommend that you place shortcuts to your drives in the Quick Launch bar. Right-click on the desktop, select Arrange Icons, and uncheck “Show Desktop Icons.” This significantly lessens graphical workload on the desktop, enhancing the CPU’s ability to handle other tasks…
3/ Close Applications Consuming System Resources
– Many poorly programmed software applications are widely available online. You may accidentally download and use them, but the longer they run, the slower your machine becomes… Your Windows boots up slowly due to loading these unnecessary programs. There are many reasons your computer might be sluggish, but a significant factor is related to system resources. By closing unnecessary applications, you free up a substantial portion of CPU processing power. Therefore, in addition to installing the correct drivers and reducing the load on the graphics card, you should also pay attention to the CPU, the brain of the entire machine.
– To eliminate these programs thoroughly, you need to visit the Registry and the Startup folder to clean out all unnecessary keys and files. It sounds complicated for novice users. Don’t worry; if you are new, it’s better not to touch the Registry directly. Instead, use Msconfig for adjustments. From the Start Menu, type RUN, and enter msconfig.exe. An application will appear with six tabs, including:
+ General: select the startup type.
- Normal StartUp: normal boot
- Diagnostics StartUP: boots the machine with only the necessary services and devices. Does not call any other applications.
- Selective StartUP: manually selects boot components – You should avoid touching this if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.
- Two buttons at the bottom: Launch System Restore – restore the last backup, and Expand file – restore a corrupted file.
+ System Ini, Win Ini, Boot Ini: It’s best to leave these alone.
+ Services: These are services that run alongside Windows. This is one of the most resource-intensive tasks. We will revisit this topic in the next section.
+ StartUP: This is where the software that will be called when Windows starts is stored.
The core of Part 3 focuses on this. You can uncheck any unnecessary programs and click Ok or Apply, it’s that simple. However, choosing to remove a software is not always easy. Don’t rush to remove everything; some services are essential for certain software. Before deciding to remove a software, check the Location field a bit below in the StartUP list. Understand which file the path is linked to. This provides a clear basis to safely remove it. If the above method still hasn’t provided you with any benefits, try locating that file, right-clicking it, selecting Properties, and then checking the Version tab. Here you can find information about the manufacturer, version, and the real name of that file.
– A small note, never remove any applications related to RUNDLL32. You could disrupt a Windows task.
– After removing unnecessary items, restart your machine, and you’re done. It may be a bit challenging, but the results you receive are well worth the effort.
4/ Removing unnecessary services:
– As mentioned in Part 3, Services are one of the new features of Windows XP designed to better assist groups of Windows XP users, such as supporting wireless networks, managing SmartCards, etc. But if you don’t belong to the professional user group, you likely don’t need these professional services, right? It’s time to turn off a few of them. Go to Control Panel to access Administrative Tools, and in the window, you will see many icons; find Services and click on it. A new menu will open; be careful as you expand this list step by step… In this screen, there are a few tasks you need to know before proceeding:
– To remove a service, double-click on the line displaying that service. A new menu will appear. Right in your line of sight, there is a line on the left that says Startup type. In the dropdown list box next to it, there are three options: Disable, Manual (user decides whether to run it), and the first is Automatic. Disabling a service may lead to issues later, so if you encounter problems, you can return to this area to re-enable that service to avoid further complications. If you are still unsure about which services to disable or keep running, take your time to decide.
Nguyễn Quang Duy
