Windows XP - Get Going Faster
Have you ever noticed that sometimes computer starts in few seconds but Microsoft Windows XP takes a lot of time to show the icons and desktop background and moreover when you try to click on Start button it shows you the stupid hour glass icon. (I really hate that icon).
To speed things up in Windows XP try a few steps listed below and If you are using Windows Vista click here for tips to make it faster.
Clean Desktop
Items on your desktop such as icons and wallpaper consume memory and take time to display. If they’re not needed, remove the wallpaper and replace it with a coloured background (i like it black), and clean up unused icons by moving them to a Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on your desktop.
Steps
Right-click on the desktop
Click Arrange Icons By -> Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Follow the on-screen instructions
Disk Defragmenter
Run Defrag to defragment your hard drive so files are faster to access.
Steps
Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter
Click Defragment
It might take sometime to complete the process so you can leave the computer alone and grab a cup of coffee or have lunch 
Clean Registry
If you have added and removed a lot of programs over a period of time, you should consider cleaning up your computer’s Registry. Be very careful to choose a program to do this task as there are lot of spamming software’s available for free. Try searching for a good software at www.download.com and please go through the reviews submitted by users.
Clearing Startup Items
Remove any programs that load automatically at startup and which you don’t need or use. Click here for detailed info and steps to use this utility.
If things get too slow and out of control, consider backing up all your data, settings and device drivers and perform a clean reinstall of Windows.
I hope this article helps, in case if you have something to share please add your inputs in the comments below.
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Some useful basic tips, but really works and you will notice the improvement in performance.
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If looks aren’t crucial you can press [win key] + Pause/Break and then select the advanced tab. Under performance select SETTTINGS.
You will see selector that says ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE.
Click that, and then select { Show shadows under menus} make sure it has a check. Otherwise your desktop gets a blocky background. And its kinda ugly if you don’t at least have that checked.
Then click OK twice. And presto, it speeds up the windows interface.
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Another trick I do is to run a program like CCLEANER Slim to get rid of extra junk files, and often running a spyware remover like spybot, or adaware free will improve speed if spyware has caused trouble.
Have a great day!
-Dave
dreamerkid.coms last blog post..Learn Basic Computing Free
Never know this, tried your tips on both my laptop and personal computer yesterday, after completing, indeed speed up a lots, works like a charm, thanks so much!
And if you are willing to shed a few dollars on a system maintenance software, I’d recommend you buy Tune Up Utilities. The latest version is Tune Up Utilities 2008, and I use that on my laptop. Its got a defragmenter, disk cleaner, disk doctor, process manager, task scheduler, startup manager, interface tweak control, etc along with a host of other features. The best part of it is the registry cleaner and Registry Defragmenter. TU Registry Cleaner removes invalid and unassociated keys from the registry and TU Registry Defrag defragments the system registry just like the Disk defragmenter does for the hard disk.
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