I know that Windows XP is an old operating system, which is used widely in PC’s till date. Even my PC is having Windows XP in dual boot configuration with Windows 7. Windows XP can tend to be slow if not used carefully as I have experienced already. As you install Windows XP it works very fine, boots up fast, everything runs smoothly. When 6 months to 8 months pass and you put on different software’s then your Windows XP’s performance starts to deteriorate. If not regularly maintained this happens with each and every operating system Windows XP is not the only one with this sort of problem. But if any problem of slowing down of computer arises, then you do not need to visit PC shop and spend cash on making it fast, you can Do some tricks yourself to make sure your Windows XP runs as fast as it did earlier.
Check your File System :
Whether it is NTFS or FAT 32. Don’t know how to check that ? Look at the image below.
Select the Drive Letter you want to Check and then see in the left pane, the file system would be seen. If you have a FAT32 system then you should try to switch your operating system to NTFS based file system. This is due to lots and lots of security features, and indexing features that are available on NTFS System which are not available on FAT32 system.
Check for Malware/Adware/Spyware
One of the most wide reasons for your PC to get slowed down is presence of Adware/Malware/Spyware etc. If you computer is infected with virus then lots of resources (CPU, Internet etc) are being used by the virus or illegal files . They attach with files of your PC and infect your files which are of no use once affected.
The best option is to use an updated Antivirus/ Internet Security Suite. I am currently using Avast Pro Antivirus due to its healing powers. I am currently using it in trial basis and once my subscription expires then I would consider purchasing the two year lisence so that I am properly secured from Virus etc. Be sure to update your Antivirus/Anti Malware that you are going to install in you PC because everyday there are thousands of viruses and malware added to the Internet.
De fragmentation of Hard Disks
De fragmentation of Hard Disks is a procedure included by Microsoft that will make your files on a Hard Disk closer to each other. This will considerably increase load times for your PC. There are two ways to invoke Defragmentation of Hard Disk.
- Click Run then write dfrg.msc in the Run Box , a window will open of De fragmentation
- Right Click on any Hard Disk and Click Properties, Go in to Tools Tab and click Defragment Now Look Below
Perform a Disk Cleanup
Some unwanted files get accumulated in your hard disks and are not removed even if you remove it from Recycle Bin. As you can see from the image below I have around 2Gb of Compressed Old files stored in my Hard disk which I will have to remove with the help of Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup tries to free your Hard Disk of used files.
It can take a lot of time if you have not done it earlier or not regularly.
There are again two ways to invoke Disk Cleanup
- Click Start > Run > Type “cleanmgr.exe” in the field
- Right Click on Hard Disk > Disk Cleanup
Remove Un Used/Un Wanted Software
Some people consider this as one other reason as your PC gets slowed down. If you have installed Adobe CS4 in Windows with less than 1Gbs of Ram , the performance will deteriorate and it will not run fast.
Remove Un Used Fonts
All the fonts in the system are invoked at the time of startup, thus when the system starts if you have less fonts installed then your PC would boot faster and would be fast as well.
Remove Start Up Programs
When ever you install Yahoo Messenger, Rediff Messenger or any other programs they have a default setting of Running at Startup. The more programs you have startup, the more time your PC takes to run them. If you have around 12-13 programs at Start Up then your PC would take at least 2- 3 minutes to completely start up before doing any activities and you could loose time.
Removal of Starup Programs requires a little knowledge of either MSConfig or Registry Editor because smallest of error in any of them will render your PC useless and you would have to re install it completely.
One Quick Way to Deal with this situation is usage of Third party Software Start Up Control Panel
Use the Registry Keys HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to uncheck the software’s you do not want to invoke at startup.
Setting UP Page File
- Go to Start, (Settings), Control Panel, System. (This is just like the step above this.)
- Go to the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Performance.
- Now switch to this Advanced tab, and click on ‘Change’ under Virtual Memory.
- You will see the ‘Initial Size (MB)’ and the Maximum Size (MB)’.
- Change ‘Initial Size’ to the same value as ‘Maximum Size’ then click set.
With these tricks you can speed up your Windows XP based computer without any delay and any fees.
Inputs from Various Wikis and Wikipedia